Newsroom Stories

CottlerLinda Cottler, professor of epidemiology in psychiatry at the School of Medicine, has been named president-elect of the American Psychopathological Association (APPA). She will serve as its president in 2010, the organization’s centennial year.

Hallmarks of autism are characteristic behaviors — repetitive motions, problems interacting with others, impaired communication abilities — that occur in widely different combinations and degrees of severity among those who have the condition. But how those behaviors change as individuals progress through adolescence and adulthood has, until now, never been fully scientifically documented. In a new study, published in the September Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, researchers have found that symptoms can improve with age. “On average, people are getting better,” says Paul T. Shattuck, assistant professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. “It is a hopeful finding, but the fact remains that those with severe autism will depend on others for their everyday needs and care for the rest of their lives.”

Ruth DeFries, Ph.D., a 1976 summa cum laude graduate of Washington University in St. Louis’ earth and planetary sciences department in Arts & Sciences, has been named a MacArthur Fellow and will receive $500,000 from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Bone marrow transplants are best known for their potential to cure people with certain types of cancer. But they also hold promise for people with severe cases of sickle cell anemia, also known as sickle cell disease. Now, in a first-of-its-kind procedure, St. Louis Children’s Hospital has performed a bone marrow transplant in a teenager with sickle cell disease, using cells from a donor who is unrelated to him.

The Reduced Shakespeare CompanyThey’ve shortened Shakespeare, abbreviated the Bible and compacted Western civilization. Now the Reduced Shakespeare Company, those world-renowned “bad boys of abridgement,” return to St. Louis with Completely Hollywood (abridged), an epic edit of movie masterpieces. Written by RSC stalwarts Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, the show follows a trio of egotistical Tinseltown —the pompous Writer, the pandering Director and the narcissistic Actor — as they squabble their way to cinematic greatness.

The School of Medicine has received a five-year, $4.6 million grant to establish an interdisciplinary career development training program for physical and occupational therapists. The grant is from the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

David Kilper/WUSTL PhotoRaymond E. Arvidson, Ph.D., James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor, and chair of earth and planetary sciences (left), and Dong Shuwen, Ph.D., vice president of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, sign an agreement between Arvdison’s department and the Academy.The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS) have signed a research agreement that will involve collaboration on a number of research thrusts, travel between the two institutions, and eventually student exchanges that could lead to some Chinese students attaining doctorates from Washington University in St. Louis. The agreement was signed Sept. 18 at a ceremony and reception held on the third floor of the Earth and Planetary Sciences building.

Zarqa Nawaz knows something about crossing cultures. Born in England of 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, “Crossing Cultures” 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.

The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Robertson will perform a free concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, on Art Hill in Forest Park. Five members of the symphony orchestra currently teach violin, bass, bassoon and trombone through the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences.

“It is unlikely that a dispute over proper ownership of sports memorabilia would receive this sort of attention if it did not involve O.J. Simpson,” says Christopher A. Bracey, associate professor of law and of African and African-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis. “If the past is prologue, his celebrity status may also prove to be his ‘get out of jail free’ card, reinforcing his reputation as a man who operates ‘above the law.’ On the other hand, recent celebrity cases suggest that celebrated athletes and entertainers will no longer receive a free pass when it comes to the criminal justice system. In the case of Michael Vick — and perhaps OJ — one might argue that celebrities are now, in some sense, being targeted for prosecution.” Bracey is following the Simpson case and is available for interviews.