Newsroom Stories

Rotator cuff disease in the shoulder is among the most common of all musculoskeletal disorders. Several patients recently were on hand for an update on a landmark study on rotator cuff injury at the Eric P. Newman Education Center at the School of Medicine. The study, Asymptomatic Rotator Cuff Tears: A Model for Pain Development, was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Fighting cancer requires a team of medical experts. But for many patients, another key team member is a licensed clinical psychologist. Siteman Counseling Service at Siteman Cancer Center provides free therapy to help patients cope. Pictured is patient Eileen Garofalo (left) with Amanda Kracen, PhD, one of the service’s three licensed psychologists.

The Department of Anesthesiology has established a partnership with a hospital in Ghana to help improve medical care in that African nation while providing training opportunities for residents and fellows. Pictured is Ellen Lockhart, MD, of the School of Medicine, alongside Divine Kwami, MD, a faculty member at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana.

Himadri Pakrasi, PhD, director of the International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability, sat down recently with Peter Raven, PhD, the George Engelmann Professor of Botany Emeritus in Arts & Sciences and president emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden, for a conversation about the Washington University Climate Change Initiative.

The Department of Anthropology is widely recognized as a gem, with a reputation for excellence among top institutions. Yet housed in one of Washington University in St. Louis’ oldest and most revered buildings — McMillan Hall — the Arts & Sciences department had been challenged by an infrastructure ill equipped to support the research and teaching needs of the highly regarded department, with its growing numbers of undergraduate and graduate students. Until now, that is.

Gerald Early, PhD, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences, has been appointed to the National Council on the Humanities, the 26-member advisory board to the National Endowment for the Humanities. Early is one of five new members nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The Washington University in St. Louis football team has received a bid to the 2013 NCAA Division III football championship. WUSTL will make its first NCAA appearance since 1999 and second all-time.

A team of Olin Business School graduate students recently won the $5,000 first prize in the 18th annual International Case Competition organized by Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. In addition, the team of four MBA students and one master’s in supply chain management student tied with MIT for the “Best Presentation” Award.

A temporary seismic array in Marie Byrd Land in West Antarctica recorded two bursts of activity in 2010 and 2011. Careful analysis of the events shows they originate from a subglacial volcano at the leading end of a volcanic mountain chain. The volcano is unlikely to erupt through the kilometer of ice that covers it but it will melt enough ice to change the way the ice in its vicinity flows.

A Washington University ophthalmologist was one of 31 finalists for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal. David E. Vollman, MD, and the other finalists recently were honored in a White House ceremony praising the country’s civil servants.