Newsroom Stories

Jerome R. Cox Jr. (right), PhD, senior professor of computer science, describes the interactive display of the Laboratory Instrument Computer, known as LINC, to Brian Smith in the atrium of Brauer Hall. LINC, developed at MIT in 1962 then brought to WUSTL by Cox in 1964, transformed biomedical research by integrating computer science with medicine and allowing researchers to program data analysis on the fly.

A newly established fund to support innovative cancer research at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center has awarded its first two $900,000 grants to high-tech efforts to undermine cancer cells’ ability to resist treatment. The awards will help scientists use genetic data to find new ways to attack treatment-resistant breast cancer and precisely target treatments for various kinds of cancer cells based on their responses to radiation therapy.

The same trait that makes a rare immune cell invaluable in fighting some infections also can be exploited by other diseases to cause harm, two new studies show. By studying the basic functions of these cells, scientists are laying the groundwork to use them to fight infections. The cells also appear to be essential for some cancer vaccines, which enlist the power of the immune system to help fight tumors.

The violence against peaceful protesters in Libya and Syria drives home the need for an international convention for the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity, says Leila Nadya Sadat, JD, international law expert and director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University School of Law. “The concerted efforts of the international community have helped to bring about a resolution of the Libyan situation, but the situation in Syria continues to deteriorate,” she says. “Reports of civilian roundups in Syria are reminiscent of Nazi roundups of the Jews during WWII. History shows that widespread human rights abuses lead to ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and even genocide.”

A recent report by the Partnership for Public Service indicates a strong disconnect between the desire of federal employees to innovate and the degree to which innovation is encouraged in their workplaces. Now beginning its second year, the Master’s of Science in Leadership, offered by Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis in partnership with the Brookings Institution, helps U.S. government employees think strategically about opportunities for innovation, and does it in a way that is very cost effective.

Kenneth M. Murphy, MD, PhD, has been named the Eugene L. Opie First Centennial Professor of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Every day we make thousands of tiny predictions — when the bus will arrive, who is knocking on the door, whether the dropped glass will break. Now, in one of the first studies of its kind, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are beginning to unravel the process by which the brain makes these everyday prognostications.

Washington University’s main move-in day in the South 40 residence halls for freshmen is Thursday, Aug. 25. Nearly 1,500 freshmen are arriving for the 2011-12 academic year that begins Aug. 30. With help from family, friends and upperclassmen, the freshmen will be hauling everything from refrigerators and microwaves to carpets, bicycles and stereo systems into their new homes away from home.

More than 1,200 freshmen are expected to participate in this year’s 13th annual Service First event on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 12 St. Louis-area schools. Among the projects Washington University students will be participating in include painting playground maps and indoor and outdoor murals, creating bulletin boards, and assisting teachers in preparing classrooms for the new school year.

The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum has received an extraordinary gift from the David Woods Kemper Memorial Foundation to support the acquisition of new works by artists living and working in Germany. This fall, the Kemper Art Museum will present Precarious Worlds: Contemporary Art From Germany. The exhibition will feature the first five works acquired thanks to the Kemper gift — monumentally scaled pieces by Franz Ackermann, Thomas Demand, Sergej Jensen, Charline von Heyl, and Corinne Wasmuht — along with significant works already in the permanent collection by Michel Majerus, Manfred Pernice and Wolfgang Tillmans, as well as a major installation, on loan for the exhibition, by Hans-Peter Feldmann.