The Record

West appointed WashU provost

Mark D. West, a renowned legal scholar and former dean of the University of Michigan Law School, has been appointed provost of WashU, effective Aug. 1, according to Chancellor Andrew D. Martin.

Sleep data from wearable device may help predict preterm birth

An interdisciplinary research team at WashU has found that variability in sleep patterns in people experiencing pregnancy can effectively predict preterm birth.

Strategy to prevent age-related macular degeneration identified

Fixing problems with cholesterol metabolism might help slow or prevent age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in older adults, a WashU Medicine study in mice has shown.

Study looks at gender dynamics in rock climbing

WashU philosopher Lucy Vollbrecht, a postdoctoral fellow in Arts & Sciences, explores the unexpected ways that women are marginalized in sports in a recent paper.

Notables

Rebecca Messbarger, a professor of Italian in Arts & Sciences, has published a chapter titled “Popes, the Body, Medicine, and the Cult of Saints after Trent” as part of “The Cambridge History of the Papacy, Volume III: Civil Society.”

Notables

Kristina Sauerwein, a senior sciences writer in Marketing & Communications at WashU Medicine, has received her fifth Robert G. Fenley Writing Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Announcements

WashU PD active shooter drill July 9

The Washington University Police Department will conduct its biannual active shooter training exercise July 9 on the South 40 area of the Danforth Campus.

Frank A. Podosek, planetary scientist, 83

Frank A. Podosek, a professor emeritus of earth, environmental and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, died June 8 in Florida. He was 83.