Newsroom Stories

By decoding the genomes of more than 1,000 people whose homelands stretch from Africa and Asia to Europe and the Americas, scientists have compiled a detailed catalog of human genetic variation to find the genetic roots of rare and common diseases in populations worldwide. ​

It’s not every day you get to play with the greats. On Oct. 20, famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra — arguably the nation’s finest jazz big band — joined the St. Louis Symphony for a performance of Marsalis’ Swing Symphony. The day before, Marsalis and Co. visited WUSTL’s 560 Music Center to conduct a clinic with students from the East St. Louis High School Jazz Band.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have received a five-year, $5.3 million grant to explore the way gender and age influence susceptibility to urinary tract infections, one of the most common bacterial infections.

At the Oct. 5 Board of Trustees meeting, faculty members were appointed with tenure, promoted with tenure or granted tenure. The appointments were effective Oct. 5, 2012.

The Women’s Society of Washington University, sponsors of the Elizabeth Gray Danforth Scholarship that enables select St. Louis Community College graduates to attend Washington University, held a special breakfast for St. Louis Community College faculty and staff and their former students at Washington University on Monday, Oct. 22.

The world is getting smaller, but cities are getting bigger. That growth represents a key challenge and a key opportunity for 21st century sustainability. In November, the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts will present URBANISM(S): Sustainable Cities for One Planet, an international symposium exploring the future of global urban design. The two-day event will feature a range of talks on the ecology, infrastructure and social life of cities, as well as keynote address by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne.

Tillie’s Food Shop moved a step closer to federal historic landmark status with its designation as a historic area from the state of Missouri. WUSTL students in a service-learning course taught by Sonia Lee, PhD, assistant professor of history in Arts & Sciences, helped prepare the application for historic status. The North St. Louis corner was a hub of activity in the 1950s for African-Americans and an example of a black- and woman-owned business. 

The Office of Sustainability is hosting another set of “Brown Bag” information sessions at each WUSTL campus for the Green Offices Program, which launched this past spring. Offices that enroll in the program fill out a checklist of sustainable practices focusing on awareness, education and behavior change with the goal of becoming a certified Green Office. Since the program’s launch, 61 offices have registered to participate and 27 offices have submitted checklists.

SIFT (Shaw Institute for Field Training) and TERF (Tyson Environmental Research Fellowships) — a collaboration between WUSTL’s Tyson Research Center and the Missouri Botanical Gardens’ Shaw Nature Reserve — gives high school students authentic engagement in environmental research and prepares them for careers in biology and other sciences.​

The university will celebrate its 1853 founding during the Founders Day gala Nov. 3 at the St. Louis Union Station Hotel. The keynote speaker is Robert Gates, former U.S. defense secretary. At the event, WUSTL will honor distinguished faculty, alumni and Robert S. Brookings award recipients.