Author: Elizabeth Erman

Between Sept. 28, 2011, and Jan. 5, 2012, Washington University School of Medicine employees walked to the moon and back, then around the equator 10 times. That adds up to nearly 1.3 billion steps walked in the 100-day Tread the Med “Be A Walk Star” walking campaign, sponsored by the School of Medicine Wellness Council and managed by the Department of Human Resources. 



A Jan. 14 winter concert showcased the musical talents of Washington University School of Medicine faculty, staff, residents and students. The event, held in the lobby of the Center for Advanced Medicine, was sponsored by the Department of Pathology and Immunology and the Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s Arts + Healthcare Program.

Research by asthma specialists nationwide, including Leonard B. Bacharier, MD, and Mario Castro, MD, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, find that adding prescription acid controllers to standard inhaled steroid treatment does not improve asthma symptoms or control of the condition in children. The results are considered to be the most comprehensive evaluation to date of the effectiveness of prescription acid controllers to improve asthma symptoms and control among children.

Faculty may now apply for the Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Teaching Fellows program at the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Application materials are due by Feb. 27.

Thomas W. Ferkol Jr., MD, has been named the first Alexis Hartmann, MD, Professor in Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The School of Medicine will present its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Lecture at 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, in the Eric P. Newman Education Center.

Jennifer K. Lodge, PhD, and Ernst Zinner, PhD, have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. Lodge and Zinner are among 539 new fellows who will be acknowledged in the Dec. 23 issue of Science magazine.The 2011 AAAS Fellows also will be honored at a Feb. 18, 2012, ceremony at the organization’s annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

Washington University’s Genome Institute has received a $114 million grant to continue its groundbreaking genomic research. The four-year grant comes from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The university’s Genome Institute is one of only three large federally funded genome centers in the United States.

Medical students gave Distinguished Service Teaching Awards to more than 40 faculty and 10 resident physicians Dec. 2 in appreciation of exemplary service in medical student education.

Dan Feng, a first-year medical student, was among many students who sang and played instruments at a Dec. 1 Coffeehouse, sponsored by the Student Arts Commission, at the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center Hearth.