Newsroom Stories

Below is a link to the Washington University news release about the U.S. News & World Report undergraduate rankings for 2004-05: http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/3627.html To view a full listing of U.S. News magazine, book and Web-only rankings for 2004-05, please visit the U.S. News & World Report site: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

Washington University in St. Louis — consistently ranked among America’s 20 best national universities — is ranked 11th for undergraduate programs among the nation’s best 248 national universities by U.S. News and World Report. Last year WUSTL was tied for 11th place.

Erik Trinkaus / Czech Academy of SciencesA 26,000 year-old early modern human showing the reduced strength of the bones of the lesser toes.Those high-tech, air-filled, light-as-a-feather sneakers on your feet are a far cry from the leather slabs our ancestors wore for protection and support. But believe it or not, our modern day Nikes and Reeboks are direct descendents of the first supportive footwear that new research suggests came into use in western Eurasia between 26,000 and 30,000 years ago.

Opening the possibility of new therapies for type 2 diabetes, researchers at the School of Medicine have found that a protein called Sirt1 enhances the secretion of insulin in mice and allows them to better control blood glucose levels. Their study will appear in the August 17 issue of Cell Metabolism.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Neurotransmitter linked to cancer (week of Aug. 3) • ATV safety (week of Aug. 10) • Biomechanics of men and women (week of Aug. 17) • College can add pounds (week of Aug. 24) • Chimp genome sequenced (week of Aug. 31)

How exactly does the human brain react to a fall or an automobile accident? Researchers at Washington University are working to answer that question through a new computer model based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Learn more in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

The proportion of Gulf War veterans with these two illnesses is very small, says study lead author Seth Eisen, professor of medicine and of psychiatry.

The “recognized leader with impressive accomplishments” will replace James R. Schreiber, who has served as department head since 1991.

As president of the Society for Neuroscience, he’ll lead the world’s largest organization for scientists who study the brain.

Photo By ROBERT BOSTONSculptor Jessie Vonk donated the 500-pound In Shadow of the Rock, a work in granite and bronze, to the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders.