Newsroom Stories

David Kilper/WUSTL Photo(L-R) Larry Taber, postdoctoral researcher Gang Xu and Philip Bayly examine brain and heart cells to learn something of the mechanics involved in brain folding.Engineers at Washington University in St. Louis are finding common ground between the shaping of the brain and the heart during embryonic development. Larry A.Taber, Ph.D., the Dennis and Barbara Kessler Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Phillip Bayly, Ph.D., Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering, are examining mechanical and developmental processes that occur in the folding of the brain’s surface, or cortex, which gives the higher mammalian brain more surface area (and hence more intellectual capacity) than a brain of comparable volume with a smooth surface.

Dean Larry Shapiro spoke recently to School of Medicine staff about new initiatives underway at the institution and future plans. He outlined multidisciplinary research collaborations among scientists to investigate the causes of illness, including neurological disorders, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

More lane closures are scheduled the week of Oct. 1.

Six WUSTL freshmen had the opportunity to enjoy lunch Sept. 19 at the Whittemore House with Alan Lightman (back row, right), author of the 2007 Freshman Reading Program book, “Einstein’s Dreams.”

A team of researchers, including Herman Pontzer, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, has determined through analysis of early hominin fossils in eastern Europe that the first human ancestors to inhabit Eurasia were more primitive than previously thought.

Zarqa Nawaz knows something about crossing cultures. Born in England to Pakistani immigrants, raised in Toronto and now living in Saskatchewan, the Muslim writer, producer and filmmaker will give the annual Olin Fellows lecture at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, in Graham Chapel. The talk is free and open to the public. A panel discussion featuring Nawaz as well as other panelists will continue the discussion from 2-4 p.m. in the Women’s Building Lounge.

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Photo by Irene LindgrenEgon Schwarz, Ph.D. (left), the Rosa May Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Humanities and professor emeritus of German in Arts & Sciences, is presented the Austrian Great Cross of Merit by Eva Nowotny, Austrian ambassador to the United States, in a ceremony Sept. 17 at the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

The stock market might be nervous due to the subprime loan mess, but Stuart Greenbaum, Ph.D., former dean and Bank of America Professor Emeritus of Managerial Leadership for the Olin Business School, is bullish on the situation. Despite the circumstances, this is not a time to panic, says Greenbaum.

Photo by Robert BostonMary Klingensmith, is part mentor, part den mother, part disciplinarian