Newsroom Stories

Using Washington University’s state-of-the-art zebrafish facility, scientists have identified a gene that helps regulate how well nerves of the central nervous system are insulated. The finding may have implications for human diseases such as multiple sclerosis, in which this insulation is lost.

Grants will provide funding for innovative research projects and programs at Washington University in St. Louis that aim not only to explore the underlying causes of the difficult issues the St. Louis region is facing, but also to seek and implement long-term, sustainable solutions.

Rajan Chakrabarty, PhD, assistant professor of environmental engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, has received a three-year grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to study the climatic effects of carbon-containing aerosols emitted from peat fires.

School of Medicine employees are invited to visit the annual Health Happening Fair from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30, in the Eric P. Newman Education Center for free health screenings and information on a wide variety of health topics.

The School of Medicine’s 11th Annual Art Show is underway in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center atrium, 520 S. Euclid Ave. Visitors may view the art through Feb. 11.

Scientists, led in part by Washington University’s Vitaly Klyachko, PhD, have gained new insight into fragile X syndrome — the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability — by studying the case of a person without the disorder, but with two of its classic symptoms.

As the cost of higher education continues to climb steadily across the country and around the world, Washington University in St. Louis is firmly committed to being within financial reach of all highly qualified students, and is taking two important steps toward this goal.

The Assembly Series, Washington University’s premier speaker series for more than 60 years, continues to bring distinguished experts, scholars and newsmakers to campus. The series — free and open to the public — explores universal concerns while it aims to promote deeper discussions across the Danforth and Medical campuses. The spring 2015 schedule begins at noon Thursday, Jan. 22, with sociologist and urban planner Xavier de Souza Briggs.

During the 1950s and ’60s, international abstraction played a crucial role in Cold War cultural politics. In St. Louis, Washington University emerged as one of the nation’s most important regional centers for postwar abstract art — in large part thanks to the efforts of curator William N. Eisendrath Jr. This spring, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will pay homage with “From Picasso to Fontana: Collecting Modern and Postwar Art in the Eisendrath Years, 1960-68.” 

A search committee has been named to identify candidates for the position of executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton will chair the search committee. Larry J. Shapiro, MD, announced last week he will step down from the position but will remain at the helm until his replacement is named.