WashU Experts

Freshman year of college can be a time of excitement and discovery, but it also is a period of ambivalence, sadness and doubt — and not just for students. Parents also struggle as their child transitions to college. Karen Levin Coburn, senior consultant in residence at Washington University in St. Louis and co-author of the acclaimed book, “Letting Go: A Parents’ Guide to Understanding the College Years,” offers 12 tips – six for now, six for later – that every parent of a new college student should know.

A study published July 20 in JAMA Pediatrics provides even more compelling evidence that growing up in poverty has detrimental effects on a child’s brain. Dealing with this must become “our top public health priority,” writes the School of Medicine’s Joan Luby, MD, in an accompanying editorial.

​Why downsize the O-R-E-O? Joseph Goodman, PhD, associate professor of marketing at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School, it’s a matter of matching tastes to the market.​​

“World of Warcraft” might not seem like typical research material. But Yulia Nevskaya, PhD, assistant professor of marketing at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis found it the perfect research platform. She has helped lead a study of gamers’ behavior and what’s behind their motivation.

When lawyers blow the whistle on clients, should they be financially rewarded by the government? Kathleen Clark, JD, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, tackles this issue in a forthcoming article in the Boston College Law Review.

​Costas Azariadis, PhD, an economist at Washington University in St. Louis, is currently in Greece. A native of Athens, Azariadis emailed his observations and insights into the turmoil and what might be next.​

A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage is justified, say two constitutional law experts at Washington University in St. Louis.

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to announce its decision in a lawsuit that threatens federal health insurance subsidies for more than 6 million Americans, health care economist Timothy D. McBride, PhD, professor in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, is confident the high court will side with the Obama administration. If the court decides otherwise, low-income residents in many states will have little access to affordable healthcare, he warns.

Does a recently upheld Texas abortion law impose an “undue burden” if it forces some women to drive as much as 600 miles to obtain an abortion at a state-approved clinic? That’s a question the U.S. Supreme Court may be asked to decide, suggests legal experts at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Syrian civil war began in 2011. Its spread since that time has caused refugees to spill across its borders and created a fertile environment for the rise of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). How can the international community get a handle on a conflict that already has claimed some 220,000 lives? One possible solution is to refer the Syrian situation to the International Criminal Court, says Leila Sadat, PhD, an expert in international criminal law at Washington University in St. Louis.