Benjamin Akande to lead Africa initiative at Washington University

With an eye toward strengthening and expanding Washington University’s efforts in Africa, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton has appointed Benjamin Akande as senior adviser to the chancellor and director of the Africa initiative. Akande, a Nigerian-born American, has built a career on research, teaching and learning with a unique passion for a life-changing political economy across Africa.

Sadtler wins NSF CAREER award to develop better catalysts for alternative fuels

Bryce Sadtler
Bryce Sadtler, assistant professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been awarded a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award by the National Science Foundation. His grant, expected to total more than $610,000 over the next five years, is for research to identify the structural characteristics that make some catalysts better than others for harvesting energy from the sun.

Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts presents Distinguished Alumni Awards

Former U.S. Ambassador Sam Fox and Marilyn Fox will receive the Dean’s Medal for outstanding service from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts April 5. In addition, eight art and architecture alumni will be recognized for demonstrating creativity, innovation, leadership and vision in their respective fields.

Young Hispanic men may face greatest risk from police shootings, study finds

The police shooting earlier this month of Stephon Clark in his grandmother’s Sacramento backyard has renewed protests over officer-involved deaths of unarmed black men, but research led by Washington University in St. Louis suggests young Hispanic men may face an even greater risk of being killed by police, especially in mixed-income neighborhoods with large Latino populations.

Slow, steady waves keep brain humming

brain waves
Very slow brain waves may be more important than anyone had realized. Researchers at the School of Medicine have found that very slow waves are directly linked to state of consciousness and may be involved in coordinating activity across distant brain regions.

Olin Library opens new museum-quality exhibit spaces

Olin Library exhibit
The new Thomas Gallery in Olin Library at Washington University in St. Louis unveiled this week its debut exhibition — “Lasting Legacies,” a tribute to noted alumni. The exhibit is the first of many to showcase University Libraries’ Department of Special Collections, which is among academia’s largest and most diverse.

Drugmakers engage in ‘co-opetition’ through drug middlemen

Coopetition graphic
Consumers can pretty easily discern how automobile manufacturers and their suppliers make money, for example. But fewer understand how their $20 co-pay for anti-cholesterol medication gets split between the drugmaker, the insurance company and the pharmacy benefit manager. New research from Olin Business School aims to explain.

Campus blood drive next week

The next universitywide blood drive will be held Wednesday, April 4, at seven locations throughout the campuses. All faculty, staff and students are encouraged to participate.

CRISPR enhances gene therapy to fight inherited diseases

School of Medicine scientists have combined the gene-editing tool CRISPR with a deactivated virus to deliver a healthy gene to a precise location in the bodies of living mice. And more importantly, the researchers demonstrated that the inserted gene remained properly activated in mice for at least six months.