Large lung cancer study shows potential for more targeted therapies

A nationwide consortium of scientists has reported the first comprehensive genetic analysis of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, a common type of lung cancer responsible for about 400,000 deaths each year. According to Ramaswamy Govindan, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, about 75 percent of the tumors studied have mutations that can be targeted with existing drugs.

Q&A: Leslie Markle

Public art is a tricky beast. Sometimes you get the Gateway Arch or Citygarden or Laumeier Sculpture Park. Sometimes you don’t. The key is integration, says Leslie Markle, who recently joined the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum as its inaugural curator for public art.

Vincent Varvel and Stella Markou launch DUC Chamber Music Series

Guitarist Vincent Varvel and soprano Stella Markou will launch the fall Danforth University Center Chamber Music Series at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12. The performance will feature songs spanning four centuries, including works by Henry Purcell, George F. Handel, Enrique Granados, Heitor Villa-Lobos and George Gershwin. In addition, the program will highlight My Beloved Is Mine, a 2007 composition by WUSTL’s own Martin Kennedy, assistant professor of music.

Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder at risk for bullying

A new study suggests an estimated 46.3 percent of adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were the victims of bullying. The study originated at the Brown School and is part of a pioneering program of research on adolescents and adults with autism led by Paul T. Shattuck, PhD, assistant professor. Lead author Paul Sterzing, PhD, assistant professor at the School of Social Welfare of the University of California, Berkeley, completed this study when he was a student at the Brown School.

Memorial services scheduled for two students

Campus memorial services will be held this month for two WUSTL students who recently died — Emily Benatar and Gabrielle “Gabby” Reuveni. The services will be held Sunday, Sept. 23, for Benatar and Sunday, Sept. 30 for Reuveni.

WUSTL faculty member part of national initiative to change undergraduate education in biology

On September 7 the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE) announced that Kathryn Miller, PhD, professor and chair of biology at Washington University in St. Louis has been selected as one of 40 Vision and Change Leadership Fellows. Over the next year the Vision and Change Leadership Fellows will consider and then recommend models for improving undergraduate life-sciences education.