Author: Leslie Gibson McCarthy

Softball player-turned-coach Michelle Venturella speaks to the importance of encouragement. Bolstered to Olympic gold in 2000, she provides her athletes today with similar support to succeed on and off the field.

Whether its pursuing athletic prowess or professional excellence, alumna Kerri Morgan, assistant professor of occupational therapy and neurology at the medical school, continues to rise to meet and exceed each challenge she sets for herself.

A new study led by the School of Medicine shows a link between weight gain and increased risk of young-onset colorectal cancer. Rates of colorectal cancer diagnosed in people under age 50 are going up and researchers are searching for possible reasons behind the increase.

A multicenter study led by the School of Medicine and involving more than 2,400 first-time pregnant women, shows that the timing of pushing has no effect on whether women deliver vaginally or by C-section.

An inability to properly use the essential mineral manganese could be to blame for some cases of severe scoliosis, according to a new study from the School of Medicine.

Researchers at the School of Medicine and Northwestern have developed an implantable, bioabsorbable device that helps speed recovery of peripheral nerve damage in rats by stimulating injured nerves with electricity. The device degrades in a few weeks when exposed to saltwater, which mimics bodily fluid.

A new study in mice from the School of Medicine shows that viruses that target the nervous system can kill neurons in the gut that coordinate the process of moving waste along. Such viruses may be involved in causing people’s digestive woes.

Analyzing data from more than 400,000 people, researchers at the School of Medicine have found that consuming one to two drinks four or more times per week — an amount deemed healthy by current guidelines — increases the risk of premature death by 20 percent.

Amid fireworks and the familiar anthem “Olympic Fanfare,” an Olympic five-ring “Spectacular” was dedicated Sept. 28, just steps from the historic stadium that was the site of the 1904 Olympic Games. The permanent sculpture near Francis Field commemorates St. Louis’ role as an international Olympic city.

It’s being billed as an event 114 years in the making. The site of the 1904 Olympic Games on the Washington University in St. Louis campus is getting international recognition with the dedication Friday, Sept. 28, of an Olympic rings sculpture that will sit permanently near historic Francis Field.