DNA sequencing lays foundation for personalized cancer treatment

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are using powerful DNA sequencing technology not only to identify mutations at the root of a patient’s tumor – considered key to personalizing cancer treatment – but to map the genetic evolution of disease and monitor response to treatment.

Washington People: Brian Z. Tamanaha

Whether surfing in his native Hawaii, promoting the rule of law in a newly independent country or navigating difficult issues in legal education and theory, Brian Z. Tamanaha, JD, JSD, the William Gardiner Hammond Professor of Law, approaches each adventure with thoughtful consideration.

Campus-wide food drive PB&Joy begins April 5

WUSTL is once again partnering with Operation Food Search to coordinate the 2nd annual campus-wide food drive, PB&Joy. Last year, the university collected nearly 3 tons of food. The campaign runs from Thursday, April 5, through Monday, April 16, and all faculty, staff and students are urged to participate. Drop-off locations are located in 35 areas across the university’s four campuses.

‘Brazil Rising’ symposium at WUSTL April 4-6

A symposium focusing on culture, law and development in Brazil will be held April 4-6 at WUSTL. Events — which include a keynote lecture, film, and dance and percussion workshop — are free and open to the public, with the exception of the April 6 book discussion, which is open only to WUSTL faculty and graduate students.

Young Choreographers Showcase April 6-8

The Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences will present its fifth biennial Young Choreographers Showcase Friday through Sunday, April 6-8 in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio. The concert will feature more than a dozen dancers in ten original works created by student choreographers in the Dance Program in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences.

More than half of all cancer is preventable

More than half of all cancer is preventable, and society has the knowledge to act on this information today, according to Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH, the Niess-Gain Professor and other public health researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Siteman Cancer Center. 

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, alum Mike Peters to deliver Commencement address

Mike Peters, the 1981 Pulitzer Prize winner for editorial cartooning and creator of the award-winning cartoon strip Mother Goose & Grimm, has been selected to give the 2012 Commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. The university’s 151st Commencement will begin at 8:30 a.m. Friday, May 18, in Brookings Quadrangle on the Danforth Campus. Peters earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from WUSTL in 1965.