University to launch Kessler Scholars Program

Washington University will launch a new cohort initiative, the Kessler Scholars Program, to recruit and support first-generation and Pell Grant-eligible STEM students who want to tackle societal challenges such as public health and climate change.

Poverty, crime linked to differences in newborns’ brains

Scanning the brains of newborns, School of Medicine researchers have found that maternal exposure to poverty and crime can influence the structure and function of young brains even before babies make their entrances into the world.

Provost offers strategic planning update

Provost Beverly Wendland shares an update on Washington University’s strategic planning process and invites the WashU community to provide feedback on a draft overview of the vision for the university’s future.

Notables

The Society for Research in Psychopathology has awarded its Joseph Zubin Lifetime Achievement Award to WashU’s Deanna Barch in recognition of her lifetime contributions to the understanding of the field.

Research Wire

Laura Escobar Vega, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics in Arts & Sciences, won a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation for her project on combinatorial algebraic geometry.

Research Wire

Alex Holehouse at the School of Medicine, along with collaborators at Wageningen University and Research and the University of Toronto, received a three-year $1.1 million grant from Human Frontier Science Program to study disordered proteins.