Page 51 – The Source | Washington University in St. Louis

Powers wins book award from cinema society

John Powers, an assistant professor of film and media studies in Arts & Sciences, has won the 2024 Best First Book Award from the Society for Cinema and Media Studies.

History & Education

Kastor named chair of Historical Society board

Peter Kastor, the Samuel K. Eddy Endowed Professor in History in Arts & Sciences, has been appointed chair of the Missouri Historical Society’s board of trustees. His term began Jan. 1.

St. Louis Region

St. Louis high school students compete, meet experts at WashU Brain Bee

About 55 high school students from the St. Louis region and beyond tested their knowledge of the human brain and learned about neuroscience careers at the 15th annual St. Louis Area Brain Bee March 8 at Washington University in St. Louis.

Biology

How cells sense, remember their environments

A $2.2 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant will fund research in the McKelvey School of Engineering to explore how epithelial cells sense their environments and acquire mechanical memories.

Medicine

Female sex hormone protects against opioid misuse, rat study finds

According to a new study by WashU Medicine researchers, male and female rats with a chronic pain condition release different amounts of dopamine when given fentanyl because of sex hormones. The findings might help explain why men have higher rates of opioid use and overdose deaths.

Performing Arts

Kurtz explores ethical practice in capoeira

Esther Viola Kurtz, in the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, has published an article titled “Call, Response, and Compromisso: Ethical Practice in Capoeira of Backland Bahia, Brazil.”

Neuroscience & Memory

Good parenting helps, but has limits under major deprivation

Researchers at Washington University find high social disadvantage may limit the benefits of parenting on language and cognition.

Obituaries

Floyd Bloom, emeritus trustee, 88

Floyd E. Bloom, MD, an honorary emeritus trustee at Washington University in St. Louis, died Jan. 8. He was 88. A WashU Medicine alumnus, he made groundbreaking contributions to modern neuroscience.

Engineering

Multimodal AI tool supports study of ecosystems

graph showing multimodal inputs to AI tools

Computer scientists at Washington University developed TaxaBind, an artificial intelligence tool that combines six information streams to address modeling of ecosystems.

Performing Arts

Opera star Lawrence Brownlee March 23

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee, “an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory” (New York Times), will join pianist Kevin Miller for an intimate recital March 23. The program will span music of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.