Page 37 – The Source | Washington University in St. Louis

Ancient maize genomes help chart corn’s journey into eastern North America

The path maize took to reach eastern North America has long been debated. A new study in the journal Cell, co-authored by Gayle Fritz in Arts & Sciences, provides clear evidence that maize traveled across the Great Plains from the Southwest.

Awards & Notables

Mack was a Marshall finalist

Dylan Mack, a student at the McKelvey School of Engineering, was a finalist for the prestigious Marshall Scholarship, which funds graduate studies in the United Kingdom.

St. Louis Region

Starting anew: WashU’s Empower program helps educated refugees tackle language, career hurdles

Before they were refugees in St. Louis, they were economists, engineers or nurses. Now a new, no-cost program at Washington University in St. Louis is giving them next-level English and professional skills they need to find jobs that match their talents and training. Observers say the program is a win-win for refugees and the St. Louis region.

Cancer Research

Analyzing multiple mammograms improves breast cancer risk prediction

A new, artificial intelligence-based method of analyzing mammograms, developed by researchers at WashU Medicine, identified individuals at high risk of developing breast cancer more accurately than the standard, questionnaire-based method did.

Cancer Research

New drug tested to reduce side effect of ‘half-matched’ stem cell transplants

Results from a clinical trial conducted at WashU Medicine showed adding the investigational drug itacitinib to standard care for “half-matched” stem cell transplantation may reduce rates of graft-versus-host disease.

Engineering

Researchers aim to develop space biomanufacturing

Researchers at Washington University are working to develop an anaerobic digestion process using cyanobacterium to grow food in space.

Awards & Notables

Evers honored with mentoring award

The Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research has announced that Alex Evers, MD, the Henry E. Mallinckrodt Professor of Anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will receive the foundation’s 2024 Mentoring Excellence in Research Award.