Newsroom Stories

School-age children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus, a key structure important to learning, memory and response to stress. The new research, by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is the first to show that changes in this key region of children’s brain anatomy are linked to a mother’s nurturing.

Men’s basketball picked up two big wins over the University of Rochester and Emory University and gained first place in University Athletic Association standings. Updates also included on women’s basketball, track and field, and women’s soccer team fundraiser.

Public health in St. Louis is the first social issue to be explored during “St. Louis Up Close,” a new series featuring casual conversations with local nonprofit leaders. Five more discussions are planned for the series, which is sponsored by the Gephardt Institute for Public Service and the Community Service Office. All talks are free and open to the public.

Washington University in St. Louis’ Center for New Institutional Social Sciences (CNISS) Spring 2012 Seminar Series kicks off Monday, Jan. 30, with a lecture by social advocate Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard. Blanchard is a longtime social advocate, psychologist, teacher and rabbi who has been in the forefront of promoting inclusive, vital Jewish communities in the 21st century.

A giant experiment is under way at the Tyson Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis’ 2,000-acre outdoor laboratory for ecosystem studies. The experiment, led by Tiffany Knight, PhD, associate professor of biology, will test three different variables in 32 glades with the goal of establishing best practices for restoring not just degraded glade habitats but degraded ecosystems in general. The experiment is expected to draw collaborating scientists locally and around the world.

Aubrey Morrison, MBBS, professor of medicine and of developmental biology, has been named a Master of the American College of Physicians. In addition, he received the American College of Physicians Award for Outstanding Work in Science as Related to Medicine. He is the first person from Washington University School of Medicine to receive this award. p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Cambria;} .MsoChpDefault {font-family:Cambria;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in;margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;}

False negatives and positives plague the reading of mammograms, limiting their usefulness. Cindy Grimm, a computer scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, and colleagues have shown the accuracy of novice readers can be improved by nudging them visually to follow the scanpath of an expert radiologist. The “nudge” is a brief change in the brightness or warmth in the image in the peripheral field of view.

Marking his first day as CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA), Joe Reagan will discuss “Innovation & Entrepreneurship: Creating the Future Economy” during the annual Olin Cup awards ceremony beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1, in Simon Hall’s May Auditorium on Washington University in St. Louis’ Danforth Campus.

Internationally acclaimed architect Craig Dykers, whose recent projects include the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the former World Trade Center site in New York, will chair the jury for Washington University’s 2012 Steedman Fellowship in Architecture International Design Competition. Sponsored biennially by the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, the competition is open to young architects from around the world and carries a first-place award of $50,000 — one of the largest competition prizes in the United States.

Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine have come a long way in a short time. Since meeting as high school students in 2002, the two best friends — who perform together as folk-pop duo Dala — have crisscrossed their native Canada, emerging as sharp songwriters and soulful performers in the tradition of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Tom Cochrane. Next month, Dala will present an intimate evening of folk classics and original songs as part of the Edison Ovations series.