Newsroom Stories

Photo by David KilperAcclaimed conductor Leonard Slatkin — music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., and conductor laureate of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra — will return to St. Louis as guest conductor for WUSTL’s “Piano Extravaganza” at 7 p.m. Oct. 28. Presented by the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, “Piano Extravaganza” will mark the formal opening of the University’s newly renovated 560 Music Center, located at 560 Trinity Ave. in University City.

WUSTL’s efforts to create a more sustainable campus were recognized earlier this month when the University was named one of 15 new “Blue Skyways Partners” by the Blue Skyways Collaborative, a collection of public and private entities working to reduce diesel and energy-related air emissions in the central United States.

Due to a change in production scheduling, the Assembly Series program featuring actor Kal Penn Oct. 25 has been cancelled. There are no immediate plans to reschedule. For further updates visit assemblyseries.wustl.edu or call 935-5285.

Campus Sustainability Week begins at the Gargoyle at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, with a webinar titled “Building a Durable Future: Community, the Campus, and Deep Economy.” The event, produced by the Society for College and University Planning, will be presented by the Committee on Environmental Quality and is open to all WUSTL students, faculty and staff.

Rhythms for Rebuilding, WUSTL’s largest benefit concert, spotlinghting the entire a cappella community, will he held at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25 in Graham Chapel. The event, sponsored by the Alliance of Students Against Poverty and the WUSTL a cappella community, will raise money for causes related to hunger and poverty. Proceeds will benefit Centenary Cares, […]

The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District will hold a special session at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 25 in the School of Law’s Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall. The public is invited to hear cases involving the breach of a contract in the construction of a parking lot, a wrongful death case and the […]

Social activist and Black Entertainment Television commentator Jeff Johnson will present the annual Black Arts & Sciences Festival lecture at 11 a.m. Wednesday, October 31 in Graham Chapel. His talk, sponsored by the University’s Assembly Series and the Association of Black Students, will suggest strategies for developing effective organizations for future leaders: “BECOME Activists: Building Effective Campus Organizations and Maintaining Excellence.”

HammermanIn a new study with an eye on curing diabetes, senior investigator Marc Hammerman and a group of WUSM scientists successfully transplanted embryonic pig pancreatic cells destined to produce insulin into diabetic macaque monkeys – all without the need for risky immune suppression drugs that prevent rejection. The transplanted cells, known as primordia, are in the earliest stages of developing into pancreatic tissues. Within several weeks of the transplants, the cells became engrafted, or established, within the three rhesus macaque monkeys that received them. The cells also released pig insulin in response to rising blood glucose levels, as would be expected in healthy animals and humans.

Come hear the latest research accomplishments of some of the School of Medicine’s most talented female faculty and fellows. Spotlighting Women in Medicine and Science (SWIMS) will highlight the work of doctors and scientists in diverse fields, including obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, oncology, cardiology and cell biology. Speakers also will discuss some of the unique challenges they have faced in their careers in academic medicine.

Scientists believe they have found an explanation for a puzzling and serious complication of West Nile virus infection. Researchers showed that the virus can enter a nerve cell, replicate and move on to infect other nearby nerve cells. Viruses traveling this infectious pathway can break into the central nervous system, triggering a condition known as acute flaccid paralysis that leaves one or more limbs limp and unresponsive.