At the forefront of ancient DNA research is
evolutionary biologist and MacArthur Fellow Beth Shapiro, DPhil, who
will deliver the annual Ferguson Science Lecture at 5 p.m. Tuesday,
March 31, in Knight/Bauer Hall’s Emerson Auditorium. The program, free
and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the Woman’s Club of
Washington University.
Wilmetta Toliver-Diallo, PhD, assistant dean in Arts & Sciences, has been appointed by the Missouri Arts Council to serve on its advisory panel for festivals. Her term runs until June 30, 2016.
Lan Yang, PhD, has been named the Edward H. and Florence G. Skinner Professor in the Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. She was installed March 16.
Car Free Month has a new name, but the same goal – to motivate Washington University in St. Louis students, faculty and staff to try new ways to get around town. Now called Active Transportation Month, the annual event starts April 1 and features free bike tune-ups, a breakfast for bikers and a Metro Scavenger Hunt.
The Student Entrepreneurial Program (StEP) at Washington University in St. Louis kicks off its speaker program at 5 p.m. Monday, March 23, with entrepreneurial brothers Andrew and Matthew Brimer. Andrew Brimer (right), a 2013 graduate of Washington University, runs Sparo Labs. His brother, Matthew, operates a company called General Assembly in New York. The event takes place in Room 276 of the Danforth University Center and is free and open to the public.
Finding kidney cancer early has been among the disease’s greatest challenges. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a noninvasive method to screen for kidney cancer that involves measuring the presence of proteins in the urine.
A deficiency of vitamin D has been linked to Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, two illnesses that commonly occur together and are the most common cause of illness and death in Western countries. Now, new research in mice led by the School of Medicine’s Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi suggests vitamin D plays a major role in preventing the inflammation that leads to Type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis.
The Los Angeles Piano Quartet, widely considered one of the premier ensembles in the United States, will perform new work by Washington University composer Christopher Stark, along with pieces by Samuel Barber and Antonin Dvořák, at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 28, in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall.
Kendall J. Blumer, PhD, professor of
cell biology and physiology at Washington University School of Medicine
in St. Louis, has received a four-year, $2.2 million renewal grant from
the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) for research titled “Mechanism and Regulation
of Receptor-G Protein Signaling.”
A new project from the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis shows, among other findings, that girls in developing countries, given equal opportunities, will save as much or more in formal financial institutions than boys. The project was aimed at examining the attitudes and practices of young people in developing economies toward saving money. It has led to new findings that confirm and challenge assumptions about youth saving at formal financial institutions.
