Newsroom Stories

Biologist Rachel Penczykowski in Arts & Sciences sizes up an unlikely natural phenomenon: when parasitism actually causes the number of hosts to increase, an effect known as a hydra effect. Her study of common water fleas and their fungal parasites includes laboratory components and an analysis of 13 fungal epidemics in nature.

Li Yang, professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, leads a team that won a four-year $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation to help develop new quantum materials called artificial multiferroics.

Menstrual products are now available at no charge in restrooms in some 30 buildings on Washington University in St. Louis’ Danforth Campus. And soon, such products will be available on the Medical Campus.

Russell K. Osgood, visiting professor of law, has been named interim dean of the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, announced Beverly Wendland, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.

Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, at Washington University School of Medicine, is a recipient of this year’s Balzan Prize for his role in founding the field of human gut microbiome research and revolutionizing the understanding of gut microbes and their roles in human health and disease.

Kenneth F. Kelton, the Arthur Holly Compton Professor of Physics in Arts & Sciences, won a five-year grant from NASA to study fundamental fluid processes in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station.

Mark S. Wrighton, chancellor emeritus and the James and Mary Wertsch Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry at Washington University, has been appointed interim president of George Washington University.

The Brown School is partnering with the city of St. Louis in an innovative new program aimed at hiring social workers and public health professionals to intervene in nonviolent situations such as mental-health crises as an alternative to the criminal justice system.

As the university’s strategic planning process continues, those building recommendations want to hear from more of the university community. Three virtual town halls will take place next week.

Washington University School of Medicine will serve as the data and administrative coordinating center for a national effort to investigate how variations in the human genome sequence affect how the genome functions. Such information is critical for understanding human health and diseases.