Wearing decorative contact lenses on Halloween — also known as fashion, color, cosmetic or theatre contact lenses — changes the look of the eyes, but the lenses don’t correct vision. If used incorrectly, they can impair vision and damage the eyes, according to an optometrist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Washington University scientists have demonstrated a rigorous way to test the effects of probiotic bacteria on digestive health: they zeroed in on the community of microbes that naturally live in the intestine and help to digest foods our bodies can’t on their own.
Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, will host the annual Dean’s Update for all employees Oct. 31 and Nov. 2.
Students are invited to submit proposals for grant money from the Women’s Society of Washington University (WSWU) to support projects or activities that benefit the university community. Each fall semester, WSWU awards grants that range from $300 to $2,000. The goal is to advance students’ educational and cultural experiences as well as to encourage service projects.
A major U.S. study shows that annual chest X-rays to screen for lung cancer do not reduce the risk of dying from the disease, even in smokers or former smokers. More than 150,000 older Americans were involved in the clinical trial, funded by the National Cancer Institute, with about 16,000 enrolled at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Results of the study will be published Nov. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Against a backdrop of harsh partisan political rancor, Steven S. Smith, PhD, the Kate M. Gregg Distinguished Professor of Social Sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, will present a series of three lectures in November on “The Dysfunctional Senate.”
A cold, wet day wasn’t enough to keep Henry S. Webber, executive vice chancellor for administration, from riding his bicycle through a ribbon dedicating the new bicycle path through the Danforth Campus Oct. 19. Partners from the Great Rivers Greenway District, the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County, and Clayton and University City participated in the celebration. The ribbon-cutting event was part of Campus Sustainability Week.
An Oct. 26 open forum will discuss issues of homelessness in St. Louis. “Tent City on the St. Louis Riverfront: A Fireside Chat About the Politics of Homelessness” will take place at 4 p.m. in the Danforth University Center Fun Room on the 2nd Floor.
From gleaming skyscrapers to humble market stalls, modern India is a world of crowded contradiction, a world of iPhones and ancient gods, of rickshaws and SUVs, of causal corruption and slumdog millionaires. In The Guru of Chai — presented Nov. 4 and 5 as part of the Edison Ovations Series — Jacob Rajan, co-founder of New Zealand’s India Ink Theatre Company, gives voice to the world’s largest democracy through a series of indelible characters: the poor chaiwallah (tea seller), the lovelorn policeman, the protection racketeers, the abandoned girl whose singing stops crowds in their tracks.
Robert D. Putnam, PhD, the Malkin Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, will present a lecture on his latest work, American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, in Graham Chapel. He is the author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.
