research

A call for proposals is now open for the Danforth Campus-wide cluster hire of a dozen new faculty members, who will focus on world-class research on race and ethnicity in our society. The deadline for schools and departments to submit preliminary proposals is Sept. 21.

Washington University is joining forces with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Saint Louis Zoo to create the Living Earth Collaborative, a new academic center dedicated to advancing the study of biodiversity to help ensure the future of Earth’s species in their many forms.

The Brown School has been awarded a $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to increase sustainability of evidence-based tobacco control programs and policies. Sarah Moreland-Russell, assistant professor of practice and senior scholar to the Clark-Fox Policy Institute, will serve as principal investigator.

Elastin and collagen serve as the body’s building blocks. Any genetic mutation short-circuiting their function can have a devastating, and often lethal, health impact. For the first time, new research led by engineers at Washington University in St. Louis takes a closer look at both genetic and mechanical attributes, to better understand a disorder that affects how elastin and collagen function.

A new study from the School of Medicine has found that a molecular decoy can target and reduce UTI-causing bacteria in the gut. With a smaller pool of disease-causing bacteria, the researchers say the risk of having a UTI goes down.

In a study of predominantly African-American women — who have a much higher rate of delivering babies early compared with other racial groups — researchers at the School of Medicine showed that a decrease in the diversity of vaginal microbes of pregnant women between the first and second trimesters is associated with preterm birth.

The School of Medicine has received a $10 million gift from the Harry Edison Foundation to support the Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology. The gift will help to advance the center’s innovative research programs, including its substantial work in understanding the gut microbiome.

Ross Brownson, the Bernard Becker Professor and director of the Prevention Research Center at the Brown School, has been awarded a $2.9 million grant from National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute for a five-year project aimed at promoting physical activity in rural communities.

An experiment designed by an engineering team at Washington University in St. Louis soon will be performed in space. The experiment, called Flame Design, was on board a SpaceX Dragon rocket that launched into orbit June 3.

Eggs significantly increased growth and reduced stunting by 47 percent in young children, finds a new study from a leading expert on child nutrition at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. This was a much greater effect than had been shown in previous studies.