Newsroom Stories

Two major Alzheimer’s disease studies at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received federal funding totaling $30 million over the next five years.

​Fuzhong Zhang, PhD, assistant professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, will study these systems with a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The five-year, $605,000 award is for his project titled “Synthetic Regulatory Systems for Dynamic Metabolic Pathways.”​

Longtime philanthropists and civic leaders James and Elizabeth McDonnell have pledged $25 million to endow The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The gift will fund innovative research to understand the genetic origins of diseases ranging from cancer and diabetes to autism and Alzheimer’s disease, with the aim of developing more effective diagnosis and treatment for patients.

Shenyang Guo, PhD, was installed Nov. 25 as the Frank J. Bruno Distinguished Professor of Social Work Research. Guo is the McDonnell International Scholars Academy’s ambassador to Fudan University in Shanghai and also serves as assistant vice chancellor for international affairs-Greater China.

Robert E. Wiltenburg, PhD, who has served as dean of University College in Arts & Sciences for nearly 20 years, has announced that he will step down as dean at the end of the academic year, June 30, 2015, according to Barbara A. Schaal, PhD, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences. After a sabbatical during the fall 2015 semester, Wiltenburg will return to teaching in spring 2016.

Enhancing hearing appears to improve balance in older adults with hearing loss, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Patients with hearing aids in both ears performed better on standard balance tests when their hearing aids were turned on compared with when they were off.

As a show of their appreciation for exemplary service in medical education, Washington University School of Medicine students recently presented the school’s faculty and house staff with the annual Distinguished Service Teaching Awards. The awards were for the 2013-14 school year.

Washington University in St. Louis and the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society (EPNNES) have announced plans to create the Newman Numismatic Portal, an online research tool that will become the ultimate go-to resource for the study of coins and currency. A commitment of $2 million from EPNNES will support the project.

Secondary infection with hepatitis C does not cause the memory loss, personality changes and other mental impairments seen in patients with long-term HIV infections, a new study shows. Pictured is first author David Clifford, MD, of the School of Medicine.

It’s one of the most recognizable buildings in St. Louis, a former department store once known for lush holiday displays. Today, the Railway Exchange sits empty, but architecture students from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis have spent much of the last semester exploring adaptive reuse alternatives for the 1.2 million-square-foot structure.