Newsroom Stories

Girls with a rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in a gene known as Nf1 are much more likely to lose their vision than boys with mutations in the same gene. And now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis believe they know why: Female sex hormones activate immune cells that damage the nerves necessary for vision.

Washington University Emeritus Trustee Robert Frick, BS ’60, MBA ’62, and his wife, Barbara, recently made a $2 million commitment to support Olin Business School. The popular second-floor commons area in Knight Hall will be named Robert and Barbara Frick Commons in recognition of their generosity.

The son of Washington University Nobel laureates Carl and Gerty Cori has given the Nobel Prizes his parents were awarded in 1947 to the university. They can be seen at the Becker Medical Library.

Washington University is among 30 of the nation’s most respected colleges and universities to join forces in a new initiative to substantially expand the number of talented low- and moderate-income students who attend America’s top-performing undergraduate institutions with the highest graduation rates.

The 21st Century Cures Act, sweeping mental health legislation passed this week by the U.S. Senate, will provide necessary funding to help those with mental illnesses if signed by President Obama, but should focus more on mental health outcomes of those suffering right now, says a mental health expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

Surgery can restore vision in patients who have suffered hemorrhaging in the eye after a traumatic brain injury, even if the operation doesn’t occur until several months after the injury, according to a small study from vision researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Greater stress and anxiety resulting from economic insecurity may be at least partly to blame for the U.S. death rate that the government announced Dec. 8 has increased for the first time in a decade, says an expert on poverty and inequality at Washington University in St. Louis.

Despite promises made before Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, will be as difficult to outright repeal as it was to pass, says a health economist at Washington University in St. Louis.

While a particular metabolic pathway shows potential to slow down the aging process, new research indicates a downside: That same pathway may drive brain cancer. The pathway, known as the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) pathway, is overactive in a deadly form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Kimberly G. Walker, chief investment officer at Washington University Investment Management Company (WUIMC), will step down from her position effective Dec. 31, according to David W. Kemper, chairman of the board of directors of WUIMC.