Page 20 – The Source | Washington University in St. Louis

Tapping the engines of cellular electrochemistry and forces of evolution

Biomedical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis have outlined how properties of biological condensates may serve as engines to power electrochemical reactions at a microscale.

Architecture

The life cycle of a building

New home construction is a major source of carbon emissions. Over the last three semesters, Hongxi Yin and Sam Fox School students helped develop a pavilion made entirely from salvaged materials. Now on view in Chicago’s Millennium Park, the project sequestered more carbon than it released.

Campus & Facilities

‘A crash course in WashU history’ — WashU Libraries digitize historic images

More than 6,400 historic images of WashU’s buildings, events and people are now available to view. The newly digitized photos run from the university’s founding in 1853 to 2007 and include valuable metadata, some of it pulled from handwritten notes scribbled on the back of the original photographs.

Campus & Facilities

WashU plans new South 40 housing

As part of its ongoing mission to strengthen the undergraduate experience, WashU plans to build a new South 40 residence hall along Forsyth Boulevard. The new building will accommodate 600 first-year students and sophomores and feature a large courtyard and multipurpose room for events and gathering. Construction is anticipated to start this summer and is expected to be complete in time for the 2028-29 academic year.

Neuroscience & Memory

Breathing disruptions during sleep widespread in newborns with severe spina bifida

A multi-center study led by researchers at WashU Medicine and Michigan Medicine found that breathing problems during sleep are widespread among newborns with a severe form of spina bifida and could be a promising target for early interventions to improve the babies’ neurodevelopment.

Medicine

Breath carries clues to gut microbiome health

Researchers at WashU Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have shown that disease-associated bacteria in the gut can be detected through exhaled breath. The findings could pave the way for a rapid, non-invasive breath test to assess gut microbiome health.

Students

STEM Exchange to boost learning, support faculty

As part of WashU’s ongoing work to transform undergraduate STEM education and support low-income and first-generation STEM students, the Office of the Provost is launching the WashU STEM Exchange, a new community where STEM educators, advisers and researchers can share strategies and interventions and track outcomes.

Art & Design

‘Looking Back Toward the Future’

Celebrated editor, publisher and art collector Larry Warsh recently gifted 56 works of Chinese photography to the Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis. This spring, the museum will publicly display 43 of those works, all made between 1993 and 2006, for the first time in “Looking Back Toward the Future: Contemporary Photography from China.”

Law

Eliminating Missouri income tax would hurt low-income residents

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe has called for a phaseout of the state’s income tax, a move that would cause the most pain to the state’s low-income residents, says an expert on tax law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Obituaries

Ella Johnson, senior in Arts & Sciences, 21

Senior Ella Elizabeth Johnson of Belmont, Mass., died Jan. 14 after a difficult struggle with mental health challenges. Johnson, 21, was studying psychological and brain sciences and Spanish in Arts & Sciences.