Newsroom Stories

The documentary film, “A Spark of Nerve,” which debuts at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at the 24th annual St. Louis International Film Festival, details Susan E. Mackinnon’s decades-long tenacity in pioneering the nerve-transfer procedure and the lives transformed by it.

Nancy Staudt, JD, PhD, dean of the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, has been installed as the inaugural Howard and Caroline Cayne Professor of Law. A lecture and reception to celebrate the occasion were held Oct. 22 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall.

The United States Supreme Court agreed Nov. 6, for the fourth time in three years, to rule on challenges to the Affordable Care Act. This time the court will rule on the birth control mandate. A decision siding with large nonprofit corporations in this new case means that employers would prevail at significant cost to employees, said Elizabeth Sepper, JD, religious freedom and health law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

Washington University in St. Louis has been recognized as a bronze level Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists.

In 1972, Washington University launched one of the nation’s first academic programs in women’s studies. This fall, Arts & Sciences celebrates a new milestone as Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies becomes a full department.

Salmon and other freshwater fish and amphibians supercharge their ability to see red and infrared light. Scientists at the School of Medicine have shown that this evolutionary adaptation hinges on the activity of an enzyme that converts vitamin A1 to vitamin A2, enabling the aquatic creatures to more easily navigate murky waters.

More than half of black youth report that they or someone they know was harassed by or experienced violence from the police, compared with one third of white youth and one quarter of Latino youth, according to a new report on black millennials co-authored by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Chicago.

On its 10-year anniversary, the McDonnell International Scholars Academy, Washington University in St. Louis’ lead international initiative, has much to celebrate: a strong network of 29 partner research universities around the world, 67 scholars in residence, 72 academy alumni and countless collaborations and connections. To mark the milestone, the McDonnell Academy is hosting an alumni workshop Friday through Sunday, Nov. 6-8, on the Danforth Campus.

​Diwali, a celebration of South Asian dance, fashion and culture, returns Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6 and 7, to Edison Theatre at Washington University in St. Louis. Student choreographers Apoorva Ram and Priya Suri explain the art of Bharatanatyam, one of the oldest and most popular forms of Indian dance. ​

At the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees meeting Oct. 2, the following faculty members were appointed with tenure or promoted with tenure, effective Oct. 2 unless otherwise indicated.