Newsroom Stories

Candace A. Ellison, financial adviser for Wells Fargo, was one of the presenters at the sixth annual “Financial Freedom Seminar: Making Your Money Work for You” Jan. 21 in Brown Hall. The seminar was hosted by the Society of Black Student Social Workers at the Brown School and brought together financial experts and St. Louis community members interested in financial issues.

The Presolar Grain Workshop that gathers scientists who study tiny bits of stars that were born and died billions of years ago — before the formation of the solar system — is returning to Washington University in St. Louis this year. Sessions begins at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, and continue through the weekend in Crow and Compton halls. Attendees will include 45 astrophysicists from WUSTL’s Laboratory for Space Sciences and other research institutions in the United States as well as from Australia, Brazil and Italy.

Last year’s hit Super Bowl ad, a Volkswagen spot featuring a boy dressed as Darth Vader, was unique in that it was actually released before the game. This year, nearly all ad agencies are expected to run previews of their commercials before the Feb. 5 Super Bowl on YouTube and other sites, leading a marketing expert at Washington University in St. Louis to question the wisdom of running a television ad at all.

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) tend to be preoccupied with screen-based media. A new study by Paul Shattuck, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, looks at how children with ASDs spend their screen time. “We found a very high rate of use of solitary screen-based media such as video games and television with a markedly lower rate of use of social interactive media, including email,” Shattuck says.

Sarah Gehlert, PhD, the E. Desmond Lee Professor of Racial and Ethnic Diversity at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, was recently appointed senior fellow of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR). In her role, Gehlert will represent social work research to federal agencies and policy makers.

Second-year students at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis discuss the painting “The Last Supper” by Andrew Loza, an MD/PhD student. The painting is one of many pieces of art done by faculty, staff and students at the School of Medicine on display through Feb. 17 in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center Atrium.

A Jan. 14 winter concert showcased the musical talents of Washington University School of Medicine faculty, staff, residents and students. The event, held in the lobby of the Center for Advanced Medicine, was sponsored by the Department of Pathology and Immunology and the Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s Arts + Healthcare Program.

The United States is slowly climbing out of one of the worst economic recessions in its history. As the economy slowly begins to turn a corner, Stephen M. Fazzari, PhD, professor of economics in Arts & Sciences, will examine how we got here and where we are headed in a series of three lectures beginning Jan. 30.

Washington University Libraries has joined HathiTrust, a partnership of major academic and research libraries to preserve and provide access to the published record in a digital form. WUSTL now is partnering with more than 60 other major academic and research libraries from across the United States and the world in an effort to preserve and share the record of human knowledge.

Research by asthma specialists nationwide, including Leonard B. Bacharier, MD, and Mario Castro, MD, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, find that adding prescription acid controllers to standard inhaled steroid treatment does not improve asthma symptoms or control of the condition in children. The results are considered to be the most comprehensive evaluation to date of the effectiveness of prescription acid controllers to improve asthma symptoms and control among children.