Newsroom Stories

Chancellor Emeritus William H. Danforth, MD, who served as chancellor for 24 of his more than 65 years of service to Washington University in St. Louis, died on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, at his home in Ladue, Mo. He was 94.

Working together to develop a collaborative and coordinated response to the climate crisis in the Midwestern region is the top goal of the upcoming Midwest Climate Summit, which Washington University in St. Louis developed in close partnership with many leading Midwestern organizations. The event, which is free and open to the public, is presented with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

School of Medicine researchers have discovered that a molecule produced by the immune system acts on the brain to change the behavior of mice. The findings help illuminate a surprising mind-body connection.

Older people without cognitive problems who experience a fall may have undetected neurodegeneration in their brains that puts them at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine.

A team of engineers from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis conducted a feasibility study for electrochemical “refilling” of lithium-ion batteries into the spent electrodes to regenerate useful compounds.

With a grant from the USDA, a researcher at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis works toward a customizable kill switch — a genetic circuit that could tell bacteria to self-destruct.

A search committee comprising faculty and administrators will begin its work to identify candidates to succeed Henry S. Webber, who will transition to the newly created role of executive vice chancellor for civic affairs and strategic planning.

School of Medicine scientists have created a PET imaging agent that detects signs of inflammation. Such a tracer could aid diagnosis and study of diseases ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer to COVID-19.

Even before they cast their votes, partisans of different stripes are poised to question the legitimacy of the election outcome, but for different reasons. According to political scientist Steven Smith at Washington University in St. Louis, findings of The American Social Survey, sponsored by the university’s Weidenbaum Center, indicate that the intensity of candidate and media attention about voting fraud threats — real or not — is influencing views of the legitimacy of the election outcome in November.

Washington University’s Deanna Barch was among 59 women psychologists working in academia who took an empirical approach to understanding gender inequities in their field. They find some promising data, but also much work to be done.