Newsroom Stories

Although an irregular heartbeat is a common malady in the United States, affecting an estimated 5 million people, the treatments for it are limited in scope and effectiveness. Now, Igor Efimov, PhD, at Washington University in St. Louis, is studying a new potential treatment that may be much more effective and less painful for patients.

With its blunt depictions of adolescent sexuality and startling mixture of contemporary expression and fin de siècle restraint, Spring Awakening—by WUSTL alumnus Steven Sater—is among the most influential, unexpected and beloved Broadway shows of recent years. On Oct. 25, the Performing Arts Department will debut a new production in Edison Theatre.

Members of the Washington University in St. Louis community will gather at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15, in the Ginkgo Room of Olin Library to remember Rita Levi-Montalcini, one of two women from the university who won the Nobel Prize. The event, which is hosted by the Woman’s Club of Washington University, is free and open to the public.

Scientists from the School of Medicine and in the Netherlands have found that a class of specialized cells in the stomach reverts to stem cells more often than researchers had thought. One or more chief cells, which normally make digestive juices in the stomach, have changed into a stem cell in the image shown.

The obesity epidemic and how science may be able to impact it is the focus of the upcoming annual conference of the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis. Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, deputy director of the Institute for Public Health and a disease prevention expert at Siteman Cancer Center, will deliver the keynote address.

Christine Dolan, coordinator for LGBT Student Involvement and Leadership, has helped organize events in honor of LGBT History Month. Tonight’s Out in the Workplace event will help such students navigate the job market.

Todd P. Margolis, MD, PhD, has been named head of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the School of Medicine. The new appointment becomes effective Jan. 1.

KIPP students are working hard to get into college. And yet, many have never visited a campus before. Organized by sorority and fraternity members, Greek Serve 2013: The KIPP College Experience gave KIPP seventh-graders a look at life on campus.

St. Louis freshman wide receiver Zach Strittmatter is one of five winners of the 2013 National Football Foundation (NFF) National High School Scholar-Athlete Award, the NFF and College Hall of Fame recently announced.

Close to 3 billion people in the developing world rely on biomass combustion — burning fires in rudimentary stoves — for cooking and heating needs. As a result, 4 million people die each year, and the large amount of black soot created has a staggering negative impact on the poor. This fall, Gautam N. Yadama, PhD, professor and director of international programs at the Brown School and photographer Mark Katzman are taking that issue to a broader audience with the publication of Fires, Fuel and the Fate of 3 Billion: The State of the Energy Impoverished (Oxford University Press 2013), a 152-page collection of photos and essays that tell an eye-opening, insightful story about energy access in the rural villages of India, where the hunt for safe, affordable energy is often a matter of life or death.