Newsroom Stories

Child abuse or neglect are strong predictors of major health and emotional problems, but little is known about how the chronicity of the maltreatment may increase future harm apart from other risk factors in a child’s life. In a new study published in the current issue of the journal Pediatrics, Melissa Jonson-Reid, PhD, child welfare expert and a professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, looked at how chronic maltreatment impacted the future health and behavior of children and adults. “For every measure studied, a more chronic history of child maltreatment reports was powerfully predictive of worse outcomes,” Jonson-Reid says.

William A. Peck, MD, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Medicine and director of the Center for Health Policy at Washington University in St. Louis, will be the keynote speaker at Washington University School of Medicine’s 2012 Commencement at 3 p.m. May 18 in the Ferrara Theater at the America’s Center, 701 Convention Plaza, St. Louis, Mo.

If international lenders refuse to renegotiate substantial reductions in Greek public debt, chances are that whatever government emerges in Greece in the next few weeks will run out of cash by the end of June, says Costas Azariadis, PhD, the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences.

A dedication ceremony was held May 4 to pay tribute to Scott and Pyong Rudolph while giving the Earth & Planetary Sciences building on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis a new name. The Scott Rudolph Hall dedication ceremony was held in Whitaker Hall Auditorium and featured special guest speaker and Emmy Award-winning science television show host Bill Nye of “Science Guy” fame. A reception and self-guided tours followed in Rudolph Hall.

Malcolm Foley, who will receive degrees in religious studies and finance May 18, has a charisma that draws people to him, whether as an RA in Danforth House, conducting bible study classes on campus, or as an actor on the WUSTL stage at Edison and Hotchner. An Outstanding Graduate in the College of Arts & Sciences, Foley will take that charisma to his next adventure: Yale Divinity School.

The softball team closed out regular season play with a pair of one-run victories over Lindenwood University-Belleville May 5. The team concluded regular-season play with a 28-12 overall record. Updates also included on baseball, track & field and women’s golf.

Children at Washington Unversity in St. Louis’ Family Learning Center parade around the grounds April 27 as the finale for the celebration of the Week of the Young Child. The parade focused on the cultures of the children at the center. The Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration that focuses on the needs of young children and their families and recognizes the childhood programs and services that meet those needs.

Brain networks may avoid traffic jams at their busiest intersections by communicating on different frequencies, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, including Maurizio Corbetta, MD, and at other institutions have learned. Examining the temporal structure of brain activity from this perspective may help in understanding depression and schizophrenia.

Results of a new study from Washington University’s Drug Discovery Center demonstrate the feasibility of a novel strategy in drug discovery: screening large numbers of existing drugs — often already approved for other uses — to see which ones activate genes that boost natural immunity.

A week after transferring into WUSTL as an undergraduate, Todd Coady found himself in a chapter meeting of Engineers Without Borders. As a result, a school for the blind in Ethiopia has a five-year commitment from WUSTL students to help build a water tower. Coady, who will graduate May 18 with a bachelor’s of science degree in mechanical engineering, is the Record‘s Outstanding Graduate from the School of Engineering & Applied Science.