Notables

A physician-scientist lauded for research on liver and infectious diseases, Robert E. Schwartz began his role at WashU Medicine and at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where he serves as gastroenterologist-in-chief, Oct. 6.

Lee Epstein, the Ethan A.H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor at WashU, has been invested as a member of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters in recognition of outstanding scholarly achievement.

WashU has won this year’s College Transit Challenge, an annual competition that encourages students, staff and faculty from local colleges to use their U-passes to ride Metro buses and trains. 

Abby Cheng, MD, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at WashU Medicine, was named the 2026 Early Career Award recipient by the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Ziqi Xu, a doctoral student in computer science and engineering at the WashU McKelvey School of Engineering, has been selected for Anthropic’s AI for Science program.

The American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR) has honored two engineers from the McKelvey School of Engineering at WashU.

Physician Andrés Bur has been named chief of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery at WashU Medicine. Bur is a leading expert in precision oncology, machine learning and translational research.

Sean Joe, the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development at the Brown School, helped develop the first national standards of care for suicide prevention specifically for the social work profession. 

Derek Hoeferlin has been installed as the Raymond E. Maritz Professor of Architecture at the WashU Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.

Jenika Scott, a doctoral student at the WashU Brown School, has received an honorable mention for the Marie O. Weil Best Article Award for an article published in the Journal of Community Practice.