Newsroom Stories

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.

Poet and author Susan Wheeler, the visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature in Washington University’s Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, will read from her work Thursday, Oct. 25, and speak on the craft of poetry Tuesday, Oct. 30. Wheeler is the author of four poetry collections – Bag ‘o’ Diamonds (1993), Smokes (1998), Source Codes (2001) and Ledger (2005) – as well as a novel, Record Palace (2005).

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.

Photo by David KilperFor Hebrew literature scholar Nancy Berg, providing the keynote speech last month at an international conference on “Sami Michael and Jewish Iraqi Literature” was validation of a scholarly path she chose nearly two decades ago when she began her academic career at Washington University.

Thursday, Oct. 18 • Dept. of Music Lecture Series — “Demonstration of Shinnai Narrative Song” Friday, Oct. 19 • East Asian Studies Conference — Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs Saturday, Oct. 20 • Physics Science Saturdays Lecture Series — “The Laws of Classical Physics Govern What Cardiologists See and Hear” Wednesday, Oct. 24 • Global & Transnational Feminisms Lecture Series — “The Disappearing of Hannah Kudjoe: Women, Nation and the Tyranny of History”

There still is time to help the United Way of Greater St. Louis assist those that need it most. WUSTL continues to accept donations to the annual United Way of Greater St. Louis campaign, which began Sept. 4. The University’s goal for this year’s drive is $555,000, and those who have not yet donated are encouraged to do so as soon as possible.

Shortly after 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, a cooking accident damaged five large windows in the South 40’s Wohl Center, on the northwest corner of the second floor. The incident was caused by a portable tabletop stove that malfunctioned when a butane fuel canister sprang a leak.

All University faculty members are invited to submit proposals for academic research projects addressing aspects of entrepreneurship in their areas of discipline or cutting across disciplines. Each research project may receive up to $40,000 for each year of work for up to two years. The funding is provided by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Robert and Julie Skandalaris.