Author: Leslie Gibson McCarthy

Michael Sherraden, PhD, the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, will be among a distinguished list of speakers for the sixth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) to be held at Washington University in St. Louis April 5-7. The announcement was made by President Bill Clinton and by Chelsea Clinton.

With the United States and affiliated NATO troops preparing to pull out of war-torn Afghanistan by the end of 2014, attention will continue to focus on the 12-year war and the aftermath on its citizens. But a new study on mental health in Afghanistan, led by Jean-Francois Trani, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, looks beyond the effects of war and identifies the root causes of mental distress and anxiety among its citizens: poverty and vulnerability.

The 23rd annual Pow Wow, a festival of American Indian cultures, will be held Saturday, March 16, in the Field House on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis. This event, hosted by the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the Brown School, is free and open to the public. This year’s theme is “Honoring Our Cultures While Strengthening Our Communities.”

The MySci Resource Center, the new hub of the Institute for School Partnership in University City, Mo., launched Feb. 18 to great fanfare. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, a chemist by training, donned goggles and a lab coat to demonstrate to student visitors how much fun science can be. Video highlights of “Magic” Mark Wrighton are included.

A new study, led by Jenine K. Harris, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, examined the use of social media by state health departments in the United States. The study, published Feb. 7 in the journal Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research, found use of web-based sites such as Facebook and Twitter a growing trend.

The grand opening of the Washington University in St. Louis Institute for School Partnership (ISP) MySci Resource Center at 6601 Vernon Ave. in University City, Mo., takes place at 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18.

A new study published earlier this month found that men and women don’t fit neatly into gender stereotypes, that perhaps men aren’t from Mars nor are women from Venus. But why do we want them to be? Lead author Bobbi Carothers, PhD, senior data analyst at Center for Public Health System Science at Washington University in St. Louis, has some theories as to why.

In an effort to increase father participation in parenting programs, as well as improve father-child interactions, Patricia L. Kohl, PhD, associate professor of Social Work at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, has collaborated with the Father’s Support Center of St. Louis to develop Engaging Fathers in Positive Parenting, a program funded by the CDC designed to be used in conjunction with the evidence-based parenting intervention, Triple P, Positive Parenting Program.

Washington University in St. Louis’ Institute for School Partnership (ISP) and its signature science education program, MySci, take a major step forward Monday, Feb. 18, when they open the MySci Resource Center at 6601 Vernon Ave. Refurbished with the help of a $2.2 million grant from the Monsanto Fund, the MySci Resource Center becomes the nerve center of the ISP, WUSTL’s signature effort to strategically improve teaching and learning within the K-12 education community in the St. Louis region. ​

A special supplemental issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine titled, “Research Collaboration with 2-1-1 to Eliminate Health Disparities” was recently published, marking the first time a journal has focused entirely on scientific research conducted within 2-1-1 systems. And Washington University in St. Louis researchers, led by Matthew W. Kreuter, PhD, director of the Health Communication Research Laboratory, played a key role in the publication.