Keeping COVID-19 in check likely to require boosters

Vaccinating people with updated boosters as new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 emerge could shore up population immunity even as the virus mutates, according to School of Medicine research. Such action could prevent another deadly COVID-19 wave.

University helps launch STARS College Network

WashU has teamed up with 15 of the nation’s leading higher education institutions to launch the STARS (Small-Town And Rural Students) College Network , a new effort to help students from small-town and rural America enroll in, succeed at and graduate from the undergraduate program of their choice.

Small proteins in heart play big role

Two researchers at WashU took a closer look at the signals that coordinate a heartbeat at the molecular level. What they found may provide new insights into different heart conditions and how to develop better therapies.

Research Wire

In a newly published study, poverty was closely associated with higher rates of dementia among older adults in Afghanistan. Jean-Francois Trani, an associate professor at the Brown School, led the research.

Notables

Anca Parvulescu, the Liselotte Dieckmann Professor of Comparative Literature and professor of English in Arts & Sciences, has won the 2023 René Wellek Prize for best monograph from the American Comparative Literature Association.

Announcements

Women’s Society to host annual Starbird Lecture

The Women’s Society of Washington University is hosting the annual Adele Starbird Lecture featuring Penny Pennington, managing partner at Edward Jones, at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 12, in Knight Hall’s Emerson Auditorium. The event will also be livestreamed.