Washington People

Jennifer Gartley, a professional flutist who has performed with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, serves as programming and public outreach director for the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences. It’s just one of the notes she plays at Washington University.

Nephrologist Benjamin Humphreys, MD, PhD, director of the Division of Nephrology at the School of Medicine, is a leading innovator in kidney research. Humphreys seeks to find better treatments to prevent kidney failure, a potentially fatal condition affecting 37 million Americans.

Stan Braude, professor of practice in biology, is a talented teacher who instills in his students the skills they need to prepare for life outside of Washington University. Take it from his students, though — because if you ask him, he will give all the credit to Joe (his St. Bernard).

Gwen Randolph, an immunologist by training, began her career studying immune cells and how they travel around the body. But she has made a career out of breaking down scientific silos and asking questions no one else had thought to ask.

Andrea Wang-Gillam, MD, PhD, is an oncologist at Siteman Cancer Center whose family’s careers inspired her lifelong interest in helping people through medicine. Today she aims to improve outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer.

After 24-plus years of serving the university in Public Affairs and the chancellor’s office as associate vice chancellor and chief of staff to Mark Wrighton, Steve Givens is retiring. Here’s a look back, and a look forward to his next stage of life.

Denise DeCou brings her own lived experiences to the table as the university’s manager of diversity and community outreach. Through training and learning opportunities, she encourages the campus community to grow in acceptance of one another.

Robert W. Gereau, the Dr. Seymour and Rose T. Brown Professor of Anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine, is working to discover the genetic and molecular roots of pain, with a goal of reversing the processes that cause pain and make it so disabling.

Erik Herzog, professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, studies the molecules, cells and circuits of mammalian circadian timing. He also supports and encourages younger neuroscience researchers, from elementary school all the way through doctoral programs.

Douglas Char, MD, professor of emergency medicine, helps people when they are at their most distressed. Char treats patients in the emergency rooms at St. Louis Children’s and Barnes-Jewish hospitals, but also helps out in major disasters as a member of a federal disaster medical assistance team.