Newsroom Stories

Davis Fiction writer Lydia Davis, the Fannie Hurst Visiting Professor in Washington University’s Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, will present a craft talk, titled “A Beloved Duck Gets Cooked: Writing Outside the Mainstream,” and a reading from her work at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, and Thursday, March 19, respectively, in Hurst Lounge, Room 201, Duncker Hall on Washington University’s Danforth Campus.

Scientists have long known that cells in the retina called photoreceptors are involved in how vision can adapt to darkness, but a study from investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Boston University School of Medicine has uncovered a new pathway in the retina that allows the cells to adapt following exposure to bright light. The discovery could help scientists better understand human diseases that affect the retina, including age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in Americans over the age of 50.

The School of Law’s Clinical Affairs Program will host its ninth annual “Access to Equal Justice Colloquium: Critical Perspectives on Court and Law Reform” on March 27 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall. The goal of the conference is to provide a forum for University faculty and students, lawyers, judges, community leaders […]

Spine surgeons at theSchool of Medicine and other U.S. centers are reporting that artificial disc replacement works as well and often better than spinal fusion surgery. The two procedures are performed on patients with damaged discs in the neck.

Photo by Robert BostonLaura Jean Bierut, M.D., professor of psychiatry, helps untangle the contributions of specific genes and environmental influences on alcohol and nicotine dependence disorders.

The Centers for Disease control reports approximately 280,000 Americans are hospitalized each year because of traumatic brain injuries. Explaining the complications associated with these injuries has been a difficult task for doctors. A new research project — the Attention Dynamics Consortium in Traumatic Brain Injury — seeks to better understand the effects of traumatic brain injuries.

Kouvelis A new study from the Boeing Center for Technology, Information and Manufacturing (BCTIM) at the Olin Business School, calls on shipping companies to increase their use of full-container loads with specific delivery dates to reduce costs and counter the effects of the recession on global trade. Panos Kouvelis, BCTIM director and distinguished professor of operations and manufacturing management at Washington University in St. Louis – Olin Business School, co-authored the study with Jian Li. In their paper, “Managing the New Uncertainty,” they recommend the changes in the shipping supply chain as the “logical next step” for ocean freight services.

Surgeons at the Washington University Eye Center and Barnes-Jewish Hospital are among the first to use a new surgical device to treat glaucoma.

The School of Law’s Clinical Affairs Program will host its ninth annual “Access to Equal Justice Colloquium: Critical Perspectives on Court and Law Reform” on March 27 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall. The goal of the conference is to provide a forum for University faculty and students, lawyers, judges, community leaders and government officials to discuss and critique law, court and related systems reform efforts. Organizers hope that the information about how these reforms succeed and fail shared at the conference will drive future reform efforts. The colloquium is free and open to the public; registration however, is required.

Flying twin-engine light aircraft the equivalent of three trips around the globe and working in temperatures that averaged minus 30 degrees Celsius, an international team of scientists, including one from Washington University in St. Louis, has not only verified the existence of a mountain range that is suspected to have caused the massive East Antarctic Ice Sheet to form, but also has created a detailed picture of the rugged landscape buried under more than four kilometers (2.5 miles) of ice. Douglas A. Wiens, Ph.D., WUSTL professor and chair of earth and planetary sciences, is part of the seismology team.