​​Now in its second year, WashU’s College Prep Program prepares talented, low-income high school students for college. This year’s cohort of 46 students represents 24 local high schools. Students made ethanol in a lab, composed stories in the university’s Writing Center and met with academic advisers.

Scientists working to find treatments for Wolfram syndrome, a rare and severe form of diabetes, have identified a gatekeeper that prevents harmful molecules from triggering cell death. A cascade of cell death occurs when molecules spill from one part of a cell into another where they don’t belong. The researchers, at the School of Medicine, also have found that this gatekeeper may be a good treatment target for other disorders.

Guy M. Genin, PhD, professor of mechanical engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, has been named a Yangtze River Scholar by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. The prestigious award is the highest award issued to an individual in higher education by China’s Ministry of Education. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton attended the installation June 29.

Benjamin D. Humphreys, MD, PhD, a highly regarded physician-scientist, has been named director of the Renal Division of the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine. He begins his new position in July. Humphreys comes to Washington University from Harvard Medical School, where he is an associate professor of medicine and director of the Laboratory of Translational Research in Kidney Repair.