Author: Diane Toroian Keaggy

Penny Pennington, managing partner of Edward Jones, a St. Louis-based finanical services company, has been elected to serve as chair of the WashU Board of Trustees effective July 1. Pennington will be the first woman to hold the position.

Goldwater Scholar and biology major Noah Kabbaj is on the front lines of research aimed at helping people overcome treatment-resistant mental health conditions, including severe depression. After graduating from WashU, Kabbaj plans to earn his PhD in neuroscience.

In celebration of Commencement, WashU Class Acts spotlights 2026 graduates who have engaged in meaningful research at WashU. They have created knowledge and mastered research skills — especially important at a time of funding cuts and public skepticism.

In May, Ariel Hernandez-Leyva is set to achieve his goal of becoming a physician-scientist by earning a medical degree and a PhD in computational and systems biology from WashU Medicine. He is first author on a study — published in the prestigious journal Cell Metabolism — revealing that breath can carry clues to gut microbiome health, particularly among children.

GP Worley applied to the WashU Brown School because they were inspired by the work of the Sexuality, Health and Gender (SHAG) Center. Today, Worley is one of the center’s most committed contributors, pursuing multiple projects that explore the role of sexuality and gender in health.

A passion for motorcycles and a background in neuroscience drove Catalina Bernabé Correa to join the lab of Ismael Seáñez at WashU McKelvey Engineering, where she is studying different neuro-rehabilitation strategies for individuals with spinal cord injuries. Bernabé is set to graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering.

Isabella Caffarelli, a senior majoring in applied mathematics and minoring in astrophysics in Arts & Sciences, is looking forward to a new research challenge after she graduates from WashU: helping brain scientists use advanced algorithms to sort and understand neurological data in a cleaner, more coherent way.

Dierdre Lockette grew up passionate about writing, but sensible about her financial future, so she chose a career in accounting. Three decades later, Lockette is completing her undergraduate degree from the WashU School of Continuing & Professional Studies, where she has discovered a new passion: research.

WashU senior Cela Lopez is studying political science so, of course, she’s interested in politics and policy. But what she really cares about is how we think about those topics.

In August, global robotics competition First Lego League challenged children to design a robot to help archaeologists. The task demands skills in engineering, design and, first and foremost, archaeology. Enter WashU environmental archaeologist Ilaria Patania, who helped dozens of middle school competitors.