Newsroom Stories

In vitro fertilization can cost anywhere from $10,000 – $15,000 for each round of treatments. This means access to assisted reproductive technologies (ART) is generally limited to a relatively small portion of couples that seek it. Several state governments have turned to public policy in an attempt to make access to ART more widely available. But two professors from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis find that market competition can be as effective at expanding access as requiring insurance companies to cover infertility treatments. At the same time, competition appears to lower the rate of high-risk births and encourages the use of new technologies.

Photo by Mary Butkus / WUSTL PhotoSteve Malter (right) teaching students to plan their academic life for their business career.The Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis has created a class that addresses the students’ need for academic advice and career guidance at the same time. Managing Your Business Career Strategy (MYBCS) was designed to address this need. Students learn how their classes could help with future career choices; they learn job search skills; and they learn the particulars about the characteristics of various career options. It’s the first of its kind at Washington University in St. Louis, and it may very well be the first of its kind in the nation.

Communities exposed to toxic lead emissions recently won an important victory in federal court through a case filed by the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic (IEC) at Washington University in St. Louis. “The court chastised the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for long-neglecting its duty to review the lead standard every five years, and placed the agency on a firm schedule for conducting the review,” says Maxine I. Lipeles, IEC director and professor of law and engineering. “Because the lead standard must be revised to protect public health, and the existing standard is out of date, we believe that the EPA is virtually required to revise the standard downward. That would help protect children in communities across the country where smelters and other facilities emit significant amounts of lead into the air. The decision should also caution the EPA to act more promptly in reviewing the other five national ambient air quality standards * for nitrogen oxides, ozone, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter.”

Fish in ponds can be a flowering plant’s best friend, according to WUSTL ecologists.Fish and flowering plants would seem to have as much in common as pigs and beauty soap. But ecologists at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Florida have found an amazing relationship between the different species that provides a new direction for understanding how ecosystems “hook up.” A team of researchers, headed by Tiffany Knight, Ph.D., Washington University assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, has shown a correlation between the presence of fish in ponds and well-pollinated St. John’s wort (Hypericum fasciculatum, Hypericaceae) at a Florida research station.

Photo by David Kilper / WUSTL PhotoThoroughman (background) and Taylor tracked the moves that people make.Practice makes perfect when people learn behaviors, from baseball pitching to chess playing to public speaking. Biomedical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis have now identified how people use individual experiences to improve performance.

Cell phone radiation doesn’t stress human cells.Weighing in on the debate about whether cell phones have adverse health effects, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the electromagnetic radiation produced by cell phones does not activate the stress response in mouse, hamster or human cells growing in cultures. The stress response is a cellular protection mechanism set into motion by various adverse stimuli, including heat shock, heavy metals, and inflammation. High levels of the stress response in cells are thought to result in changes associated with malignancy.

Poorly controlled blood glucose levels can negatively affect blood flow to the heart.In the heart muscle of type 1 diabetics, high blood glucose is a significant contributor to poorly opening vessels, or poor vasodilation, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Even administration of high levels of insulin, which usually enhances vasodilation, can’t counteract the negative effect of high glucose on the heart, and this contributes to increased plaque buildup and heart disease.

Sunlight promotes healthy teeth.As the days get shorter and colder, it gets harder to spend time in the sun, and that’s probably bad for your teeth. According to an article in the Journal of Periodontology from a researcher at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, our teeth may be light-sensitive, at least indirectly.

Women have different sports medicine needs than men.In sports medicine, it isn’t always true that what’s “good for the goose is good for the gander.” Reporting on issues unique to female runners in the journal Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America, Washington University physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists say women’s bodies adapt to athletic challenges differently. They say that when female athletes get injured, health-care professionals need to consider the anatomic, biomechanical, hormonal and functional factors that are unique to women.

In 1992, Mae Jemison climbed aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour and became the first woman of color to go into space. On Wed., Oct. 26, she will deliver the Black Arts & Sciences Festival lecture for the Assembly Series at 11 a.m. in Graham Chapel.