Newsroom Stories

School of Medicine researchers have found that our gut microbes are biomarkers, mediators and potential therapeutic targets in the war against obesity.

There are currently two pneumonia vaccines available to the public — one for children, and one for adults. The bacteria responsible for pneumonia can be deadly, and the vaccines can prevent many infections. Streptococcus pneumoniae causes 500,000 cases of pneumonia and 40,000 deaths per year, making it the leading cause of infectious disease mortality among adults.

In remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Society of Black Student Social Workers (SBSSW) at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work will host “Financial Freedom Seminar: Achieving Economic Independence Through Education,” Jan. 20 from 8:30 a.m.- 3 p.m. in Brown Hall. This free event is designed for members of the St. Louis community interested in building wealth, maintaining good credit, purchasing a home or starting a business. “SBSSW’s goal is to present the King Holiday, not as a tradition or a history lesson, but as a call to action- to fight for economic and social justice,” says Charletra Hurt, SBSSW co-chair and first-year student at the School of Social Work.

In three separate national ratings — faculty scholarly productivity, black student college graduation rates and the number of National Merit Scholars in the freshman class — Washington University ranks in the top 10. WUSTL ranks as the seventh most productive large research university as measured by the faculty’s scholarly productivity, as well as ranking in the top 10 in five broad areas and 19 specific disciplines, according to Academic Analytics’ Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index (FSP Index), a new quantitative method for ranking doctoral programs at research universities.

Ray Bradbury’s vision of the future was a scary one indeed. Of course, that’s the point of being a science-fiction writer, but in his classic Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury wrote about firemen who didn’t necessarily put out fires. Rather, they started them in order to burn books and suppress learning and knowledge. The book is the centerpiece of a National Endowment for the Arts-supported program in February. “The Big Read,” hosted by the University in partnership with several local organizations, will feature lectures, readings, art exhibits, theater productions, book discussion groups and film festivals featuring the themes of Bradbury’s novel.

The Snow Way Garage Phase II parking facility is now open. The extension adds 327 new parking spaces to Snow Way Garage.

Photo by Tim ParkerPete and Jenny Ferrill of Danville, Ill., hold Kieran, one of their quintuplets born Dec. 21 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and talk with Michael Paul, M.D., the physician who delivered the quints.The “Ferrill Five” quintuplets born in December were the first quints to be delivered through the Washington University Center for Multiple Births.

William Lawrence Bolles, a former visiting professor in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, died Sunday, Dec. 17, 2006.

Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded the University’s debt rating to Aaa from Aa1 and assigned an Aaa rating to the Series 2007 A and B fixed-rate bonds to be issued through the Missouri Health and Educational Facilities Authority. The Aaa rating is the highest level offered by Moody’s.

Henry Schaerf, Ph.D., associate professor emeritus of mathematics in Arts & Sciences, died Sunday, March 5, 2006, in Seattle.