Washington People

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.

Tracy Spitznagle, professor at the School of Medicine, is a physical therapist who has evolved during her career into an advocate for women who have had difficult births, both in the U.S. and in Africa.

Jennifer Silva, MD, a pediatric electrophysiologist at the School of Medicine, treats children with abnormal heart rhythms. She has co-founded a startup that is developing technology to help doctors see real-time 3D holograms of the heart during procedures to fix erratic heart rhythms.

During an 8-mile journey from the Columbia Bottom conservation area over the Chain of Rocks in a canoe, Bob Criss in Arts & Sciences talks about Lewis and Clark, navigation and the relevance of rivers today.

Softball player-turned-coach Michelle Venturella achieved Olympic gold in 2000. Today, she provides her athletes with encouragement to succeed on and off the field.

Marcus Raichle, MD, is a central figure in the history and science of brain imaging. He is noted for developing positron emission tomography (PET) techniques, explaining principles underlying functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and capturing some of the first snapshots of the brain at work.

Cathy Raymond, who works in the Office for International Students and Scholars, recently completed a six-month project as a Fulbright Scholar in Tajikistan. Here, she shares, in her own words and images, about her experience and how what she learned can influence and guide her work and life here at Washington University in St. Louis.  

Robyn Klein, MD, PhD, has never bought into the idea that girls and women don’t do science. Not only is Klein — vice provost and associate dean for graduate education for the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences — a well-respected expert in neuroimmunology and neuroinfectious diseases, she works hard to promote diversity in science.