Newsroom Stories

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has opened a new Center for History of Medicine to stimulate student and faculty studies of the ways progress takes place in medicine and science. The center is on the sixth floor of Washington University’s Bernard Becker Medical Library. 

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have restored normal blood sugar metabolism in diabetic mice using a compound the body makes naturally. The finding suggests that it may one day be possible for people to take the compound much like a daily vitamin as a way to treat or even prevent type 2 diabetes.

A reception was held Sept. 28 in Holmes Lounge to launch the interdisciplinary Institute for School Partnership, Washington University’s signature effort to strategically improve teaching and learning within the K-12 education community. The institute, under the direction of Victoria L. May, builds on the partnerships and programs developed over the past 20 years through WUSTL’s Science Outreach and its founder, Sarah C.R. Elgin, the Viktor Hamburger Professor in Arts & Sciences. 

Bank of America’s plan to begin charging customers $5 a month for using its debit card has been met with resistance from citizens and members of Congress alike. In fact, there is some reputational capitol at risk as a result of this kind of charge, says a banking expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

Stephen H. Legomsky, JD, DPhil, the John S. Lehmann University Professor at the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, has been appointed chief counsel for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), effective Oct. 24, 2011, announced Ivan Fong, general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security.

Privacy lawsuits in the United States usually seek damages for revealing embarrassing but true facts by the media— the so-called “disclosure tort” — but this is a “poor vehicle for grappling with the problems of privacy and reputation in the digital age,” says Neil M. Richards, JD, privacy law expert and professor at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. “The disclosure tort has never really worked successfully,” he says. “It’s largely unconstitutional.” Richards notes that there are two existing privacy law concepts that may be good supplements or even replacements to the disclosure tort.

Charles F. Kennel, PhD, chair of the National Academy of Sciences’ Space Studies Board, will deliver the fourth annual Robert M. Walker Distinguished Lecture at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, in Room 100, Whitaker Hall, at Washington University in St. Louis. Kennel will discuss “Managing Climate Risk: Precarious Decades Ahead” during the free lecture that is open to the public.

Faculty and administrators are invited to submit proposals for program initiatives that strengthen and promote diversity and inclusion at Washington University. Projects aimed at improving the university environment for women and members of underrepresented minority groups can receive up to $30,000 through Washington University’s Diversity and Inclusion Grant program. The deadline for submission of 2011-12 proposals is Saturday, Nov. 5.

The White House announced Sept. 27 that Lan Yang, PhD, assistant professor of electrical and systems engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science of Washington University in St. Louis has been named a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers.The early career award is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

Following the Sept. 6 death of James E. McLeod, vice chancellor for students and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton has announced a transitional leadership plan for the College of Arts & Sciences. Sharon Stahl, PhD, associate vice chancellor for students and dean of the First Year Center, and Wayne Fields, PhD, the Lynne Cooper Harvey Distinguished Professor of English in Arts & Sciences, have agreed to take on the additional responsibilities of leading the College of Arts & Sciences on an interim basis.