Newsroom Stories

Two vastly different but innovative business startups with direct ties to Washington University, Applied Particle Technology and Invisible Girlfriend, have been awarded $50,000 in extra capital funding thank Arch Grants. The grants provide equity-free cash awards and free support services to startups willing to headquarter their businesses in St. Louis.

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to announce its decision in a lawsuit that threatens federal health insurance subsidies for more than 6 million Americans, health care economist Timothy D. McBride, PhD, professor in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, is confident the high court will side with the Obama administration. If the court decides otherwise, low-income residents in many states will have little access to affordable healthcare, he warns.

Does a recently upheld Texas abortion law impose an “undue burden” if it forces some women to drive as much as 600 miles to obtain an abortion at a state-approved clinic? That’s a question the U.S. Supreme Court may be asked to decide, suggests legal experts at Washington University in St. Louis.

Fair Saint Louis​ will be held July 2-4 in Forest Park. In the spirit of community partnership, and given the proximity of the park to campus, Washington University in St. Louis has agreed to sponsor Fair Saint Louis by providing access to several campus parking areas during the fair, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 2.

Studying mice, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a neural circuit in the retina that carries signals enabling the eye to detect movement. The finding could help in efforts to build artificial retinas for people who have suffered vision loss.

Images captured in and around the Washington University campuses.

The Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis has launched the Evaluation Center to provide client-driven evaluation services and training for nonprofit organizations, funders, universities and governmental agencies.

An analysis of Twitter hashtag use on the subject of diabetes provides new insights about spreading health information through social media. The study, led by Jenine Harris, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, looked at the hashtag #diabetes and its interaction with two Twitter measures of engagement, retweeting and favoriting. The study found retweeting and favoriting was significantly lower for tweets about the number or percentage of people with diabetes, while favoriting was higher for tweets about health problems associated with diabetes.

Whether made by the body or ingested through diet, cholesterol plays a vital role in cells. Cholesterol also is a building block of steroids and hormones, including those that trigger puberty and support pregnancy. A new study, led by Daniel Ory, MD, implicates a surprising regulator of cholesterol in cells’ ability to make these hormones, especially in tissues associated with fertility, such as the ovaries.

Nine Washington University in St. Louis alumni have been selected to conduct research or teach English this year as participants in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The program recognizes talented students who are committed to promoting global collaboration and understanding through research and teaching.