Hosanna-Tabor an important victory for religious liberty

The U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Hosanna-Tabor v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an important victory for religious liberty says First Amendment expert John Inazu, JD, associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “Hosanna-Tabor is a welcome reminder that the Court has not lost sight of ‘the text of the First Amendment itself, which gives special solicitude to the rights of religious organizations.’”

New drug target for childhood eye tumor

New findings from the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project have helped identify the mechanism that makes the childhood eye tumor retinoblastoma so aggressive.

Progress in fight against aggressive childhood leukemia

Researchers have discovered that a subtype of leukemia characterized by a poor prognosis is fueled by mutations in pathways distinctly different from a seemingly similar leukemia associated with a much better outcome.

WUSTL No. 8 in ‘Green Metric’ world university sustainability ranking

Washington University in St. Louis has been ranked No. 8 in a recent “Green Metric” ranking of world universities by the University of Indonesia. The ranking measures university participants’ commitment to developing an environmentally friendly infrastructure. Results are based on information provided by universities on their energy efficiency, water usage, waste management, transportation and more.

Sam Fox School spring Public Lecture Series begins Jan. 20

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ Public Lecture Series presents free weekly lectures by nationally and internationally recognized artists, architects, historians and critics. This spring, the Public Lecture Series — which begins Jan. 20 — will feature talks by Hungarian installation artist Balázs Kicsiny and by architect Craig Dykers, whose firm, Snøhetta, designed the National 911 Memorial Pavillion in New York. Other highlights will include lectures by landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, New York illustrator Jessica Hische and art historian Susan Laxton.

750 new trees, and counting

WUSTL community members help place soil around the 750th tree to be planted on the Danforth Campus since 2008. The tree, a Swamp White Oak, was planted Dec. 15 and is located next to Brown Hall along the new Centennial Greenway bike path. Currently, the Danforth Campus is home to approximately 3,800 trees.

Late-stage sepsis suppresses immune system

Patients who die from sepsis are likely to have had suppressed immune systems that left them unable to fight infections, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown. The findings suggest that therapies to rev up the immune response may help save the lives of some patients with the disorder.