Author: Kelly Wiese Niemeyer

Scientists at the School of Medicine have implicated a type of immune cell in the development of chronic lung disease that sometimes is triggered following a respiratory viral infection. The study was published in The Journal of Immunology.

Washington University pediatricians who treat patients at St. Louis Children’s Hospital are part of a major research effort to investigate how the novel coronavirus affects children and young adults, including its role in a rare but serious inflammatory syndrome.

Gregory Bowman, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at the School of Medicine, received a three-year $1,763,634 grant award from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his research titled “Structural basis for ApoE4-induced Alzheimer’s disease.”

Washington University in St. Louis has earned a 2020 Gold Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) designation. The award, given by the League of American Bicyclists, recognizes institutions of higher education for providing a more bikeable campus for faculty, staff, students and visitors. The university is the first in Missouri to receive a BFU designation at a gold or platinum level and one of only six in the Midwest.

University Libraries announced a new research award designed to engage students’ research with collections from the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections. Apply for the Mendel Sato Research Award by May 7.

The drug buprenorphine is an effective treatment for opioid use disorder, but many who misuse opioids also take benzodiazepines to treat anxiety and similar conditions. School of Medicine researchers found that buprenorphine lowered the overdose risk, even in people who also took benzodiazepines such as Valium or Xanax.

The university Society of Professors Emeriti will hold its regular monthly meeting via Zoom at 12:30 p.m. Monday, March. 8. Susan Frehlich Appleton, at the School of Law, will speak on  “Families Under Construction: Parentage, Adoption and Assisted Reproduction.”

Washington University is moving forward with in-person Commencement ceremonies on the Danforth Campus in May for members of the classes of 2020 and 2021 and a limited number of guests.

Alzheimer’s researchers David M. Holtzman, MD, and Celeste Karch, PhD, at the School of Medicine, have been recognized by the Rainwater Charitable Foundation for scientific achievements that could lead to new, effective treatments for neurodegenerative diseases associated with the accumulation of tau protein in the brain. Alzheimer’s is the best known such disease.

The Green Cup is an annual competition to reduce energy use, and typically is focused on Washington University’s residential colleges. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition is virtual and is open to faculty, staff and students. It will run March 1-31.