Gerberding, former CDC director, to address 2020 grads

The Class of 2020 will be back on campus for in-person Commencement ceremonies May 30. Julie L. Gerberding, MD, the first woman to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will deliver the address, Chancellor Andrew D. Martin announced.

Class Acts series launches

Welcome to Class Acts, a celebration of remarkable graduating students. In our first installment, Class Acts showcases three incredible makers — pop-up market founder Noor Bekhiet, engineer Alex Levy and artist Erin Lewis.

Treatment not always needed to prevent vision loss

More than 20 years after the launch of a landmark clinical trial led by the School of Medicine’s Michael A. Kass, MD, follow-up exams and analyses found that not all patients with elevated eye pressure need pressure-lowering treatment to prevent vision loss from glaucoma.

Notables

Anthony Odibo, MD, an internationally respected maternal-fetal medicine expert, has been named director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine & Ultrasound in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the School of Medicine.

Research Wire

Abhinav Jha, assistant professor at the McKelvey School of Engineering, has received a four-year $1.83 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He will develop a new framework to evaluate quantitative imaging methods and help doctors make better decisions.

Announcements

The Sustainability and Information Security offices will hold electronic waste recycling drives and confidential paper shredding services on the Danforth and Medical campuses. The Danforth event is Tuesday, April 20; the medical school event will follow April 27.

Larry J. Johnson, longtime environmental health employee

Larry J. Johnson, a radiation safety specialist for decades in the university’s Office of Environmental Health & Safety, died of a heart attack at his home in St. Louis on April 2. He was 68. Services will be held Saturday, April 17.