Author: Ken Duenke

Urban American Indian community centers help keep traditions alive.Urban American Indian community centers in the United States can look to their neighbors to the north for an example of how to create a strong national voice, says Dana Klar, J.D., founding and interim director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. Today, nearly 60 percent of American Indians reside off-reservation, and because of that, the majority of American Indians do not have ready access to the cultural and financial services provided by tribal and federal agencies on the reservations. “We have more recently realized that a national organization can aid the individual centers in advocacy and policy development efforts that affect all urban American Indians,” Klar says. More…

The powwow draws crowds from all over the Midwest to experience American Indian dancing, singing, drumming, arts, crafts and food.

A study of how the brain of a premature infant responds to injury has found vulnerabilities similar to those in the mature brain but also identified at least one significant difference, according to neuroscientists and neonatologists at the School of Medicine.

Developing brain tumors can coax assistance from nearby cells known as microglia, according to a new study from scientists at the School of Medicine. The researchers have identified one protein made by microglia that helps accelerate tumor growth and are looking for others.

The School of Law will celebrate the outstanding achievements of six individuals April 13 at its annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner at The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis. Distinguished Law Alumni Award recipients are Michael T. Hannafan, Frederick O. Hanser, Andrew J. Higgins and P. Scott Neville. H. Christopher Boehning and Kathy A. Surratt-States will receive Distinguished Young Law Alumni Awards. More…

An international consortium of researchers, including scientists at the Genome Sequencing Center, has decoded the genome of the rhesus macaque monkey and compared it with the genomes of humans and their closest living relatives – the chimps – revealing that the three primate species share about 93 percent of the same DNA. Washington University scientists also recently completed the raw sequences for the orangutan and marmoset genomes.

Photo by Kevin LowderIngyu Moon, first-year student at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, blasts through boards as part of a tae kwon do demonstration at the 13th annual International Festival March 31 in Room 300 of the Lab Sciences Building.

Scientists have untangled two similar disabilities that often afflict stroke patients, in the process revealing that one may be treatable with drugs for Parkinson’s disease. Researchers at the School of Medicine showed that stroke damage in a brain region known as the putamen is strongly linked to motor neglect, a condition that makes patients slow to move toward the left side.

Hugh Foley, Ph.D., associate professor of communications and fine arts at Rogers State University, will present “Savage Country: American Indian Mascots in Sports,” from 2-4 p.m. on April 12. This lecture is part of American Indian Awareness Week at Washington University in St. Louis. Foley is available for interviews before the lecture.

Smoking while pregnant combined with genetic factors greatly increases the risk of severe ADHD.Past research has suggested that both genes and prenatal insults — such as exposure to alcohol and nicotine — can increase the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But the identified increases in risk have been very modest. Now, a team of Washington University scientists has found that when those factors are studied together, risk of a severe type of ADHD greatly increases.