Allegations against R. Kelly have finally exploded into the #MeToo era with Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly.” But the singer’s troubling behavior can be traced back decades. “There was a lot of sexual energy around Kelly that we as young people felt was a little bit dark and a little bit inappropriate and a little bit taboo,” says Jeffrey Q. McCune Jr., who studies race, gender and popular culture at Washington University in St. Louis. In the early 1990s, McCune was a student at Kenwood Academy, the Chicago magnet school Kelly had attended just a few years before — and a classmate to one of Kelly’s earliest accusers.
By tweaking the recipe for coaxing human stem cells into insulin-secreting beta cells, a team of researchers at the School of Medicine has shown that the resulting cells are more responsive to fluctuating glucose levels in the blood. The finding may lead to a new approach to treating diabetes.
Tim McBride, the Bernard Becker Professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, will begin a part-time contract appointment within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as assistant secretary for planning and evaluation in the Office of Health Policy.
The Gerry and Bob Virgil Ethic of Service Award recognizes members of the university community who exemplify service and contribution to the St. Louis region. Honorees include alumni, employees, retirees, students and volunteers. The nomination deadline is Feb. 1.
The issue of ever-changing health care, particularly drug discovery, care delivery and introducing new technologies, will be the topic of a morning-long symposium Jan. 23 at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School as part of the David R. Calhoun Lectureship.
In a new study from the School of Medicine, scientists have blocked the destruction of nerve axons in mice, a step toward helping patients with various neurodegenerative disorders.
Organizations need to reconsider how best to draw from black workers who bring different experiences, backgrounds, and strengths. It’s not enough to tiptoe around the fact that racial disparities persist. Head-on efforts to resolve these issues are necessary.
Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton and his wife, Risa Zwerling Wrighton, will receive the 2019 Rosa L. Parks Award for their service to St. Louis’ young people at Washington University in St. Louis’ Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 21, in Graham Chapel.
Monique Bedasse, assistant professor of history and of African and African-American studies in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has won the 2018 Wesley-Logan Prize in African diaspora history.
Gerald Medoff, MD, professor emeritus of medicine and beloved former director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the School of Medicine, died peacefully Jan. 14, 2019, in hospice care in Creve Coeur, Mo., following a long bout with Parkinson’s disease. He was 82.
