Newsroom Stories

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.

Deanna Barch, a leading researcher on the role of cognition, emotion and brain function in illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression; Irving Boime, a developmental biologist; and Timothy Ley, MD, an expert in cancer genomics and leukemia, will be honored by Washington University in St. Louis, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton has announced.

Medical professionals have long known that the buildup of plaque in arteries can cause them to narrow and harden, potentially leading to a whole host of health problems — including heart attack, heart disease and stroke. While high blood pressure and artery stiffness are often associated with plaque buildup, new research from engineers at Washington University in St. Louis shows they are not the direct causes. Their findings suggest a new culprit: elastic fibers in the arterial wall.

The odd-looking mountains on Jupiter’s innermost moon, Io, are made by a tectonic process unique to Io (and maybe the early Earth), suggests a numerical experiment by two scientists, including Washington University’s Bill McKinnon.