Notables

The 2026-28 Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Teaching Fellows at WashU Medicine have been named. They are Salim Chahin, MD (left), an associate professor of neurology, and Ram K. Rohatgi, MD, an assistant professor of pediatrics and of radiology.

Alvitta Ottley, a computer science researcher at WashU, was appointed to a United Nations panel on artificial intelligence.

WashU’s St. Louis Fellows Program has received a 2026 Excellence in Civic & Community Engagement Programming Award from Campus Compact, the largest and oldest higher education association dedicated to higher education civic and community engagement. 

Denise M.S. Willers, MD, a clinician renowned for patient-centered care and academic excellence, has been named the new director of the WashU Medicine Division of Academic Specialists in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

She will shape the intellectual agenda of the first new institute at the WashU School of Public Health.

WashU sophomore Courtney Lucas II has been selected by the Institute for Responsible Citizenship for its Washington Program, a selective, two-summer program for talented Black male college students.

WashU came in at No. 14 on Forbes’ annual list of America’s Best Large Employers 2026.

The Rev. Cara Rockhill has been appointed director for the Office of Religious, Spiritual and Ethical Life within the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. She succeeds the Rev. Callista Isabelle, who previously served in the role.

Philip Payne, vice chancellor for biomedical informatics and data science at WashU Medicine and chief health AI officer for BJC Health and WashU Medicine, will lead the American Medical Informatics Association.

Leaders from seven countries explored the WashU FARM initiative’s public health-driven research and global partnerships advancing sustainable, equitable food systems.