Researchers at the School of Medicine are recruiting volunteers for a study comparing the potential health and longevity benefits of the Mediterranean diet with those of a typical American diet. The study’s aim is to determine whether health and longevity are influenced more by healthy eating or by weight loss.

Sam Bhayani, MD, has been appointed chief medical officer of the Faculty Practice Plan at the School of Medicine, effective Nov. 1. The university’s Faculty Practice Plan, known as Washington University Physicians, ranks among the five largest academic group practices in the United States.

In response to the Syrian refugee crisis, many in St. Louis have called for the city to open its arms to Syrian refugees. Architectural historian Michael Allen, of Arts & Sciences, says St. Louis has a long history of welcoming, and benefiting from, waves of immigrants — and that the existing housing stock easily could accommodate thousands of new residents.

Several students in the School of Engineering & Applied Science spent their summers learning, but not in traditional classroom settings. They wrote blogs about their experiences, such as repairing medical equipment in Guatemala.