Newsroom Stories

Van WeyJason M. Van Wey has been appointed director of federal relations at Washington University in St. Louis, announced Pamela S. Lokken, vice chancellor for government and community relations. Van Wey will oversee the university’s day-to-day communications with the U.S. Congress and executive branch agencies on national legislative and regulatory policies and issues.

Innovative researcher George Whitesides will speak on revolutionary ideas in chemistry that may lead to a new understanding of the origin of life for the Ferguson Science Lecture at 11 a.m. on Wed., Feb. 6 in Graham Chapel as part of the Assembly Series.

Students from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis will present their ideas and debate possible outcomes to the European Commission in a mock-parliament in Brussels on Feb. 1. The deputy head of mission from the Croatian ambassador to the EU will give introductory remarks at the mock-parliament. Officials from the EU and the City of London will be in attendance as well as professors from the Cass Business School.

Washington University and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. will collaborate more closely under a new $25 million, five-year biomedical research agreement that has the potential to move discoveries from the laboratory bench to patients’ bedsides more quickly. The collaboration represents a new model of partnership between academia and industry.

Photo by David KilperArchitecture graduate students Michael Heller (left) and Sujaul Khan at work on a new gallery/architecture review room in Steinberg Hall. The project, which is nearing completion, was developed as part of a design/build studio led by Carl Safe, professor of architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.

The Assembly Series continues with a special appearance by members of the world-renowned Saint Louis Symphony. Two modern American masterpieces will be offered at 7:30 p.m. February 4 in Simon Hall’s May Auditorium on the Danforth campus. The concert is free and open to the public.

New School of Medicine research shows that losing weight by any method improves cardiovascular health.

The School of Medicine’s Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology has changed its name to the Department of Developmental Biology.

In remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Society of Black Student Social Workers at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work will host a “Financial Freedom Seminar: Achieving Economic Independence Through Education,” from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 2 in Brown Hall, Room 100. The event is designed for members of the St. Louis community interested in building wealth, repairing and maintaining good credit, purchasing a home or starting and expanding a business. The event is free, but participants must register by Friday, Jan. 25.

Courtesy photoSchool of Medicine physicians are testing an investigational device that allows them to insert replacement aortic valves without opening the chest.