Reception honors cancer patients as artists

On Dec. 17 at the Duane Reed Gallery in Clayton, the Arts as Healing Program is hosting a public showing of art created by cancer patients. This reception, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., will celebrate these patients as artists and honor “their journey of hope.”

Mann named director of cardiovascular division

Douglas Mann has been named the Tobias and Hortense Lewin Professor and director of the Cardiovascular Division in the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine. The appointment will be effective in March 2009. He will also become cardiologist-in-chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and director of the new Heart and Vascular Institute at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University.

‘Perfect knight’

Photo by David KilperSutera’s leadership lifts engineering to new levels

Marriage vs. civil union

Frank K. FlinnIn November, California citizens passed Proposition 8 upholding the idea that marriage is defined as and limited to the union of one man with one woman. The vote has given encouragement to many in other states who want to pass similar legislation. The United States is about to enter a period of legal upheaval on the question of marriage in the civil law, suggests Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D., adjunct professor of religious studies in Arts & Sciences. His proposal? Give marriage to the churches and let the state define civil unions.

An excellent pair

Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.Faculty achievement award winners Henry L. “Roddy” Roediger III, Ph.D. (left), and Robert D. Schreiber, Ph.D., await the awards ceremony Dec. 5 at the Moore Auditorium of the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center on the Medical Campus.

Estrogen pills can benefit women with metastatic breast cancer

For breast cancer survivors, the idea of taking estrogen pills is almost a taboo. In fact, their doctors give them drugs to get rid of the hormone because it can fuel the growth of breast cancer. So these women would probably be surprised by the approach taken by breast cancer physician Matthew Ellis, associate professor of medicine at the School of Medicine — he has demonstrated that estrogen therapy can help control metastatic breast cancer.