Newsroom Stories

Photo by Joe AngelesChancellor Mark S. Wrighton and Chancellor Emeritus William H. Danforth assist in the planting of a Valley Forge Elm in Brookings Quadrangle marking Earth Day.

The Salmonella riboswitch is the first to sense and respond to a metal ion, expanding the types of molecules that riboswitches can detect to help cells assess and react to their environment.

More than 120,000 people from the St. Louis area are expected to attend the annual Thurtene Carnival from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. on the North Brookings parking lot April 22-23. This year’s theme is “Let Your Imagination Ride.” Already the oldest and largest student-run carnival in the nation, this year it aims to be better for the environment as well.

YamaguchiWashington University orthopaedic surgeon Ken Yamaguchi, M.D., has been elected to the board of directors of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). He will serve the academy as member-at-large.

The George Warren Brown School of Social Work will honor three distinguished alumni, a distinguished faculty member and a recipient of the Dean’s Medal for outstanding school service during its annual alumni banquet on May 2 at the YWCA Phyllis Wheatley Heritage Center. The 2006 alumni award recipients are Alvin L. Schorr, William F. Siedhoff and Bernarda (Bernie) Wong. Gautam N. Yadama, Ph.D., associate professor and director of international programs at the School of Social Work will receive the 2006 Distinguished Faculty Award. The 2006 Dean’s Medalist is Sima K. Needleman.

The results of a new study at the School of Medicine could eventually have oncologists removing their specialties from their shingles by making therapy based on a tumor’s anatomical location obsolete. When the researchers compared eight different kinds of cancerous tumors, they saw that whether the tumor was, for instance, a breast tumor, lung tumor or colon tumor didn’t correlate to how the cancers interacted with a standard anticancer drug.

Arye Nehorai, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) at Washington University, was installed as the Eugene and Martha Lohman Professor on March 7, in a ceremony in Whitaker Hall.

From thought-provoking presentations and informative exhibitions to traditional foods and lively entertainment, international students in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work will offer a taste of their homelands during the 12th annual International Festival April 27 and 29. The theme of this year’s festival, which is free and open to the public, is “Bringing the World to You.”

The School of Law will celebrate the outstanding achievements of six individuals on April 21 at its annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner at The Ritz-Carlton. Presenting the awards will be Dean Kent Syverud, J.D., the Ethan A.H. Shepley University Professor. Distinguished Law Alumni Award recipients are Dave L. Cornfeld, Judge Orion L. Douglass, Norman S. London and Charles A. Newman. Judge Raymond W. Gruender and Susan Nell Rowe will receive Distinguished Young Law Alumni Awards.

SchafferJean Schaffer has won a Clinical Scientists Award in Translational Research from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) to support her work on understanding how diabetes contributes to heart failure. Schaffer, associate professor of medicine and of molecular biology and pharmacology, was one of only 10 physician-scientists in the country to receive this year’s award.