David H. Perlmutter, MD, has been named executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. His tenure begins Dec. 1. A former Washington University faculty member, Perlmutter succeeds Larry J. Shapiro, MD, who is stepping down after leading the School of Medicine for 12 years.

For 20 summers now, students of all ages and from all walks of life have gathered on the WashU campus to write, read, write, read and write some more. The Summer Writers Institute, an intensive, two-week writing seminar that is part summer camp, part MFA-level instruction, is thriving after two decades.

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton has appointed an eight-member committee to identify candidates for the position of vice chancellor for finance and chief financial officer. Barbara A. Feiner announced her plans to retire Dec. 31 as vice chancellor for finance and CFO after 19 years at the university.

The acidity of urine — as well as the presence of small molecules related to diet — may influence how well bacteria can grow in the urinary tract, a new study shows. The research, led by Jeffrey Henderson, MD, PhD, at the School of Medicine, may have implications for treating urinary tract infections, which are among the most common bacterial infections worldwide.

In 1999, Danish scientist Per Bak proposed that the brain remained stable for much the same reason a sand pile does: many small avalanches hold it at a balance point, where — in the brain’s case — information processing is optimized. Now, Ralf Wessel, PhD, and other scientists have shown for the first time that a brain receiving and processing sensory input follows these dynamics.