Newsroom Stories

The U.S. Justice Department lawsuit filed July 6 against Arizona’s controversial new immigration law will likely see partial success, according to a Washington University in St. Louis law professor. But he predicts the legal battle will extend beyond Arizona.

Washington University is hosting its fourth ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp June 20-July 2 for 48 middle school students from St. Louis City, County and Metro East schools. The free two-week residential camp offers innovative programs to enhance middle school students’ science and math knowledge. Former NASA astronaut and camp namesake Bernard A. Harris Jr., MD, will visit the campers from 10 a.m. to noon June 30 in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall.

The saying “You are who you hang around with” seems especially true when it comes to alcohol, cigarette and drug use. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are reporting that people who hang out with marijuana, cigarette or alcohol users are not only more likely to do the same, but that exposure allows genetic tendencies for substance use to become more robust.  

Archeobotanists argue that plant domestication involved much trial and error in many different geographic regions over a long period of time. A genetic technique that allows domesticated and wild strains of the same plant to be compared shows that domestication requires only simple genetic changes. Yet the findings don’t contradict the archeobotanical data.  

Former astronaut and camp founder Bernard A. Harris Jr., MD, visits the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp held at Washington University June 20-July 2. Harris helped the 44 middle school campers from St. Louis-area schools with a hands-on engineering challenge. The free residential camp gives students the opportunity to get ahead in math and science, meet inspiring role models and experience college life.

A treatment plan used to prevent potentially dangerous blood clots in recovering surgical patients can also benefit some patients immobilized by acute medical illness, doctors have found in a multi-institutional study. In women, patients age 75 or older, and patients strictly confined to 24-hour bed rest, a month of extended treatment with a blood thinner significantly reduced the chances of blood clots while only slightly increasing the risk of bleeding. 

Of note Susan Deusinger, PhD, executive director of the Program in Physical Therapy and professor of physical therapy and of neurology, and Bob Deusinger, PhD, associate professor of physical therapy and of orthopaedic surgery, received the Charles M. Magistro Distinguished Service Award from the Foundation for Physical Therapy. The award honors an individual or individuals […]

On July 1, the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace & Structural Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science changed its name to the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science. The change was made to reflect the department’s continued emphasis on the development and study of advanced materials.

Liviu Mirica, PhD, assistant professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, and Yinjie Tang, PhD, assistant professor of chemical engineering, receive Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Achievement Awards on June 14 from Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.

Sports updates for the month of July 2010.