Newsroom Stories

Photo by Neil SchoenherrFiona Marshall studies the domestication of the African wild ass

Three University scientists recently were elected to the National Academy of Sciences. WUSTL’s new academy members are Clifford M. Will, Ph.D., the James S. McDonnell Professor of Physics in Arts & Sciences; Wayne M. Yokoyama, M.D., the Sam J. Levin and Audrey Loew Levin Professor of Research in Arthritis and professor of medicine and of pathology and immunology; and Aaron J. Ciechanover, M.D., D.Sc., visiting professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine and the Research Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

The following incidents were reported to University Police May 1-7. Readers with information that could assist in investigating these incidents are urged to call 935-5555. This information is provided as a public service to promote safety awareness and is available on the University Police Web site at police.wustl.edu. May 1 10:43 a.m. — A person reported that a locker room had been broken into in the men’s locker room in the Athletic Complex between 10:10-10:40 a.m. on this date. Total loss is estimated at $1,940. 1:10 p.m. — Copper piping belonging to Albert Arno Heating and Cooling Co. was stolen from the north equipment room sometime in the previous week. Total loss is estimated at $350. May 7 8:18 a.m. — Blue light No. 31 by the Ann W. Olin Women’s Building was found to be damaged. Telephone services and maintenance were both notified. Additionally, University Police responded to two auto accidents and one report each of lost article, damaged property and larceny.

Photo by Kevin Lowder(From left) Shaina Goodman, a junior in Women and Gender Studies; Patricia Engel, a junior in biology; and Jamie Yasgur, a sophomore in Women and Gender Studies, all in Arts & Sciences, perform “Close.Closer.Closed” at the 2007 Undergraduate Research Symposium April 28 in the Athletic Complex.

Carl M. Bender, Ph.D., and Helen M. Piwnica-Worms, Ph.D., will receive the University’s 2007 faculty achievement awards, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced. Bender, professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, is the winner of the Arthur Holly Compton Faculty Achievement Award, and Piwnica-Worms, professor of cell biology and physiology and of internal medicine at the School of Medicine, is the winner of the Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award.

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Scientists have linked a protein to the body’s use of glucose and shown its potential as a target for new drugs to treat diabetes and obesity.

Photo by Robert BostonWenFourth-year student Leana Wen was selected to travel with New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristoff to Africa to observe and write about Africa’s problems as a step toward effecting change. Wen was one of 2,000 who applied and will be joined by a teacher from Chicago. She was selected based on her essay below. Read her winning essay.

Photo by Robert BostonThe School of Medicine awarded medical degrees to 126 students in May. The new graduates will take their extraordinary knowledge, energy and enthusiasm with them as they embark on careers in surgery, pediatrics, internal medicine, public health and many other medical disciplines.

When repairing severed or damaged motor nerves with a donor nerve graft, surgeons have traditionally used a sensory nerve from another area of the patient’s body. However, these patients often do not fully regain function in the injured area. But now a team of surgeons at the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital has found that repairing a motor nerve in rats with an intact motor nerve yields better results than using a sensory nerve. The research appeared in the March issue of the journal Microsurgery.