Newsroom Stories

From Jan. 30 through Feb. 2, the official flag of Finland will fly with the U.S. flag on top of Brookings Hall, Washington University’s signature building on the Danforth Campus. This is in recognition of the opening of “Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future” and “On the Riverfront: St. Louis and the Gateway Arch,” exhibitions celebrating the work of the late Finnish architect, Eero Saarinen, who designed the St. Louis Gateway Arch.

Several hundred physicians at Washington University School of Medicine are among the nation’s finest, according to two surveys of thousands of U.S. doctors. More than 300 Washington University physicians have been named to The Best Doctors In America for 2008. The number is nearly three times that of any other physicians’ group in St. Louis and more than any other physicians’ group in the Midwest.

The first test of the University’s outdoor warning sirens, located on the roofs of Brookings and Seigle halls, will take place Monday, Feb. 2, at 11 a.m. Tests will occur on the first Monday of each month thereafter in conjunction with St. Louis County’s outdoor warning siren test.

Neurobiologists at the School of Medicine have identified pathways that allow microscopic worms to survive in a low-oxygen, or hypoxic, environment. They believe the finding could have implications for conditions such as stroke, heart attack and cancer. Sensitivity to low oxygen helps determine how damaging those medical conditions can be.

People committed to improving the health of vulnerable communities and populations have a new degree option at Washington University in St. Louis — a Master of Public Health (MPH). The MPH Program at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work is accepting applications for its first class. The Brown School regularly hosts information sessions about its academic programs. The school plans a special half-day “Focus on MPH” event on February 13 from 8:30 – 1:30 p.m. Individuals who have applied or plan to apply for the fall 2009 semester should attend. The event will be held in Brown Hall Lounge.

Hearing aid manufacturers are constantly developing more sophisticated instruments, yet remarkably, studies show that user satisfaction hasn’t increased much, if at all. A group of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis wondered if they could address this problem by teaching people with hearing loss how to listen better.

School of Medicine researchers have received a five-year, $11 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study heart failure in diabetic patients.

Jennifer K. Lodge, Ph.D., has been named associate dean for research at the School of Medicine effective Feb. 1. In the newly created position, Lodge will coordinate efforts to advance research at the school, focusing particularly on projects that involve multiple departments, multiple disciplines and core facilities that can serve a wide variety of researchers. […]

Photo by Kevin LowderArchitecture graduate students work on a shelter at the Ruth Park Golf Course in University City, a class project in a fall graduate design/build studio led by Carl Safe, professor of architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.

Cartoonist/artist/actress Lela Lee will be the featured speaker for the Assembly Series program at 4 p.m., Wednesday, February 11 in Graham Chapel. The event, sponsored by the Asian American Association, is free and open to the public.