Newsroom Stories

“Universal health care is getting the attention it deserves, but unfortunately, the proposals receiving the most attention ignore the ‘Big Leak,'” the enormous non-benefit costs incurred by health care providers who must match their billions of billings with thousands of differing private health care plans,” says Merton C. Bernstein, a founding member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Coles Professor of Law Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis. “Putting everyone under the Medicare umbrella would eliminate that leak,” he says. Bernstein is available to discuss current universal health care proposals as well as the Medicare-for-all option.

PolonskyAs part of a national effort to translate basic science discoveries into treatments and cures for patients more quickly, the School of Medicine will lead a regional group of institutions under a new $50 million, five-year grant program that will greatly enhance clinical and translational research. The grant creates a comprehensive approach to ultimately improving patient care, says program principal investigator Kenneth S. Polonsky.

Mortgage woes could get worse thanks to easy credit.If it seems as though sub-prime mortgage loans stirred up trouble in the financial markets, just wait until debt problems spill over onto household spending. America’s love affair with spending could trigger the most severe downturn in economic activity seen since at least the 1980s — and possibly since the Great Depression.

Best-selling suspense author Ridley Pearson will read the children’s book, “The Story of Ferdinand” at 4 p.m. Sept. 20 in the University’s Campus Store on the Danforth Campus as part of the national “Read for the Record” program.

Photo by Bill StoverStudents living in the Park/Mudd and Brookings residential colleges may notice some wiser and more mature residents this semester. Joseph Thompson, Ph.D., of English and of African and African American Studies, both in Arts & Sciences; and Patrick Eisenlohr, Ph.D., assistant professor of linguistic anthropology in Arts & Sciences, have moved into apartments in Park/Mudd and Brookings, respectively. They are the two newest of five Faculty Fellows currently living the Danforth Campus’ South 40.

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Photo by Robert BostonHeidi Prather, D.O., specializes in treating women with musculoskeletal problems and injured performing artists, primarily dancers.

DiekmanTo help curb the expanding waist lines of her constituents, south Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry has proposed a two-year moratorium on new fast food restaurants in her district. If enacted in Los Angeles, or any other American city for that matter, would the plan work? Don’t count on it, says Connie Diekman, R.D., director of University nutrition and president of the American Dietetic Association.

Joe Angeles/WUSTL Photo ServicesNoga Landau and Sathya SridharanThree aspiring playwrights will present staged readings of their works Sept. 25 and 26 as part of 2007 A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival, sponsored by the Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences. Named in honor of alumnus A.E. Hotchner (AB and JD ’40), the festival consists of an intensive two-week workshop that culminates in the staged readings. Each of the participating plays — which are selected by jury — will also be eligible for a full production as part of the PAD’s 2008-09 season.

It doesn’t matter how small or large it is, if a cervical tumor glows brightly in a PET scan, it’s apt to be more dangerous than dimmer tumors. That’s the conclusion of a new study of cervical cancer patients at the School of Medicine. Lead author Elizabeth Kidd her colleagues, including researchers with the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, report their findings in an upcoming issue of the journal Cancer.