Newsroom Stories

Ruthe Foster sings like a force of nature. Eric Bibb, with his warm baritone and sparkling, effortless guitar, can seem like the happiest bluesman around. On Saturday, Feb. 15, these two Grammy-nominated blues artists will say “Thanks for the Joy” as part of the Edison Ovations Series.

Scientists have decoded the genome of an intestinal parasite that causes hookworm, an illness that afflicts an estimated 700 million of the world’s poor. The parasitic worm lives in the soil and enters the body through the feet. By feeding on victims’ blood, the worms cause anemia and, in children, stunted growth and learning problems.

Washington University in St. Louis has named Vanessa Walby as its new volleyball coach, Athletics Director John Schael announced. Walby comes to WUSTL after a six-year stint as the volleyball coach at the University of Chicago.

Washington University expects to have more than 29,000 applications for the class that will enter in August and admitted more than 630 students in the early decision round (a little more than 35 percent of the expected freshman class). While the total number of applications received is down slightly this year, the Admissions Office reports another strong and talented group of applicants.

Federal appellate judge Bernice Donald, JD, president of the American Bar Foundation, and Thomas Saenz, JD, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, will be the next speakers for the 16th annual School of Law Public Interest Law & Policy Speakers Series.

The AIDS Clinical Trials Site at the School of Medicine has been awarded a National Institutes of Health grant that supports testing of treatments for HIV, AIDS and the many complications they cause. Pictured is the principal investigator, David Clifford, MD.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have shown that two major pools of immune cells are at work in the heart. Both belong to a class of cells known as macrophages. One appears to promote healing, while the other likely drives inflammation, which is detrimental to long-term heart function.

Washington University School of Law alumni Joseph E. and Yvonne L. Cordell have made a $1 million gift commitment to establish and endow the Cordell & Cordell Visiting Professorship in the law school.

Washington University in St. Louis and Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea are partnering to offer a unique learning experience to master the complex world of business by earning two degrees on two continents in their new Global Master of Finance Dual Degree program.

Virginia Terpening was an accomplished painter and an important regional artist. Yet by the time of her death, in 2007, Terpening’s work had been largely forgotten; hundreds of paintings languished in a rusty trailer in northeastern Missouri. Yet now a reappraisal is underway, thanks in large part to The Hinge, a nonprofit gallery cofounded by Eileen G’Sell, lecturer in The Writing Program in Arts & Sciences.