Newsroom Stories

India Report
 Kidney gene linked to increased risk of heart failure
 01/19/2011 For the first time, scientists have discovered a key kidney DNA sequence variant that plays an important role in increasing the risk of heart failure. The DNA variant impairs channels that control kidney function, the researchers found. “It’s not a heart gene,” said […]

The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) has commissioned Kathleen Clark, JD, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, to evaluate the extent of ethics restrictions on government contractor employees. An independent agency, ACUS functions as a government think tank and commissions legal experts to examine how federal agencies can improve operations.

In architecture as in life, the devil is in the details. Few know this better than Edward Ford, an educator, architect and author whose two-volume The Details of Modern Architecture (1990 and 1996) provided the first comprehensive analysis of how detailing and construction techniques can distort, camouflage or enhance a building. On Jan. 24, Ford, the Vincent and Eleanor Shea Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia, will launch the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ spring Public Lecture Series. 

Since its formation in 1978, Island Press has evolved from a traditional contract print shop — producing high quality editions in standard media and formats — into a uniquely collaborative and educational enterprise known for complex, large-scale works by a range of nationally and internationally renowned artists. In January, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will explore that evolution with Island Press: Three Decades of Printmaking. Curated by Karen K. Butler, assistant curator of the Kemper Art Museum, the exhibition will survey more than two dozen works highlighting the press’ history of technical innovation, artistic experimentation and student participation.

The Wall Street Journal
 Apple’s Jobs to take medical leave
 01/17/2011 Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said he is taking another medical leave. William Chapman, transplantation chief at Washington University in St. Louis, hasn’t examined Mr. Jobs personally, but said it’s possible that his neuroendocrine tumor has metastasized again. “It’s really difficult to cure the […]

Who knew? The chance discovery that spikes in seismometer noise recorded in Africa corresponded with soccer matches has led to the discovery that there’s a lot more buried in the noise, including a signal from the famous storms of the Southern Atlantic Ocean, the bane of ships of sail.

Scientists, including Gerald W. Dorn, MD, have identified the first DNA sequence variant common in the population that is not only associated with an increased risk of heart failure, but appears to play a role in causing it.

WUSTL sports updates for the week of Jan. 17, 2011.

The Department of Music in Arts & Sciences will launch its spring Danforth University Center Chamber Music Series with a concert titled “Music from Spain and the Middle East” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19. The performance will include works by Joaquin Turina, Isaac Albeniz, Enrique Granados and Pablo de Saraste, as well as traditional Kurdish and Persian folk music. Soprano Stella Markou will perform with pianist Martin Kennedy April 7.

In remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr., the Society of Black Student Social Workers at Washington University’s Brown School will host the fifth annual “Financial Freedom Seminar: Recovering From the Recession, Reaching for the Future,” from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22, in Brown and Goldfarb halls. The seminar, free and open to the public, is designed for St. Louis community youth and adults interested in building wealth, repairing and maintaining good credit, purchasing a home or starting and expanding a business.