Newsroom Stories

Gammon Earhart, PhD, professor of physical therapy, has been named director of the Program in Physical Therapy at Washington University School of Medicine, effective July 1. Also a professor of neurobiology and neurology, Earhart joined the faculty in 2004.

Josh Whitman has been named the new director of athletics at Washington University in St. Louis, announced Provost H. Holden Thorp, PhD. Whitman starts Aug. 1. He will succeed John Schael, who is retiring after 36 years of leading the department.

In preparation for an upcoming summit on working families, Robert Pollak, PhD, an expert on family economics, recently attended a meeting at the White House with other academic leaders and senior administration officials. They gathered to discuss the implications of demographic and other changes for 21st-century workplaces.

A half-century after the Civil Rights Act, unequal access to resources continues to afflict the St. Louis area, resulting in billions of dollars lost in health-care costs and wages. But a multidisciplinary, landmark study called “For the Sake of All: A Report on the Health and Well-Being of African Americans in St. Louis,” led by the Brown School’s Jason Purnell and released May 30, proposes solutions informed by evidence and community input and includes a call to action to community members and stakeholders.

Studying mice, researchers have found a way to prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Blocking a path that delivers dietary fructose to the liver prevented mice from developing the condition, according to investigators at the School of Medicine.

Todd P. Margolis, MD, PhD, head of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, has been named the new Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology. Margolis (right) is shown with Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.

Noted American essayist and culture critic Gerald L. Early, PhD, has fond remembrances of when he introduced Maya Angelou before one of her three speaking engagements at Washington University in St. Louis. She delivered talks in Graham Chapel in 1981, 1984 and 1990.

“The Surrounding Game” is a documentary film about the game of Go co-directed by WUSTL graduate student Cole Pruitt. It follows two of America’s top young players as they compete to obtain professional rank in this subtle and elegant game. Implicit in the story is a larger question: Can a game this subtle and difficult, which has been pursued as a fine art in Asia for millennia, be transplanted to America, which does not have the culture or the training system to support it?

Media Advisory: A community conference that coincides with the release of a yearlong, groundbreaking study called “For the Sake of All: A Report on the Health and Well-Being of African Americans in St. Louis.” At the conference, the final report will be released that includes policy recommendations for the region. The conference will also include panel discussion of report topics, and invite community feedback on implications and next steps.

Marcus E. Raichle, MD, a Washington University professor internationally renowned for his contributions to advancing the frontiers of cognitive neuroscience, is one of three scientists awarded this year’s prestigious Kavli Prize in Neuroscience.