Peter Westervelt, M.D., Ph.D., has been named director of the bone marrow transplantation and leukemia section of the Division of Oncology at the School of Medicine. Westervelt, associate professor of medicine, succeeds John F. DiPersio, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine, in the position.
Daniel Stier / GQ, September 2006El Hombre vs. The BabeBaseball purists, especially those of Yankee allegiance, might argue that St. Louis Cardinals homerun-hitting superstar Albert Pujols is simply not in the same league as legendary New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth. Science may never settle that argument, but researchers at Washington University in St. Louis can offer some sense of how Pujols stacks up to the Babe in terms of skills necessary to hit the long ball. Pujols visited WUSTL to take part in a series of lab tests similar to those conducted on Ruth in 1921.
Washington University researchers are tracking the source of a mysterious new tick-borne disease. They’re searching throughout the Midwest for ticks that carry the illness, with the hope of also identifying the animals responsible for spreading the disease. Called Southern tick-associated rash illness, the pathogen causes rashes and flulike symptoms.
MacDonaldHugh Macdonald, the Avis H. Blewett Professor of Music in Arts & Sciences, has prepared a performing edition of Fiesque (1866-68), a previously unperformed opera by French composer Eduardo Lalo (1823-1892). The piece will receive its world première July 27 at Le Festival de Radio France et Montpellier. His newly prepared score will be published later this year by Bärenreiter Editions.
A new St. Louis-based company will use a novel technology to rapidly screen thousands of drugs for their effectiveness against two of the biggest health threats in the United States — diabetes and cancer.
Jonathan S. Turner, Ph.D., was named the Barbara J. and Jerome R. Cox, Jr. Professor of Computer Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The professorship was established by Jerome Cox, Sc.D., and his wife, Barbara, to advance the relationship between theory and practice in the design of digital systems. Jerome Cox is a senior faculty member and a former chair in the same department.
On Aug. 7, Metro made the announcement that nearly everyone has been waiting for: The Cross County Extension is complete and will be open for transit Aug. 26. Given the anticipation of the eight-mile extension, it would seem that a celebration would be in order, and both the University and Metro are planning to deliver. The University will host a Grand Opening Celebration from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Aug. 26 in the parking lot just outside Uncas A. Whitaker Hall. Planned activities include a miniature train ride, arts and crafts, music and refreshments.
Patrick WinterIn laboratory tests, one very low dose of a drug was enough to have an effect on notoriously tenacious artery-clogging plaques. What kind of drug is that potent? It’s not so much the drug itself as how it was delivered. Fumagillin — a drug that can inhibit the growth of new blood vessels that feed atherosclerotic plaques — was sent directly to the base of plaques by microscopically small spheres called nanoparticles developed by School of Medicine researchers.