Washington People

Segregation is no accident. Nearly five decades after the Fair Housing Act of 1968, American cities remain racially, culturally, spatially and economically divided. In this Q&A, Catalina Freixas, assistant professor of architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, discusses St. Louis, segregation and the hidden histories that shape our urban landscape.

William Hawkins, MD, never met the man who helped inspire him to become a cancer surgeon and researcher. Hawkins was born six months after his grandfather Gabriel Jooris, an artist and art restorer, died of the disease. But his and other losses guided Hawkins’ career path.

As an 8-year-old, Richard Vierstra tried out 190 of the 200 experiments in “The Golden Book of Chemistry.” As an adult, he has taken on the much harder task of designing experiments to reveal the secret chemistry of plants.

Rebecca Wanzo, associate professor of women, gender and sexuality studies in Arts & Sciences, discusses culture, cartooning and the Comics Studies Society, of which she is a founding board member.

Audrey R. Odom John, MD, PhD, is a globally recognized malaria expert at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She runs a nine-member research lab in the Division of Infectious Diseases. The researchers hope to develop new diagnostic tests for malaria detection as well as antimalarial drugs.

Joseph “Pepe” Schraibman shares his passion for teaching and what he has learned over decades in the classroom. He won a Distinguished Teaching Award from Arts & Sciences last year.

The associate professor in the School of Engineering & Applied Science works to create powerful sensors that can detect chemicals, biomarkers that could speed health-care diagnostics and new materials to clean dirty water.

Li Ding, associate professor at the School of Medicine, is a cryptographer of sorts. She develops computational tools to study the genetics of cancer.

Henry Schvey is a steadfast presence in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, having directed more than 25 plays in his nearly 30-year tenure, in addition to teaching and writing. Now, a new memoir is adding to his body of work in the place he calls home.

To Emily Jungheim, MD, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the School of Medicine, family is everything. She helps couples who struggle with infertility.