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Photo by David KilperProgram Specialist Darlene Norfleet leads a hands-on session on insects aboard the MySci Investigation Station April 20 at Edgar Road Elementary School in Webster Groves, Mo.

Brad A. Racette, M.D., associate professor of neurology, has received a five-year, $2,623,527 grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for research titled “Epidemilogy of Parkinsonism in Welders.”… Yixin Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science and engineering, has received a one-year, $99,589 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for research titled “Efficient Large-scale Nonlinear Constrained Optimization Using Constraint Partitioning.”… Susan B. MacKinnon, M.D., the Sydney M. Jr. and Robert H. Shoenberg Professor of Surgery, has received a five-year, $2,228,395 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for research titled “Nerve Allotransplantation for Traumatic Nerve Injury.”… Douglas A. Wiens, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences, has received a one-year, $24,614 grant from the National Science Foundation for research titled “SGER: A Rapid Geophysical Response to the Great 2006 Tonga EQ.”… Fred Prior, M.D., research associate professor of radiology, has received a five-year, $60,000 subcontract from the University of Pittsburgh for research titled “Data Coordination and Image Analysis for CRISP II.”… Donald L Elbert, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical engineering, has received a one-year, $250,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for research titled “Development of Materials to Release Bioactive Lipids.”… John W. Olney, M.D., the John P. Feighner Professor of Psychiatry, has received a five-year, $1,954,487 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for research titled “Anesthesia-induced Developmental Neuroapoptosis.” Also, he has received a five-year, $1,503,839 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for research titled “Acute Brain Injury, Mechanisms and Consequences.”… Christopher Gill, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science and engineering, has received a four-year, $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for research titled “CSR — EHS: Semantic Domain Integration for Embedded and Hybrid Systems.”… Dora E. Angelaki, Ph.D., the Alumni Endowed Professor of Neurobiology, has received a five-year, $1,900,521 grant from the National Eye Institute for research titled “Neural Basis of Self-motion Perception.”… Lev D. Gelb, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, has received a two-year, $242,400 grant from the National Science Foundation for research titled “Cyberinfrastructure for Phase-space Mapping — Free Energies, Phase Equilibria and Transition Paths.”… Steven Bassnett, Ph.D., associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, has received a five-year, $1,710,563 grant from the National Eye Institute for research titled “Fiber Cell Formation in Normal and Cataractous Lenses.”… John-Stephen A. Taylor, Ph.D., professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, has received a one-year, $311,727 grant from the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute for research titled “DNA Photolesion Structure-activity Relationships.”… Jeanne M. Nerbonne, Ph.D., Alumni Endowed Professor of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology, has received a four-year, $1,330,417 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for research titled “Ion Channel Regulation and Modulation in Cardiac Muscle.”… Jere Confrey, Ph.D., professor of education in Arts & Sciences, has received a one-year, $141,248 grant from the National Science Foundation for research titled “Synthesizing Rational Number Reasoning for Urban Schools.”… Linda J. Pike, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, has received a four-year, $1,293,821 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for research titled “Lipid Rafts and EGF Receptor Function.”… Gerald Early, Ph.D., the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters, professor of English, of African and African American studies and of American Culture Studies, all in Arts & Sciences, has received a one-year, $230,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for research titled “Teaching Jazz as American Culture.”… Clay F. Semenkovich, M.D., professor of medicine, has received a four-year, $1,246,656 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for research titled “De Novo Lipogenesis and Metabolic Disease.”… Kenneth Goldman, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science and engineering, has received a three-year, $135,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for research titled “Development of Concept Inventories for Computer Science.”

Elizabeth Stevens has been named the winner of the 2007 Stalker Prize, given to the graduating senior in biology in Arts & Sciences whose undergraduate career was marked by outstanding scientific scholarship.

Six prominent people, including a legendary radio broadcaster and the first woman president of the country’s fourth oldest university, will receive honorary degrees during the University’s 146th Commencement ceremony May 18. The University will also bestow academic degrees on more than 2,300 students during the ceremony, which begins at 8:30 a.m. in Brookings Quadrangle.

St. Louis Hillel will celebrate its 60th anniversary with a gala dinner at 6 p.m. May 6 at The Westin St. Louis.

A Physical Therapy researcher is seeking those with low-back pain to test two conservative treatment programs that include education, training in everyday activities and exercise.

The Center for Aging’s seventh annual Friedman Conference will be held May 8 at the Eric P. Newman Education Center.

Photo by Robert BostonThree-year-old Reuven Kirshner plays pattycake with his nurse, Sarah Parks, after he had a bone from his shin transplanted into his arm, which was affected by a rare bone cancer.

Metabolic syndrome among the HIV-infected population is about 26 percent, the same as in those not infected with the virus, a new study shows.

Photo by Mary ButkusArts & Sciences graduate teaching assistants receive Dean’s Awards for Teaching Excellence April 26 in the Ann W. Olin Women’s Building Formal Lounge.