News

The former CDC director reflected on the importance of transdisciplinary education, the need for integrated data, and the vital role of public health in responding to emerging threats.

A conversation with Boris Igić ('99) about WashU, the joy of community, and some very important tomatoes.

Harsh Moolani founded Create Circles as an undergrad. The nonprofit that pairs older adults with college students is now a national organization with some 700 volunteers in 33 states.

Emily Konkus is a senior athlete on Washington University’s women’s cross country team. Konkus serves as one of the co-captains of the team, and she was the highest-place finisher for the team at the UAA Championships — one of many collegiate career highlights for the athlete. Konkus gave Student Life insight into the team culture that motivates her to attend every 6:30 a.m. practice, advice she has for younger student-athletes, and her successful UAA weekend competition.

Barbara Morgan Detjen, AB ’70, shares her journey from first-year biology to the Pfizer boardroom.

Mandel-Brehm is the president and CEO of CAMP4, a Cambridge, Massachusetts–based company whose “mission is to pioneer the field of regulatory RNAs,” Mandel-Brehm says. Under his stewardship, the company recently completed its Series B financing (the third round of funding for a business through investment), raising $100 million to further its work of harnessing the power of RNA to restore healthy gene expression.

Biology alumna Jasmine Brown, AB'18, writes a book to highlight the stories of black women physicians and the barriers they faced while pursuing a career in medicine.

Ryan Emenecker, a postdoctoral researcher at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has won the 2022 Regeneron Prize for Creative Innovation. The $50,000 prize recognizes excellence and creativity in young biomedical scientists who have potential to make scientific breakthroughs.

Even before she came to St. Louis as an undergraduate to study biochemistry in Arts & Sciences, Rochelle P. Walensky knew she wanted to be a physician. Now as director of the CDC, Walensky is one of the most prominent physician-scientists in the world. In a conversation with Dean Feng Sheng Hu, Walensky recalled her most important lessons from WashU, commented on the power of interdisciplinary collaboration, and looked ahead to what’s next for the pandemic and public health.

Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), visited Washington University School of Medicine March 2 and 3 to discuss lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

John Coveyou, AB 2010 (environmental studies) and MA 2011 (engineering), is the founder of Genius Games, the leading publisher of strategy card games and board games based on real science.

Recent Washington University in St. Louis graduate Gabbie Cesarone was named the 2021 D3soccer.com Defender of the Year and also received a First Team All-America nod.

Alumna and future physician Eka Jose has been named a top 30 finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year, an elite honor for athletes who have demonstrated excellence in academics, athletics, service and leadership.

In her book, Lessons from Plants, Beronda Montgomery, AB ’94, explains what plants can teach us about the world and about ourselves.

Jarrett Joubert, like many undergraduate students, was initially interested in the traditional pre-med path. He completed his undergrad at Grinnell College in Iowa, followed by a master’s in biology and postbac premed certification in 2017 through University College at Washington University in St. Louis.

WashU alumna leverages her experiences as both client and provider of disability resources to help local students.

Walensky majored in biochemistry at WashU. Walensky teaches at Harvard Medical School and is an infectious disease physician at both Massachusetts General Hospital and the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, according to her biography on the former hospital's website.

Harsh Moolani, 22, a 2019 graduate who studied neuroscience in Arts & Sciences was finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.

When members of the local Democratic party witnessed her intellect and enthusiasm for public service, they came calling for a PhD with no political experience to run for Congress. She first thought it was the craziest thing she had ever heard, but then she finally said yes — with the support of her family. “If you’re going to do it, do it right and do it well,” her husband advised her. “Quit your job and make this what you do.”

Kiani Arkus Gardner graduated from Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) as a biology major in 2007. Since then she has earned her Ph.D. in Cellular Biology from Duke University, taught biology in the community school system, started a family, and is now running for Congress in Alabama. Read more about how her time at Washington University led her down a career path that combines science with community service. 

Shyam Kiran Akula, Washington University Class of 2016, has been awarded The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, a merit-based fellowship for immigrants and children of immigrants.

The plan was set. Washington University in St. Louis students Shelly Gupta and Rory Mather would launch their video campaign, “WashU Between the Lines,” after spring break. They hoped the series — deeply personal stories of uncertainty and hope, failure and resilience — would encourage students to know each other, as we say at Washington University, by name and by story. And not just the stories posted on Instagram or Facebook.

Three start-ups founded by Arts & Sciences alumni and current students are finalists for the 2020 Global Impact Award from Washington University’s Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Here, the founders discuss their journeys from Arts & Sciences to entrepreneurship.

In the year 2010, as a Washington University undergraduate student Lucas Harrington could be found most likely in the lab – the lab of Biology Professor Robert Blankenship – doing experiments. During incubations, he worked on his homework assignments for class. Fast forward to the year 2019, Harrington, Ph.D., still spends most of his day in the lab. Except now instead of doing the experiments, he manages a team of scientists who are working to enable the use of the powerful CRISPR technology for disease diagnosis. Learn about his journey out of academia and into industry where he now acts as the Co-founder and Chief Discovery Officer at Mammoth Biosciences.