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Sam Fox School spring Public Lecture Series begins Jan. 19

Celebrated sculptor Chakaia Booker will launch the Sam Fox School’s spring Public Lecture Series with a free talk Jan. 19. Subsequent speakers will range from Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré to author and illustrator Deb J.J. Lee, avant-garde stage director Robert Wilson and fashion technologist Anouk Wipprecht.

Awards & Notables

Khelfallah wins special jury prize at International Film Festival of Algiers

Amira Jihane Khelfallah, a doctoral candidate in comparative literature in Arts & Sciences, won a special jury prize during the 11th International Film Festival of Algiers.

Alzheimer's

Gut bacteria affect brain health, mouse study shows

Gut bacteria can influence brain health, according to a study of mice genetically predisposed to develop Alzheimer’s-like brain damage. The School of Medicine study findings suggest a new approach to treating Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Medicine

Study reveals obesity-related trigger that can lead to diabetes

A School of Medicine study may help explain how excess weight can contribute to diabetes and may provide researchers with a target to help prevent or delay diabetes in some of those at risk. The findings suggest that many people with elevated levels of insulin also have defects in an enzyme important to the processing of a key fatty acid.

Medicine

Some hospitalized patients’ infections may develop from their own bacteria

A study, in mice, from the School of Medicine, suggests that the bacterium Acinetobacter can hide undetected in bladder cells and then reactivate when stimulated by medical intervention. The findings suggest that patients may bring the bacterium into hospitals.

Engineering

Nehorai paper wins sustained impact award

Arye Nehorai, at the McKelvey School of Engineering, has been selected for the 2022 IEEE Signal Processing Society (Sustained Impact Paper Award, which honors authors of journal articles of broad interest that have had impact over many years.

Psychology

McDaniel receives grant aimed at improving undergraduate STEM education

Mark McDaniel, a professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences, won a $60,164 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project aimed at giving students effective learning strategies for STEM courses.

Sociology

Employees took advantage of the Great Resignation. Now the employers want revenge.

Something shocking has happened in the US economy in recent years: average workers have started to move forward. But when the period of low unemployment and rising workers’ power ends, without further legal support, workers’ bargaining chips are likely to disappear with it.

St. Louis Region

SLPS leaders to be honored with Rosa L. Parks Award

Kelvin Adams, who retired in December as superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools, and Deidra Thomas-Murray, the district’s students in transition coordinator and foster care liaison, will be honored at the 36th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, in Graham Chapel on the Danforth Campus.

Engineering

Condensation key to climate-friendly power generation

Patricia Weisensee, an assistant professor at the McKelvey School of Engineering, won a $351,971 National Science Foundation grant to support a new study of condensation in fluid refrigerants.