CORTEX

Welcome to Cortex, an innovation community started in 2002 thanks to a lead investment from Washington University. Drone footage takes you through the formerly blighted industrial complex that is now a hip mixed-use space and home to more than 5,800 jobs. This is Cortex.

The McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University is joining forces with Saint Louis University to promote an innovation, entrepreneurship and growth in the region.

Working with budding local tech companies can be good for researchers, good for startups and good for the local economy — even if, in the end, the researcher decides to head back to the lab. Here’s the story of what one PhD student is learning about his options.

About 200 Washington University students in medicine, engineering and business recently gathered in the Cortex Innovation District for a networking event known as “Problem Day.” The event kicked off a seven-month effort for student entrepreneurs to develop innovative solutions to clinical problems. 

A team of Washington University students on the Medical Campus recently won top honors in the Neuro Startup Challenge, a biotech startup competition designed to commercialize promising brain-related discoveries of scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).The team developed a business plan to commercialize a test for patients with multiple sclerosis.

Six researchers at Washington University are being honored as outstanding scientists by the Academy of Science-St. Louis. University recipients are faculty members Ralph Quatrano, Jennifer K. Lodge, Samuel Achilefu, Charles M. Hohenberg, Gautam Dantas and Steven Teitelbaum (right), who received a lifetime achievement award.

The Metropolitan Sewer District project to upgrade the Duncan Avenue storm sewer will close the intersection of Duncan and Boyle avenues for approximately six weeks starting at 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 15. Employees who access campus parking via the intersection should plan to take alternate routes, such as Clayton and Forest Park avenues to Newstead or Taylor avenues.

Employee parking will begin shifting to the east at the Washington University Medical Center as construction continues for the Campus Renewal Project, the School of Medicine’s new research and environmental health/central services buildings and the CORTEX District.

Hank Webber, executive vice chancellor for administration, sits down with the Record to talk about Washington University’s major role in the growth of St. Louis’ central corridor. An expert in urban planning, Webber knows faculty and students want to be part of a thriving community, so he focuses on projects that are winners for both WUSTL and the region.

Washington University Medical Center and the CORTEX district just east of the Medical Campus are evolving daily. A webpage has been created to keep visitors, employees and residents informed about street-improvement projects and traffic flow in the area.Views from a live webcam showing the progress also are available via this link.