Newsroom Stories

Richard Martin, Ph.D., the 2009 John and Penelope Biggs Resident in the Classics, will deliver the Assembly Series’ annual Biggs Lecture at 4 p.m. April 9 in Steinberg Auditorium. His talk will center on his approach to Homeric poetry and how it is so much more than an abstract study of language. Folklore, social anthropology, […]

Theresa Wilson, founder and executive director of the Blessing Basket Project, will give the Women’s Society of Washington University Adele Starbird address at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 15 in Graham Chapel. Her talk, “Making a Purchase that Makes a Difference: The Blessing Basket Project,” will be the final program in the Assembly Series’ spring schedule. It is free and open to the public.

Researchers have used socialization and mating among fruit flies to explore the connections between memory and sleep.A new theory about sleep’s benefits for the brain gets a boost from fruit flies in this week’s Science. Researchers at the School of Medicine found evidence that sleep, already recognized as a promoter of long-term memories, also helps clear room in the brain for new learning.

A multicenter study has found two new genetic variants associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The study was conducted by the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility (CGEMS) initiative and reported through advance online publication this week in Nature Genetics.

PeeblesP. James E. Peebles, Ph.D., one of the world’s foremost theoretical cosmologists who played a central role in understanding the evolution and structure of the universe, will deliver two talks April 15-16 as part of the McDonnell Distinguished Lecture Series, sponsored by Washington University’s McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences.

Patients with severe heart failure can be bridged to eventual transplant by a new, smaller and lighter implantable heart pump, according to a just-completed study of the device. Results of this third-generation heart assist device were reported at the 58th annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology on March 30.

Eric Galburt, Ph.D., James Janetka, Ph.D., and Ana Ruiz Manzano, Ph.D.

Photo by Mary ButkusSimona Mirela Miculescu (left), United Nations ambassador from Romania, addresses a town hall meeting March 24 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom of Anheuser-Busch Hall as Thomas Schweich, J.D., visiting professor and ambassador-in-residence at the School of Law, looks on.

Photo by Mary ButkusMarion G. Crain, J.D., was installed as the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law March 30 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall.

Robert Sparks, Ph.D., professor, biomedical researcher and international consultant, died March 21, 2009, of acute leukemia. He was 78.