Newsroom Stories

At the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees meeting March 3 and 4, the trustees heard presentations from School of Medicine faculty and received a report from Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton that included updates on administrative appointments, admissions, athletics, construction and diversity efforts.

New guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology loosened some restrictions on athletes with heart conditions. Cardiologists at the School of Medicine led two of the task forces responsible for updating the guidelines.

Dedric Carter, associate provost and associate vice chancellor for innovation and entrepreneurship and professor of engineering practice, has been appointed vice chancellor for operations and technology transfer, effective July 1.

A new study that included genetic data from more than 190,000 people has identified two genes that, when altered in specific ways, either promote or undermine cardiovascular health. The findings may help guide efforts to design new preventive drugs, similar to the way statins now are prescribed to lower “bad” cholesterol to reduce the risk of heart disease.

As scientists look for replacements for our dwindling stock of antibiotics, the evolution of resistance is never far from their minds. Washington University in St. Louis biologist R. Fredrik Inglis explored the ability of bacteria to become resistant to a toxin called a bacteriocin by growing them for many generations in the presence of the toxin.

A new poverty risk calculator, co-developed by Mark Rank of the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, can determine an individual’s risk of poverty based on four basic factors: race, education, marital status and age.

Washington University in St. Louis leaders and community leaders will gather Monday, March 7, to address the impact of gun violence on children during “Gun Violence and Childhood Trauma,” to be held from 2-5 p.m. in the Clark-Fox Forum in Hillman Hall on the Danforth Campus.

The Amazing Brain Carnival, beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 5, delivers a full day of brain demonstrations, experiments, puzzles and games at the Saint Louis Science Center. Visitors also will get to touch a real brain.

New research sheds light on how the rhythms of daily life are encoded in the brain. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that different groups of neurons, those charged with keeping time, become active at different times of day despite being on the same molecular clock.

If you are a Washington University in St. Louis faculty member with an interest in developing teaching or research collaborations with colleagues in other departments or schools, the “Bring Your Own Idea” program is offering a third round of grants to help forge such a connection.