Bridges to close as part of I-64/Hwy 40 project

As part of an ongoing road construction project, the Tower Grove Avenue bridge over Interstate 64/Highway 40 will be closed for about two weeks, beginning Monday, Feb. 3. When the bridge reopens, it will remain open until March 7 (tentatively), when it and the Boyle Avenue bridge will be closed for demolition.

‘Refund to Savings’ tax-time savings experiment has impact on household finances

Last year, almost 900,000 low- and moderate-income tax filers participated in a unique tax preparation savings intervention program, depositing approximately $5.9 million more into savings accounts than they would have without the intervention. As the 2014 tax season opens, the Refund to Savings initiative continues with adjustments designed to help more Americans build savings. “The intervention is promising,” says Michal Grinstein-Weiss PhD, associate director of the Center for Social Development, which helped develop the program.

Discovery may lead to new drugs for osteoporosis

Scientists at the School of Medicine have discovered what appears to be a potent stimulator of new bone growth. The finding could lead to new treatments for osteoporosis and other diseases that occur when the body doesn’t make enough bone.

Faculty learn from each other at i teach symposium

Washington University in St. Louis faculty participated in the annual i teach symposium at the Knight Center earlier this month. It was a chance for faculty and staff from all seven schools to exchange ideas about innovative teaching across disciplines.

Announcing Washington University’s Spring 2014 Assembly Series

The Washington University in St. Louis Assembly Series turned 60 in 2013, and to mark such an august occasion, it’s fitting to remember why the lecture series was conceived in the first place. The Assembly Series launched during the institution’s centennial celebration in 1953 as a way to involve the broader St. Louis community in the robust intellectual life on campus.

Child savings accounts promote positive social-emotional development, study finds

A college savings account in a child’s name not only gives parents hope for the future, it also results in improved social-emotional health for their children. That’s the result of a new study released Jan. 27 online in JAMA Pediatrics. The study, led by Washington University in St. Louis’ Center for Social Development in collaboration with the state of Oklahoma, began in 2007 as SEED for Oklahoma Kids, an innovative policy experiment to invest in children at birth. The program automatically opened and deposited $1,000 in an Oklahoma college savings plan account for 1,360 newborns.