Page 1251 – The Source | Washington University in St. Louis

New drugs for bad bugs

Washington University in St Louis chemist Timothy Wencewicz says we’ll stay ahead of antibiotic resistance only if we find drugs with new scaffolds, or core chemical structures. One promising candidate, an antibiotic made by a bacterium than infects plants, caught his attention because it contains an “enchanted ring,” the beta-lactam ring that is found in penicillin. In this drug candidate, however, it acts against a different target than the penicillins.

Medicine & Health

2014 Leopold Marcus lecture by Nobel laureate

Roger Tsien, one of three chemists who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008 for the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein, will give the Leopold Marcus lecture at Washington University in St. Louis. His talk, “Fluorescent Molecules for Fun and Profit,” is intended for a general audience and will take place at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, in the Laboratory Sciences Building, Room 300. The talk is free and open to the public.

Medicine & Health

Biomarkers of cell death in Alzheimer’s reverse course after symptom onset

Three promising biomarkers being studied to detect Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages appear to undergo a surprising shift as patients develop symptoms of dementia, researchers led by Anne Fagan, PhD, at the School of Medicine report.

Medicine & Health

Drake honored with coordinator excellence award

Tia Drake, executive director of Graduate Medical Education (GME) at the School of Medicine, has been honored with the GME Institutional Coordinator Excellence Award.

Humanities & Society

New chef promises more variety, local ingredients at Ibby’s Bistro

Jon Lowe is the new chef at Ibby’s in WUSTL’s Danforth University Center. Learn more about Lowe, who loves French cooking and making granola with his 3-year-old daughter. He previously worked at Clayton seafood restaurant Oceano Bistro.

WUSTL in the News – March 5, 2014

“If these two studies are really correct, what people in general are trying to do” to get and stay thin “might be completely wrong in terms of maintaining health and even longevity,” suggests WUSTL microbiologist Shin-ichiro Imai (pictured) in a Science magazine article on new dietary research. This story and more in today’s roundup.

Humanities & Society

Community invited to give feedback on ‘For the Sake of All’ project March 18

Last fall, researchers in St. Louis released five policy briefs in a groundbreaking study on the health and well-being of African Americans in the region. Now it’s time for the community to weigh in on “For the Sake of All: A Report on the Health and Well-Being of African Americans in St. Louis.” A Community Feedback Forum will take place from 2-5 p.m. Monday, March 3, in the Learning Lab at the Forest Park Visitor Center, 5595 Grand Drive on the north side of Forest Park near the Missouri History Museum.

Humanities & Society

Pageant debuts during Africa Week

Africa Week returned to WUSTL last week with the ever-popular fashion show and the debut of the Mr./Miss ASA Pageant. Senior Ola Abiose (right) struts the runway during one of the activities organized by the African Students Association.

Arts & Culture

Marni Ludwig and Eric Lundgren March 6

Eric Lundgren’s debut novel, “The Facades,” has been praised by The New Yorker as “hardboiled existentialism.” Marni Ludwig’s debut collection of poetry, “Pinwheel,” was chosen by Jean Valentine for the 2012 New Issues Poetry Prize. On Thursday, March 6, these two recent alumni will return to campus for a free public reading.

Medicine & Health

DiPersio, Schreiber to be honored by cancer group

John DiPersio, MD, PhD, chief of the Division of Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and Robert Schreiber, PhD, director of the school’s Center for Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Programs, will be honored in April by the American Association for Cancer Research.