Author: Elizabeth Erman

Washington University faculty, staff and students are encouraged to donate gently used and new shoes to raise funds for clean water in Africa.

Walter F. Ballinger II, MD, former head of the Department of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine, died Friday, April 29, 2011, of pneumonia at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He was 85.

To kick off a new Styrofoam recycling program at the School of Medicine this month, members of about 15 labs in the Department of Molecular Microbiology loaded one-year’s worth of Styrofoam into a 52-foot 18-wheeler truck April 28. Employees spent one hour loading the Styrofoam into the truck, which was filled about halfway.

Paul R. Manske, MD, professor of orthopaedic surgery, died Wednesday, April 20, 2011, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital of an extended illness. He was 72. Manske, a hand surgeon at Washington University since the late 1960s, was chairman of the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery from 1983-1995. In addition, he was formerly orthopedic surgeon in chief at Barnes Hospital and director of hand surgery at Shriner’s Hospital for Children.

Both the Danforth and Medical campuses at WUSTL held many events to celebrate the week of Earth Day April 18-23. At the Medical Campus, Courtney Pike and Liz Wright talk to Changguo Tang, PhD, about gardening and water conservation in front of the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University School of Medicine April 20.

Lisa Jones (right) talks with Guillermina Lozano, PhD, from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center after the Minority Research Scholars Symposium April 20 at the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center. The symposium was sponsored by the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences Diversity Programs Office.

Students from the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club Adams Park Unit paint a colorful mural promoting the Tour de Grove professional bike race in the Grove neighborhood bordering the Washington University Medical Center. The Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corp. received a grant from the St. Cronin Housing Corp. to fund four murals throughout the neighborhood.

A group of adults meets regularly in a room at the Center for Advanced Medicine at Washington University Medical Center to learn how to shade with charcoals, master watercolor strokes, and mold and shape clay. These students may be rediscovering art after many years or learning techniques for the first time. But they also share another common bond — battling cancer.

Since the 1940s, Washington University psychiatrists have played a key role in the evolution of the field’s premiere diagnostic manual and other research. Today, the Department of Psychiatry has ambitious plans on the horizon.

Energy conservation, gardening and water conservation, recycling and transportation will be the focus of an Earth Day celebration from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, April 20 at four stations in and around the School of Medicine.