Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019

Top Stories

Four ways to curb light pollution, save bugs

Want to help stop the decline of our insect friends? A new publication from Brett Seymoure in Arts & Sciences shows how artificial light at night negatively impacts thousands of species that have evolved to use light levels as cues for courtship, foraging and navigation.

Heart pumps associated with complications in some

In critically ill patients who require a heart pump to support blood circulation as part of stent procedures, specific heart pumps have been associated with serious complications, according to a study led by School of Medicine cardiologists.

Alzheimer’s study to open new Latin American sites

A major international Alzheimer’s disease research initiative led by the School of Medicine will open five new sites in Latin America to help researchers understand the development of early-onset Alzheimer’s in Latino populations.

Time for privacy reform is now, expert says

America needs an internet privacy bill, but congressional inaction could force states into adopting an Americanized version of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation. That would be ineffective, argues privacy law expert Neil Richards.

Events

6–10 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20

Democratic primary debate watch party

7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20

‘Talent retention strategies for low-status America’

6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21

‘Slaves, tablets and Roman literary production’

View more events →

Campus Announcements

Playwriting competition seeks student entries

Undergraduate and graduate students at Washington University can submit entries for the annual A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival. The deadline to turn in scripts — which may be full-length, one-act or 10-minute plays — is 4 p.m. Jan. 17. Winning playwrights will be announced in March.

WashU in the News

How do I know if my kid needs antibiotics?

The New York Times

The latest recommendations on youth sports and concussions research

ABC News

Novel process allows microbes to harvest electrons

Digital Journal

Kindbom’s unexpected coaching career wraps up at Washington U.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

See more WashU in the News →

Campus Voices

Q&A with evolutionary biologist Swanne Gordon

Swanne Gordon, of Arts & Sciences, is a Canadian evolutionary biologist and behavioral ecologist. In the biology newsletter BIOrhythms, she speaks about her background, career challenges and passionate belief in embracing diversity and broadening horizons.

Notables

Peggy Kendall, MD, has been named director of the Division of Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine. She joined the university from Vanderbilt University. Kendall studies the role of B cells, a type of white blood cell, in autoimmune diseases such as inflammatory arthritis and type 1 diabetes.

Research Wire

Michal Grinstein-Weiss, the Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor at the Brown School, is co-author of a paper published in the Journal of Financial Economics. It shows that financially burdened families’ savings get a shot in the arm with access to Medicaid.

The Record