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|  INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS ACADEMY CREATED: Launched by Washington University and 15 leading Asian partner universities with a $10 million endowment commitment from John F. McDonnell and the JSM Charitable Trust, the McDonnell International Scholars Academy creates a growing worldwide network of top scholars, researchers, and business and governmental leaders.
Visit the McDonnell Academy Website
See photos and hear audio clips for the press confrence annoncing the new Academy
BUILDING A NEW APPROACH TO MEDICINE: Designed to bring together great scientific minds in a comfortable, productive atmosphere, the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center is the new focal point at the School of Medicine. The $35 million state-of-the-art facility is the "hearth" of the medical campus, which both students and teachers can call home.
NANOTECHNOLOGY CENTER FOUNDED: Last year, the National Cancer Institute said it wanted to create several centers of excellence in cancer-nanotechnology research. In October, it announced it had chosen seven such centers across the nation; one is Washington University in St. Louis, which will receive $16 million over the next five years to establish the Siteman Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence.
NEW CENTER TO FOCUS ON URBAN RESEARCH: Washington University has established a Center on Urban Research and Policy. The Center is an interdisciplinary initiative dedicated to promoting scholarship and debate on critical issues facing urban America. In addition to serving as a research center, it will develop plans for an undergraduate and graduate program in urban research and policy.
Research
MOLECULE MAY AID IN ALZHEIMER'S TREATMENT: A molecule that has long been an obstacle to cancer chemotherapy and drug treatments for brain disorders may soon become an ally in the fight against Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and the University of Rochester. In studies, scientists found that the molecule, P-glycoprotein, accelerates clearance from the brain of amyloid beta (A-beta) peptide, the primary component of the plaques that are the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.
 THE BIRDS AND THE BEES? NO, FISH AND FLOWERS: Fish and flowering plants would not seem to have much in common, but ecologists at Washington University and the University of Florida have found an amazing relationship between the different species that provides a new direction for understanding how ecosystems "hook up."
A MORE SOPHISTICATED HUNTER-GATHERER: The typical picture of the hunter-gatherer community is that of a small number of people wandering across the landscape, hunting for food, and gathering nuts and berries. The groups didn't have complex political and social organization. Could that traditional viewpoint be completely wrong? T.R. Kidder, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, thinks it may be.
Features
HAS CORPORATE ARCHITECTURE DOOMED THE CITY?: Corporate headquarters have been one of the pillars of the urban environment. Yet increasingly today, corporations are situating themselves on the suburban periphery, replacing civic engagement with displays of technological prowess. In a recent report, Peter MacKeith, associate director of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and associate dean of Architecture, examines a variety of recently built headquarters around the world.
 UNDERGRAD MAKES KEY DISCOVERY: Stephanie Gallitano, a junior chemistry student in Arts & Sciences, discovered the existence of an Asian mosquito species outside of St. Louis that is a vector of the West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis. The discovery is the first reporting of Ochlerotatus japonicus in Missouri and marks the western-most record of the exotic species in the central and eastern United States.
NOT JUST "ONE OF THE BOYS": When female athletes are injured, health-care professionals need to consider differences between men and women and pay close attention to the anatomic, biomechanical, hormonal, and functional factors that are unique to women. Physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists at the School of Medicine say that paying attention to the factors unique to women can be difficult because fewer women have been involved in research, coaching, and sports medicine over the years.
Heard on Campus
"Scientific and technological advances do not come full form; they're not just sitting, waiting in the sky for us to figure them out and find them. It's how we decide to take advantage of our resources that's the crux of the matter. What science we research and what technology we develop depends on the people we are. It depends on our society."
—Mae Jemison, M.D. and former NASA astronaut, in her lecture "Exploring the Frontiers of Science and Human Potential" given October 26 at the Assembly Series
Kudos
John S. Rigden, Ph.D., adjunct professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, received the 2005 Robert A. Millikan Award from the American Association of Physics Teachers. The award is given to a teacher who has made notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics.
Gerhild Williams, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures in Arts & Sciences and the David M. Thomas Professor in the Humanities, is serving a two-year term as president of the Sixteenth Century Studies Association and Conference. The association is one of the largest such organizations in the world and serves scholars and students who study the literature, culture, history, religions, and performing and visual arts of the early modern period (1450-1700).
Frank C-P Yin, M.D., Ph.D., chair and the Stephen F. and Camilla T. Brauer Professor of Biomedical Engineering, is president of the Biomedical Engineering Society. He assumed office in October. In 2008, St. Louis will host the annual meeting of the Society, and Yin will chair the meeting.
WUSTL Links
About @ Washington University in St. Louis
This newsletter is prepared by Special Development Communications Projects staff in Alumni and Development Programs. It is intended to provide a brief summary of what is happening at the University. Alumni, parents, and friends of the University for whom we have valid e-mail addresses automatically receive @ Washington University in St. Louis.
Copyright 2005, Washington University in St. Louis
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