Researchers have uncovered a unique connection between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. This provides further evidence that a disease that robs people of their memories may be affected by elevated blood sugar, according to School of Medicine scientists Shannon Macauley, PhD (left), and David Holtzman, MD.

Joe McDonald has always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and he has nurtured it during his time at Washington University. His involvement with IDEA Labs, a bioengineering design incubator based at the School of Medicine, helped spark his interest in being an entrepreneur. He’ll graduate next week with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and an MBA.

A new agreement between Washington University and Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU) will allow HSSU students to complete computer-science course work at WashU at no cost. Leaders from the two universities signed a memo of understanding in April.

Cahokia, just outside St. Louis, was the largest prehistoric settlement in the Americas north of Mexico. New research suggests that major flood events in the Mississippi River valley are tied to the cultural center’s emergence and, ultimately, to its decline. Arts & Sciences’ David Fike, PhD, is a co-author.