Author: Elizabethe Holland Durando

Applications for the K12 Clinical Hematology Research Career Development Program scholars are being accepted through Oct. 20.

Rajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD, the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, is the first recipient of the Presidents’ Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Retina Specialists.

Musically talented members of the Washington University Medical Center community will be featured in a summer concert at 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, in the lobby of the Center for Advanced Medicine.

The population of bacteria in premature infants’ guts may depend more on the babies’ biological makeup and gestational age at birth than on environmental factors, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. They discovered that bacterial communities assemble in a choreographed progression, with the pace of that assembly slowest in infants born most prematurely.

As part of a multi-institutional $20 million effort, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis will conduct several studies, including one that uses medical imaging on plants to see what’s broken or about to break inside (pictured). Four university researchers will receive funding from the National Science Foundation to support work aimed at helping Missouri plants and crops adapt to climate variability.

Susan Bayliss, MD, is director of pediatric dermatology at the School of Medicine. She uses humor and kindness in connecting with her patients. Most of them are in the St. Louis region, but she also treats children she meets while on medical missions overseas. Wherever she is, her passion for her work is evident.

Mary Corcoran has been named assistant dean for finance at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Her appointment, which marks her return to the university after six years at Stanford University, is effective Aug. 21.

Larry J. Shapiro, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, recently surprised three staff members with service awards. Pam Gassner was awarded the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award; Peggy Frisella, the Research Support Award; and Amy Stabenow, the Operations Staff Award.  Pictured are Lynn Cornelius, MD, Gassner and Shapiro.

To help commemorate the Central Institute for the Deaf’s centennial, the Bernard Becker Medical Library has a new exhibit featuring rare books, early hearing aids, photos and other items related to the institute.

William Thomas Thach Jr., MD, professor emeritus of neurobiology, died Tuesday, July 1, 2014, in Town and Country. He was 77. A neuroscience researcher and clinical neurologist, Thach was a renowned expert and pioneering researcher on the cerebellum.