The Record

Global progress on physical activity at risk, WashU expert warns

Shrinking public health budgets, fraying global cooperation and rising military spending threaten decades of momentum to make physical activity a cornerstone of disease prevention, finds a new analysis from the School of Public Health.

Condo-style living helps keep the peace inside these ant plants

Scientists have discovered one way that a host plant can keep the peace among residents that might otherwise kill each other. The new research from biologist Susanne S. Renner, in Arts & Sciences, is published in Science.

Notables

James Friend, of the University of California, San Diego, has been named chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science at the McKelvey School of Engineering. His appointment will begin in 2026.

Notables

Mitra Naseh, at the Brown School, has been selected as one of four scholars nationwide for the 2025-2026 Visiting Poverty Scholars Program, administered by the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Research Wire

WashU Medicine researchers led by Siyuan Ding identified an immune-system protein in human cells that has the unusual capacity to respond to both DNA and RNA from pathogens, which may have implications for developing vaccines.