Newsroom Stories

A pandemic flu outbreak could kill millions. Now, School of Medicine researchers have found features of the virus’ genome that influence how well it multiplies. The findings could help target pandemic flu surveillance efforts to make it easier to find the next outbreak before it spreads widely.

With the aim of training the next leaders in imaging, the School of Engineering & Applied Science is collaborating with other Washington University in St. Louis schools to offer an interdisciplinary doctoral program in imaging sciences, beginning in the 2018-19 academic year.

In the first test of detailed consumer-buying habits by categories at more than one chain store selling groceries, a team of business school researchers, led by Washington University in St. Louis, found that shoppers weren’t monogamist or bigamist but rather polygamist in their choice of outlets. In fact, it turns out that grocery categories such as dessert toppings, motor oil, candles and refrigerated ethnic foods were some of the leading products that lure customers to separate stores.

As Americans begin to file their last returns under a fading tax system, as President Donald Trump concludes his first State of the Union with a great emphasis on the economy, as the world watches this country undergo tectonic changes, it’s time to cut through the politicking and positioning. Washington University in St. Louis compiled researchers and experts across campus to attempt to put the new tax reform into perspective, plainly speaking.

Congressional Republicans agree on tax cuts more than they agree on nearly any other issue. Tax cuts have been central to Republican economic policy since the mid-20th century.

It’s curious that we heard very little from the C-Suite in the deliberations leading up to the Dec. 22 signing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. What makes this curious is that the goal of the act was to increase GDP growth above 3 percent by stimulating corporate investments to increase productivity, but no one seemed to be asking CEOs whether the tax cut would have that effect.

Much of the debate over the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act focuses on whether Congress favors rich corporations over poor people. But an expert on tax law at Washington University in St. Louis asks, what about poor corporations?

Overall, aspects of the tax-reform package will reduce the attractiveness of home ownership and mortgages, and it may even adversely affect home prices going forward.

In a research paper set for publication in the journal Behavioral Science & Policy, a team of researchers including two from Washington University in St. Louis demonstrated that — by structuring the messaging in the right way — those taxpayers can be encouraged to save their returns for long-term needs or unforeseen emergencies.

The Beyond Boundaries interdisciplinary program at Washington University in St. Louis offers first-year students a wide array of experiences: exposure to new concepts and people; opportunities to learn from some of the world’s leading scholars across a spectrum of disciplines; and something a bit less tangible.