Newsroom Stories

Washington University is proud to be part of the American Talent Initiative. The national alliance of leading colleges and universities is on track to enroll 50,000 more lower-income students by 2025, a newly released report shows.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the strain of Zika that circulated in Brazil during the microcephaly epidemic that began in 2015 was particularly damaging to the developing brain.

Nanoscale photocatalysts are small, man-made particles that harvest energy from sunlight to produce liquid fuels and other useful chemicals. A new imaging solution developed at Washington University in St. Louis reveals the significance of a particular structural feature — clusters of oxygen vacancies — in achieving high photocatalytic activity.

The divide between urban and rural voters in the United States is nothing new, but its cause has been less clear. A new study by Washington University in St. Louis political scientists finds that it isn’t personal profiles, but rather proximity to bigger cities that drives the political divide.

Iconic, awe-inspiring and, at last, more accessible. Washington University in St. Louis’ non-denominational Graham Chapel is now open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays for silent meditation, reflection and prayer. The initiative is one of many supported by the Rev. Callista Isabelle, the university’s first director for religious, spiritual and ethical life. She also helped organize Interfaith Week, which runs through Friday, Feb. 21.

Alumni & Development Programs at Washington University in St. Louis has changed its name to University Advancement to better reflect the department’s renewed purpose to advance the university’s mission. 

A new study offers a road map to understanding the molecular underpinnings of endometrial cancer, which could lead to new therapies. The national research team was co-led by investigators at the School of Medicine.

William B. McKinnon, professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, led one of three new studies that together provide a far more complete picture of the composition and origin of Arrokoth. The new research published in Science points to the resolution of a longstanding scientific controversy about how such primitive planetary building blocks called planetesimals were formed.

Incomes in St. Louis are rising — for white residents. Development is booming — in the central corridor. And the population is rising — in select neighborhoods. “It really is a tale of two cities,” said Henry S. Webber, executive vice chancellor. At the Day of Dialogue & Action on Wednesday, Feb. 19, Webber and Chancellor Andrew D. Martin will ask participants for their ideas about ways to improve the region.

The School of Medicine led an international trial evaluating whether investigational drugs could slow memory loss and cognitive decline in a rare, inherited form of Alzheimer’s disease. The trial was conducted at 24 sites in Australia, Canada, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.