Imai receives NIH grant for aging research

Shin-ichiro Imai, MD, PhD, professor of developmental biology and of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a five-year, $1.56 million grant from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research titled “eNAMPT-mediated Adipo-hypothalamic Communication for NAD+ Production and Aging.”

A feat of four-dimensional imagination​​

There are five regular polytopes (Platonic solids) in three-dimensional space and six in four-dimensional space. Only their projections can be built in our dimension-deficient world and that requires an act of imagination. Ivan Horozov, PhD, the Chauvenet Lecturer in Mathematics, is building the two most complex figures in this office in his spare time.

Washington People: Nancy Morrow-Howell

Nancy Morrow-Howell, PhD, is a national leader in gerontology, widely known for her work on productive and civic engagement of older adults. She is also the Bettie Bofinger Brown Distinguished Professor of Social Policy at the Brown School, faculty director of productive aging research at the  Center for Social Development and director of the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging, part of the Institute for Public Health, all at Washington University in St. Louis.

More than the potato: Rediscovering Ireland’s rich history of wild plants​

​Ireland lost 1 million souls to hunger and disease during the potato famine and another million to immigration. But that’s not all, says Peter Wyse Jackson, PhD, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden and the George Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University in St. Louis. Ireland also lost its connection to the many plant species that sustained its people throughout the centuries. The ethnobotanist says the study of plants is more important than ever.

Skandalaris Center hosts student debate team March 25

The Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Washington Univeristy in St. Louis will host the student debate team for a special event Wednesday, March 25. The students will debate the topic “Resolved: Research Universities Should Encourage Entrepreneurial Activity by Students and Faculty” at 5:30 p.m. in Umrath Lounge on the Danforth Campus.

DuBois named Bander professor of medical ethics

James M. DuBois, DSc, PhD, has been named the Steven J. Bander Professor of Medical Ethics and Professionalism at the School of Medicine. In his research, DuBois develops measures to assess outcomes of training programs in ethics and professionalism in medicine and conducts social science studies of patient and research participant attitudes.

Som invited to Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting​​​

​Avik Som, a second-year student in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the School of Medicine, has been invited to attend the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting this summer in Lindau, Germany.