Newsroom Stories

Ideas are all around us — helping solve problems, develop new products, and make important decisions. Good ideas are rarely created in a vacuum, however. They often emerge when people refine their ideas in response to suggestions and comments received from colleagues.Having strong bonds to an idea can make that necessary collaboration challenging, finds new research from Washington University in St. Louis. The study suggests that psychological ownership — the extent to which people feel as though an object, or idea, is truly theirs— may be at the root of this phenomenon.

Download hires press photos for the 2012-13 Edison Ovations Series.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to ban the sale of any sugary beverage more than 16 ounces in the city’s restaurants, delis, movie theaters and street carts may be well-intentioned, but Connie Diekman, RD, past president of the American Dietetic Association (now the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics) believes it will do little to reverse the U.S. obesity epidemic.

The employee 2011-12 U-Pass — allowing WUSTL faculty and staff free use of Metro, the region’s public transportation system — will expire June 30. Benefits-eligible employees may request a new U-Pass for the 2012-13 fiscal year at the Parking & Transportation Services website, parking.wustl.edu/upass.htm. The new pass will be valid through June 30, 2013.

Children from the WUSTL Family Learning Center on North Campus donned caps and gowns to celebrate their graduation from preschool at a Commencement held at the center May 23. Their next adventure: kindergarten!

People who restrict their caloric intake in an effort to live longer have hearts that function more like those in people who are 20 years younger. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a key measure of the heart’s ability to adapt to physical activity, stress and other factors, doesn’t decline nearly as rapidly in people who have significantly restricted their caloric intake.

With the ballot nearly set for the November election, Mitt Romney looks to become the first Mormon to secure a presidential nomination for a major party. His membership in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints assures that religion — and the separation of church and state — will play a significant role in this presidential election, says Gregory P. Magarian, JD, free speech and election law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “In general, I think it’s appropriate to consider a candidate’s religion as a part of their persona, but the candidate should get a lot of leeway in setting the terms of their religion’s role in political debate,” he says.

Family members of children with a staph infection often harbor a drug-resistant form of the germ, although they don’t show symptoms, a team of researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found.

Drugs for type 2 diabetes can contribute to unwanted side effects, but Washington University researchers have found that in mice, an investigational drug appears to improve insulin sensitivity without side effects. The medicine works through a different pathway, which could provide additional targets for treating insulin resistance and diabetes.

A new study suggests that health insurance exchanges, a key provision of the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, may need to be monitored by policymakers to make sure there is sufficient competition between private insurance plans. In the study, published in Health Affairs, Timothy McBride, PhD, professor and associate dean for public health at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, examined the insurance premiums, availability of plans and enrollment levels under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). “From its inception, the health reform legislation used the structure of the FEHBP to guide the design of these exchanges,” McBride says.