The city of Philadelphia on June 16 passed a 1.5 cent-per-ounce tax on soda and other sugary drinks, making it the first major city in the nation to impose such a tax. The move is poised to be a watershed event in public health policy, said a health economist at Washington University in St. Louis.
With a $5 million commitment, Washington University in St. Louis has announced it will establish the George and Carol Bauer Leadership Center at the Olin Business School. The announcement came May 10, as George Bauer, an emeritus trustee and alumnus of the university, and his wife, Carol, delivered a keynote address about values-based leadership in Knight Hall on the Danforth Campus.
Barry A. Siegel, MD, director of the Division of Nuclear Medicine at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received the 2016 National Award of Nuclear Science & History.
New research from the School of Medicine suggests that mothers who eat high-fat, high-sugar diets can predispose multiple generations to metabolic problems, even if their offspring consume healthy diets.
As young people reach adulthood, preferences for sweet foods typically decline. But for people with obesity, research from the School of Medicine suggests that the drop-off may not be as steep and that the brain’s reward system operates differently in obese people than in thinner people. The findings are published in the journal Diabetes.
Aaron F. Bobick, dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science, was installed as the James M. McKelvey Professor Jan. 21. Bobick joined the university July 1, 2015.
The Olin Business School announced that Ruthie Pyles will join the school as assistant dean and director of graduate programs admissions and financial aid.
New Alzheimer’s disease research details a technique that speedily measures levels in the brain of a damaging protein fragment, and insight into why mutations in a specific gene increase the risk of developing the disease. Both studies, from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, are available online in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.
The U.S. and university flags over Brookings Hall are lowered to half-staff until sunset Thursday, June 16, as a mark of respect for those killed in the nightclub shooting June 12 in Orlando. Read the presidential proclamation.
Philip W. Majerus, MD, a renowned hematologist and professor emeritus of medicine at the School of Medicine, died at his home in St. Louis June 8 after a long illness. He was 79.