Newsroom Stories

​Washington University in St. Louis students, faculty and staff are invited to learn more about the work of the Ferguson Commission and to share their perspectives about St. Louis’ challenges at “The Future of Our Region,” a town hall meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, at the Emerson Auditorium in Knight Hall. The event will feature four Ferguson Commission members, including Rose Windmiller, assistant vice chancellor for government and community relations.

A small team of chemists, having learned the secrets of light absorption from chlorophylls a and b, can now tune molecules to absorb anywhere in the solar spectrum. They are using this facility to synthesize pigments that fill gaps in the sunlight absorbed by native pigments and to push deeper into the infrared than any native pigment.

Personalized melanoma vaccines can be used to marshal a powerful immune response against unique mutations in patients’ tumors, according to early data in a first-in-people clinical trial at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The research is a boost to cancer immunotherapy, a treatment strategy that unleashes the immune system to seek out and destroy cancer.

Ken Burns, director and producer of some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, has been selected to give the 2015 Commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. Wrighton made the announcement to the Class of 2015 during the annual senior class toast Thursday, April 2, in the Danforth University Center. Commencement is Friday, May 15.

Louis W. Sullivan, MD, president emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine, and former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), will speak about healthy equity and diversity in the health professions in two talks April 9 at Washington University.

Older mice genetically prone to bear offspring with heart defects can reduce this risk to that of younger mouse mothers with the same genetic defect through exercise alone, according to new research at the School of Medicine. The study, led by Patrick Y. Jay, MD, PhD, also suggests that the increased risk of congenital heart defects is tied to the age of the mother and not the age of her eggs.

Dancer Samantha Gaitsch is a familiar face to campus audiences. Over the next two weekends, Gaitsch will perform with The Slaughter Project, company-in-residence in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences, and will co-direct “Step, Turn, Leap!,” the 2015 Student Dance Showcase.

​“Gun Violence: A Public Health Crisis,” a yearlong initiative at Washington University in St. Louis, will invite scholars, medical professionals, community leaders and citizens to take a hard look at the serious, tragic public health consequences of gun violence in America. Beginning this month, the university will host a series of events and discussions designed to explore three key themes: What we know, what we need to know, and what to do about this critical issue.

Music industry insiders, including Sean Douglas, songwriter and 2005 alum, shared advice with Washington University students during a March 27 panel discussion “Making It in the Music Industry” at the Danforth University Center.

While the location of the annual Pow Wow is changing this year, the tradition and excitement are not. The 25th annual Pow Wow, a festival of American Indian cultures at Washington University in St. Louis, will be held Saturday, April 4, at the Dunham Student Activity Center on the campus of nearby Fontbonne University.