Newsroom Stories

Tommy Thompson, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, will be among the speakers at a June 8 conference on Medicaid financing.Rising healthcare costs and diminishing health insurance coverage will be among critical issues debated by leading medical policy experts as Washington University hosts a daylong public forum on Medicaid financing June 8 in the School of Medicine’s Eric P. Newman Education Center. Participants include top administrators from a half dozen major research hospitals and a range of academic, government and think-tank policy experts, including Tommy Thompson, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Discovery of alterations in a gene called FGFR2 could accelerate the development of new treatments for endometrial cancer, a type of uterine cancer. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen); the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, which is part of Cambridge University; and New York University School of Medicine reported the findings in the May 21, 2007, online version of the journal Oncogene.

Tim Russert, managing editor and moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” and political analyst for “NBC Nightly News” and the “Today” show, delivered Washington University’s 2007 Commencement address May 18 in Brookings Quadrangle. More than 14,000 people, including some 2,600 graduates, were on hand to hear Russert’s speech, titled “A View From Washington.”

The children are our future, said Tim Russert to the Class of 2007 during the 146th Commencement ceremony at Washington University in St. Louis. The host of NBC’s “Meet the Press” clarified, telling the audience of more than 14,000 that while this year’s some 2,600 graduates have done well and have the world at their feet, one of their real responsibilities is to take care of the world’s children and give them every opportunity to succeed. “If we are serious about remaining the world’s premier economic, military and moral force in the world, we have no choice. We need all of our children contributing, and prospering and competing,” Russert told the assembled crowd in Brookings Quadrangle during the May 18 ceremony.

Washington University’s 146th Commencement will be held at 8:30 a.m. Friday, May 18. The university will bestow degrees on more than 2,600 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. The university also will bestow honorary degrees on six individuals, including Tim Russert. Russert, managing editor and moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” and political analyst for “NBC Nightly News” and the “Today” show, will deliver the 2007 Commencement address. His talk is titled “A View From Washington.”

The School of Medicine is launching a new effort to study infectious diseases that preferentially affect women. The center for Women’s Infectious Disease Research (cWIDR) will focus on issues such as microorganisms that cause urinary tract infections, infections that lead to premature delivery and microorganisms that may contribute to life-threatening conditions such as cancer and heart disease.

Jackson Baranyi, 8 months, reaches for a costumed character of “The Battling Bear,” the University mascot, to the delight of parents Deanna (’97) and Jeff Baranyi of Arvada, Colo. The family took part in a Baby Bears Brunch for children of the Class of 1997, held April 21 in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge.

Robert EtcheverryDynamo Theatre CompanyEach year, the Edison Theatre OVATIONS! Series presents nationally and internationally known artists performing works designed to challenge, educate and inspire. The 2007-08 season — the Edison’s 35th — will highlight the interdisciplinary, the multicultural and the experimental through a mix of returning favorites and St. Louis premieres.

Photo by Robert BostonGraduating medical student Leana Wen was selected through an essay contest to spend three weeks in Africa with a columnist for The New York Times before beginning a Rhodes Scholarship this fall.

The northeast corner of the parking lot and the fire lane south of the School of Law and the stairs between the Law School and the Knight Center will be closed through Aug. 3.