Whispers Café will be closed to users and foot traffic through Aug. 1, so that a number of renovations can take place. When the café reopens for the start of the fall
semester, students, faculty, and staff can expect a fresh look, with new
menu boards and merchandise cases, a stronger system for moving people
through the line quickly during peak hours, and a counter that allows
for easier interaction between patrons and servers.
Washington University in St. Louis’ schools, departments, programs and groups implement an impressive array of community service activities, both locally and internationally.The Gephardt Institute for Public Service maintains the Community Counts database to track such activities, and it’s time to submit initiatives from the 2012-13 academic year. The deadline to provide information is July 25. Each new or updated initiative submitted will be entered into a drawing for a $500 grant to support the project.
Student Anastasia Sorokina lived in Japan as a small child and always wanted to return. Next year, she’ll get the chance, after being awarded a Boren scholarship. Sorokina just completed her sophomore year at Washington University in St. Louis, where she is double-majoring in comparative arts and international studies, both in Arts & Sciences. Boren scholarships allow U.S. students to study abroad in parts of the world critical to U.S. interests.
The National Federation of Independent Business Young Entrepreneur Foundation awarded budding business owner Shea Gouldd its highest honor, naming her the 2013 Young Entrepreneur of the Year at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. As the winner of YEF’s top prize, Gouldd, who resides in Boynton Beach, Fla., will receive a $10,000 educational scholarship to attend WUSTL this fall, where she will study business at Olin Business School.
Researchers have identified a way to trigger reproduction in the
laboratory of clusters of human cells that make insulin, potentially
removing a significant obstacle to transplanting the cells as a treatment for patients with type 1 diabetes. Pictured in blue are the cells and in green, the insulin.
States that want to reduce rates of adult smoking may consider implementing stringent tobacco restrictions on teens. Washington University researchers discovered that states with more restrictive limits on teens purchasing tobacco also have lower adult smoking rates, especially among women.
In the Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics
decision, the Supreme Court unanimously held that naturally occurring
DNA sequences are “products of nature” and therefore cannot be patented.
“The Court’s holding represents a significant shift form the status quo,” says Kevin Emerson Collins, JD, patent law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “It reverses both the lower court and twenty years of precedent at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The School of Medicine’s Susan E. Mackinnon, MD, has received the 2013 Jacobson Innovation Award of the American College of Surgeons for her leadership in the innovative use of nerve-transfer procedures in the treatment of patients with devastating peripheral nerve injuries. Pictured is Mackinnon after receiving the award from A. Brent Eastman, MD, ACS president.
Scientists at the School of Medicine have measured a significant and potentially pivotal
difference between the brains of patients with an inherited form of
Alzheimer’s disease and healthy family members who do not carry the
mutation. Randall Bateman, MD, is the study’s senior author.
