Newsroom Stories

Halloween candy is a treat for many children, but for those forced to work on cocoa farms in west Africa it’s a mean and tortuous trick. Two WUSTL professors call attention to the hidden horrors of cocoa production — the base ingredient in chocolate — in an op-ed piece published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Stephen Fawley, a senior in biology in Arts & Sciences, explains his research project “Using Estradiol-Inducible Promoters To Determine the Role of Auxin in Plant Defense During Pseudomonas Syringae Infection” to senior biology majors Hao Yang and Perry Morocco during the fall Undergraduate Research Symposium Oct. 23 in Olin Library.

Mott T. Greene, PhD, the John B. Magee Professor of Science and Values at the University of Puget Sound, will present, “Alfred Wegener and the Origins of Modern Earth Science in the Theory of Continental Drift” at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, in McMillan Hall, Room 149.

The School of Medicine is kicking off its annual Adopt-A-Family program for families in need who live in the Forest Park Southeast and Botanical Heights neighborhoods.

Jack H. Ladenson, PhD, has been chosen as the inaugural recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis. Ladenson, the Oree M. Carroll and Lillian B. Ladenson Professor of Clinical Chemistry in Pathology and Immunology and professor of clinical chemistry in medicine, will be presented with the award at the annual Faculty Achievement Awards program in December.

reuters.com Metal pollution tied to Parkinson’s disease 10/27/2010 People living near a steel factory or another source of high manganese emissions are at higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, suggests a new study by WUSTL School of Medicine researcher Dr. Brad A. Racette. “Environmental risk factors for Parkinson’s disease have been relatively under-studied, especially in […]

Joe Deal, who died last summer following a long battle with cancer, was among the most influential American landscape photographers of the latter 20th century, known for austere, almost abstract images that balance depictions of the natural and man-made worlds. Deal also had a profound impact at Washington University, where he served as dean of the School of Art from 1989-1999. This fall, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will celebrate Deal’s life and art with the exhibition Joe Deal: West and West.

Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected chair of the board of directors of the Association of Academic Health Centers.

Participants in the Oct. 21 Second Annual Fall Arbor tour — led by Kent Theiling (right), grounds manager/horticulturist for the Danforth Campus — listen as Theiling points out distinguishing features of the different types of trees that dot the Danforth Campus. Arbor tours, which are led by Theiling, are held twice a year, in the spring and fall.

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton addresses the crowd at the Women’s Society of Washington University’s 45th anniversary celebration and Scholarship Initiative kickoff for the Elizabeth Gray Danforth Scholarship Oct. 21 at Brauer Hall. The society’s Elizabeth Gray Danforth Scholarship provides two-year, full-tuition scholarships for students from St. Louis Community College who transfer to Washington University.