Brown School

On March 6, the state of Maine became the first in the United States to make college savings for newborns universal and automatic, putting into practice research pioneered by Michael Sherraden, PhD, the George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor and director ofthe Brown School’s Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis.

Last fall, researchers in St. Louis released five policy briefs in a groundbreaking study on the health and well-being of African Americans in the region. Now it’s time for the community to weigh in on “For the Sake of All: A Report on the Health and Well-Being of African Americans in St. Louis.” A Community Feedback Forum will take place from 2-5 p.m. Monday, March 3, in the Learning Lab at the Forest Park Visitor Center, 5595 Grand Drive on the north side of Forest Park near the Missouri History Museum.

Today, two-thirds of those ever reaching the age of 65 are on the planet. Further, university researchers may have the keys to help people live even longer, healthier and more productive lives — but is society ready?

Our goal is to strengthen the university’s leadership ­today to benefit St. Louis, America and the world tomorrow.

Lainie Friedman Ross, MD, PhD, of the University of Chicago, addresses the panel at the Policy Forum program “First, Do No Harm: Genetic Privacy in the Age of Genome Sequencing” in Brown Hall Feb. 25. Among other topics, panel participants addressed the ethical implications of genetic privacy and incidental findings that may occur because of genome testing. 

Half of parents in the United States would consent to have their children receive the flu vaccine in school, according to a survey from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. It is among the first to provide national data on parent preferences on school-administered flu shots. “This study shows the potential to use schools for large-scale influenza vaccination programs in the U.S.,” said Derek S. Brown, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School and lead author of the study.

A recent gift of $1,025,000 will establish the Suren G. Dutia and Jas K. Grewal Global Impact Award in the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Washington University. The endowed fund will receive $1 million, with the remaining $25,000 to support awards made during the current academic year. Applications are being accepted until March 24 for awards to support business ventures aimed at catalyzing social change.

In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the surgeon general’s landmark report on smoking, the Brown School’s Center for Public Health Systems Science, in partnership with the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, has published two new tobacco control guides — Policy Strategies and Pricing Policy — that aim to give state and local communities the guidance and resources needed to move tobacco-control policies forward.

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Sheryl WuDunn will present an Assembly Series address on “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, in Graham Chapel on Washington University in St. Louis’ Danforth Campus. A booksigning will follow in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge. Both events are free and open to the public.

For Kimberly Jade Norwood, Washington University professor of law and African & African American studies, the topic of her newly released book, Color Matters: Skin Tone Bias and the Myth of a Postracial America (Routledge, 2013), strikes close to home.