Washington University School of Law launches national semester-in-practice externship

Beginning in fall 2013, Washington University School of Law will offer the Semester-in-Practice Externship, an innovative program that empowers second- and third-year law students to gain hands-on professional experience anywhere in the country. Through the externship program, students will earn academic credit by spending a semester working full time for a nonprofit, government, or in-house corporate law office in the location of their choice.

Ethel and Robert Mirabal March 22

As a child in New Mexico, Robert Mirabal awoke at dawn and “ran to the sun.” The ritual, a fusion of physical and spiritual discipline, was an important component of daily life in many Native American cultures. Now, that memory has helped inspire Music of the Sun, a collaborative concert between the Grammy Award-winning flutist and the pioneering string quartet Ethel, which comes to the 560 Music Center March 22.

Some brain cells are better virus fighters

Infected brain cells
Viruses often spread through the brain in patchwork patterns, infecting some cells but missing others. New research at the School of Medicine helps explain why: Natural immune defenses that resist viral infection are turned on in some brain cells but switched off in others. The white arrows in the picture highlight infected cells in a mouse brain.

New clues to causes of peripheral nerve damage

Although peripheral neuropathies afflict some 20 million Americans, their underlying causes are not completely understood. Now, scientists have shown that damage to energy factories in Schwann cells, which grow alongside neurons and enable nerve signals to travel from the spinal cord to the tips of the fingers and toes, may play a central role. Shown is a Schwann cell surrounding nerve axons, shown in green.

REINS Act would severely impair ability to implement laws

There is little on which the two Houses of Congress and the President can find compromise these days, with the sequester a vivid symbol of this polarization. And gridlock in government would only worsen if the proposed REINS Act moves forward, says Ronald M. Levin, JD, administrative law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Message from the chancellor: This is what will make us stronger

p, , {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Cambria;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton sent a message to Danforth Campus students on the evening of March 5, inviting the entire community to join in reaffirming the values of the university.

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland honors Dacey​​

Ralph. G. Dacey Jr., the Henry G. and Edith R. Schwartz Professor and chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at Washington University, has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He traveled to Dublin earlier this month to receive the honor.

Men’s basketball team hosts NCAA second round March 9

The No. 17 Washington University in St. Louis men’s basketball team will host No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan University in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship Saturday, March 9, at the Field House. Game time is 7 p.m.

Olin students work with St. Louis startup Lockerdome on market and finance research

LockerDome CEO and cofounder Gabe Lozano, who spoke recently at Olin Business School, shares some of the credit for attracting investors with students at Olin. Student teams in one of the school’s venture consulting courses worked closely with LockerDome’s CFO, Mark Lewis, on market and financial analysis research projects this semester. Here, Lozano speaks about the collaboration via video.

CGI U announces 2013 speakers; new CGI University Network to fund student commitments​

President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton announced the program and featured participants for the sixth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) to be held at Washington University in St. Louis April 5-7. In addition to President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, Stephen Colbert, Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and WUSTL’s Michael Sherraden are among the featured speakers.