Newsroom Stories

Gravenhorst’s new ear is repositioned during an office visit to the maxillofacial prosthetics lab.Like any 17-year-old, Emily Gravenhorst follows a routine to get ready for a day of high school. She showers, styles her hair, puts on her make-up and eats breakfast. And just before she leaves the house, she puts on her right ear. That ear was created in the maxillofacial prosthetics laboratory at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where one dental specialist and one technician help patients fit back into society after disfigurement due to accident or disease.

YokoyamaA researcher with Hawaiian roots is among the 72 members elected to the National Academy of Sciences this year. Selection for the academy is a prestigious honor that recognizes distinguished and continuing achievement in research and is one of the highest marks of distinction for an American scientist.

Three Washington University scientists are among the 72 members and 18 foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Election to the academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer.

For the first time in the United States, the presidents of 12 premier research universities from around the world will gather at Washington University in St. Louis to discuss ways their institutions are addressing global energy and environmental concerns. From Israel and Turkey in the Middle East, and in Asia from Korea in the north, Indonesia in the south, Japan to the east and India to the west, 20 major research universities have joined Washington University in a partnership — the McDonnell International Scholars Academy — to build cooperation and understanding among people and institutions of the world.

El Museo Cultural de Santa FePeter Elsbeck, Cristina Greavu and Eric Rang, all graduate students in architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, have won an international competition to create a sculptural façade for El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe. The group’s winning design was selected from more than 100 entries submitted by architects, artists and designers representing 10 countries. The team will receive a $5,000 first-place cash award.

Photo by Mary ButkusGladys Seitter, reserves assistant with University Libraries, receives a silver platter from Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton in recognition of her 25 years of service to the University April 25 at a Harbison House ceremony.

There is renewed hope for treatment of a rare genetic condition that causes rapidly accelerated aging and leads to an average life expectancy of 13 years. Scientists studying the genes of two infants who died of mysterious illnesses found the infants had mutations in LMNA, the same gene altered in patients with the premature aging condition progeria. But the infants’ unusual mutations caused them to make many more bad copies of the gene’s primary protein, lamin A, than progeria patients.

Elizabeth Stevens has been named the winner of the 2007 Stalker Prize, given to the graduating senior in biology in Arts & Sciences whose undergraduate career was marked by outstanding scientific scholarship.

Photo by David KilperProgram Specialist Darlene Norfleet leads a hands-on session on insects aboard the MySci Investigation Station April 20 at Edgar Road Elementary School in Webster Groves, Mo.

Brad A. Racette, M.D., associate professor of neurology, has received a five-year, $2,623,527 grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for research titled “Epidemilogy of Parkinsonism in Welders.”… Yixin Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science and engineering, has received a one-year, $99,589 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for research titled “Efficient Large-scale Nonlinear Constrained Optimization Using Constraint Partitioning.”… Susan B. MacKinnon, M.D., the Sydney M. Jr. and Robert H. Shoenberg Professor of Surgery, has received a five-year, $2,228,395 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for research titled “Nerve Allotransplantation for Traumatic Nerve Injury.”… Douglas A. Wiens, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences, has received a one-year, $24,614 grant from the National Science Foundation for research titled “SGER: A Rapid Geophysical Response to the Great 2006 Tonga EQ.”… Fred Prior, M.D., research associate professor of radiology, has received a five-year, $60,000 subcontract from the University of Pittsburgh for research titled “Data Coordination and Image Analysis for CRISP II.”… Donald L Elbert, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical engineering, has received a one-year, $250,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for research titled “Development of Materials to Release Bioactive Lipids.”… John W. Olney, M.D., the John P. Feighner Professor of Psychiatry, has received a five-year, $1,954,487 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for research titled “Anesthesia-induced Developmental Neuroapoptosis.” Also, he has received a five-year, $1,503,839 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for research titled “Acute Brain Injury, Mechanisms and Consequences.”… Christopher Gill, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science and engineering, has received a four-year, $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for research titled “CSR — EHS: Semantic Domain Integration for Embedded and Hybrid Systems.”… Dora E. Angelaki, Ph.D., the Alumni Endowed Professor of Neurobiology, has received a five-year, $1,900,521 grant from the National Eye Institute for research titled “Neural Basis of Self-motion Perception.”… Lev D. Gelb, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, has received a two-year, $242,400 grant from the National Science Foundation for research titled “Cyberinfrastructure for Phase-space Mapping — Free Energies, Phase Equilibria and Transition Paths.”… Steven Bassnett, Ph.D., associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, has received a five-year, $1,710,563 grant from the National Eye Institute for research titled “Fiber Cell Formation in Normal and Cataractous Lenses.”… John-Stephen A. Taylor, Ph.D., professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, has received a one-year, $311,727 grant from the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute for research titled “DNA Photolesion Structure-activity Relationships.”… Jeanne M. Nerbonne, Ph.D., Alumni Endowed Professor of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology, has received a four-year, $1,330,417 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for research titled “Ion Channel Regulation and Modulation in Cardiac Muscle.”… Jere Confrey, Ph.D., professor of education in Arts & Sciences, has received a one-year, $141,248 grant from the National Science Foundation for research titled “Synthesizing Rational Number Reasoning for Urban Schools.”… Linda J. Pike, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, has received a four-year, $1,293,821 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for research titled “Lipid Rafts and EGF Receptor Function.”… Gerald Early, Ph.D., the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters, professor of English, of African and African American studies and of American Culture Studies, all in Arts & Sciences, has received a one-year, $230,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for research titled “Teaching Jazz as American Culture.”… Clay F. Semenkovich, M.D., professor of medicine, has received a four-year, $1,246,656 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for research titled “De Novo Lipogenesis and Metabolic Disease.”… Kenneth Goldman, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science and engineering, has received a three-year, $135,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for research titled “Development of Concept Inventories for Computer Science.”