WUSTL health researcher seeking mothers interested in weight loss

Debra Haire-Joshu, PhD, associate dean for research in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, is looking for mothers between the ages of 18-45 with a child 2-4 years old to participate in a study. She wants to investigate whether new Parents as Teachers family wellness information encourages families to lead more active lifestyles and lose weight.

POSTPONED: Energy Secretary Moniz to speak on Obama’s climate action plan Oct. 4

Ernest Moniz, PhD, U.S. Secretary of Energy, will speak about President Barack Obama’s Climate Action Plan, at 2:30 pm on Oct. 4 in Laboratory Sciences Building, Room 300. Moniz’s talk is the 52nd annual Joseph W. Kennedy Memorial Lecture sponsored by the Department of Chemistry in Arts & Sciences. A reception will follow.

A new era for the Brown School

The Brown School community celebrated its expansion Sept. 24 with a ceremonial groundbreaking for an innovative new building of approximately 105,000-square feet set to open in the summer of 2015. When completed, the new facility will double the Brown School’s footprint on the Danforth Campus and bring the school, as Lawlor said in his remarks, into a “new era.”

Assembly Series: ‘ObamaCare’ expert Jonathan Gruber to discuss why health-care reform is needed

Just a few days after the Affordable Care Act’s mandatory insurance component becomes law, the principal architect of the Massachusetts health care system and chief advisor to President Obama’s plan will be on campus to explain how it works and how it will benefit society. MIT economist and renowned health care expert Jonathan Gruber will deliver an Assembly Series lecture on “Health Care Reform: What It Is, Why It’s Necessary, How It Works” at 6 p.m. Friday, October 4 in Brown Hall Room 100 on the Washington University Danforth Campus.

School of Medicine celebrates launch of Taylor Family Institute

The Department of Psychiatry is hosting a celebration Tuesday, Oct. 1, to mark the official launch of the Taylor Family Institute for Innovative Psychiatric Research. The institute, dedicated to advancing the science underlying the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric illnesses, was created with a $20 million gift from Andy and Barbara Taylor and the Crawford Taylor Foundation. Pictured are institute investigators.

‘Evo-devo’ trailblazer Brian Hall to give Assembly Series lecture

Scientific discoveries in understanding how body structures change and advance over time are relatively recent and are the result of scientific trailblazers working in the field of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo). One of those pioneers, Brian K. Hall, will visit Washington University and give an Assembly Series lecture at 4 p.m. Monday, October 7 in McDonnell Hall Room 162.

Obituary: Darlene J. Schoon, former accountant, 74

Darlene J. Schoon, a longtime accountant at Washington University in St. Louis, most recently in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, died Monday, Sept. 23, 2013, after a battle with brain cancer. Schoon, of Chesterfield, was 74. She is survived by her husband, Paul Schoon, who retired in 2004 after serving many years as director of planned giving in Alumni & Development.

Procedure to open blocked carotid arteries tested

Doctors at the School of Medicine are investigating a new minimally invasive procedure to open blocked carotid arteries in patients whose poor health or advanced age makes the traditional open surgery too risky. Pictured are carotid arteries, which feed blood to the brain.