Newsroom Stories

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified the molecular signal that triggers the development of immune cells that patrol the skin and brain.

Pejman Salimpour, MD, co-founder and chief executive officer of CareNex Health Services, has received a 2012 Alumni Achievement Award from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) has announced the six winners of the 2012 University Research Strategic Alliance (URSA) grants. The grants offer a one-year, $25,000 award to full-time faculty members at WUSTL who begin a new collaboration with investigators from different disciplines. Researchers who receive the seed funding will work together in a new area of research or plan to approach a problem in a different way.

Inflammation and cell stress are major factors in diabetes. Cell stress also plays a role in Wolfram syndrome, a rare, genetic disorder that afflicts children with many symptoms, including juvenile-onset diabetes. Now scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and elsewhere have identified a molecule that’s key to the cell stress-modulated inflammation that causes insulin-secreting cells to die.

Washington University had a conference-best 20 student-athletes named to the fourth annual University Athletic Association (UAA) Presidents Scholar-Athlete Team. The team is comprised of 74 student-athletes representing all eight UAA member institutions across 12 men’s sports and 10 women’s sports.

With all the fanfare about Mars rover Curiosity landing safely on the Red Planet on Aug. 6, it’s easy to forget that there’s already a rover on Mars — an older, smaller cousin set to accomplish a feat unprecedented in the history of Solar System exploration. WUSTL’s Raymond E. Arvidson is playing key roles in both Mars missions.

A team of WUSTL scientists have vaporized the Earth — if only by simulation, that is, mathematically and inside a computer. They weren’t just practicing their evil overlord skills. By baking model Earths, they are trying to figure out what astronomers should see when they look at the atmospheres of super-Earths in a bid to learn the planets’ compositions.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced that a team of engineers at WUSTL will receive $2 million to design a battery management system for lithium-ion batteries that will guarantee their longevity, safety and performance. These technologies could revolutionize the way Americans store and use energy in electric vehicles, the electrical grid and beyond.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a potential target for treating diabetes and obesity. Studying mice, they found that when the target protein was disabled, the animals became more sensitive to insulin and were less likely to get fat.

Zuum, a free iPad app, estimates a user’s disease risk and offers a customized plan for living a healthier life.