Newsroom Stories

Bobby Golliday, coordinator of special programs for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Washington University in St. Louis, won the Gloria W. White Distinguished Service Award at the annual Staff Day celebration May 23 at Edison Theatre.

Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis made a discovery that uncovers the molecular logic of how dividing cells are stopped in their tracks. The team zeroed in on a specific protein, whose job is to stop a cell from dividing or to slow the division.

People who suffer itching with no clear cause may have previously unrecognized immune system defects. In a small study of such patients, researchers from the Center for the Study of Itch at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identified immune system irregularities that may prompt the urge to scratch.

A survey of more than 216,000 adolescents from all 50 states indicates the number of teens with marijuana-related problems is declining. Similarly, the rates of marijuana use by young people are falling despite the fact more U.S. states are legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana use and the number of adults using the drug has increased. Researchers at the School of Medicine examine the data.

The Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis will be buzzing with construction activity this summer. Crews will begin renovations on Olin Library and Bryan Hall, and start utility work in advance of upcoming enhancements to the East End of the Danforth Campus.

Mike and Tana Powell, who have been actively engaged at Washington University in St. Louis since their daughter Landis enrolled in the Arts & Sciences Class of 2016, have committed $8 million to match gifts for endowed professorships in the Department of Chemistry and other critical disciplines.

A new era of scientific discovery is being launched at Washington University in St. Louis that will transform teaching, research, faculty and facilities in Arts & Sciences. Driving Discovery is an ambitious multiphase project in Arts & Sciences that will create new research and teaching facilities for the sciences.

More than 2,900 graduates and 12,000 family and university members gathered in Brookings Quadrangle to celebrate the 155th Commencement ceremony May 20. “You must leave here and get in the way,” U.S. Rep. John Lewis told the graduates. “When you see something that is not fair, not right, not just, you must have the courage to stand up, to speak up and find a way to get in the way.”

This morning, more than 2,900 Washington University in St. Louis undergraduate, graduate and professional students will enter Brookings Quadrangle as degree candidates and leave as graduates after Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton confers their degrees.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and colleagues have discovered the gene that produces the brilliant red color in male birds that is so attractive to females. The study is published online May 19 in Current Biology.