New College Savings Initiative aims to advance college success for all families: The New America Foundation and the Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St. Louis announced a new College Savings Initiative to examine and improve “529” college savings plans so more people have the opportunity to attend and complete college. State-sponsored 529 college savings plans were established to encourage families to save money for postsecondary education. Money contributed to these plans grows free from federal and state taxes, and contributions are tax deductible in most states. Unfortunately, 529s have yet to reach their full potential for low- and moderate-income families who have the most difficulty saving for their children’s education. “Research indicates that saving and asset holding are associated with educational achievement,” says Michael Sherraden, the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work and director of CSD. The College Savings Initiative will examine a number of new ideas including how 529s might connect to federal tax and student aid policies. The initiative will also study the potential to automatically open a 529 for every child when they enroll in kindergarten, to enable them to save and think about college from an early age.

Researchers find how a common genetic mutation makes cancer radiation resistant: Many cancerous tumors possess a genetic mutation that disables a tumor suppressor called PTEN. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have shown why inactivation of PTEN allows tumors to resist radiation therapy. Tumors with PTEN mutations are often resistant to radiation therapy, and Tej K. Pandita, a researcher with the Siteman Cancer Center at the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and his colleagues have been trying to find out why. That information could enable researchers to develop drugs that overcome that resistance and increase the effectiveness of radiation treatments. They demonstrate that PTEN-deficient cells have defective checkpoints. As cells grow and divide, they pass through several phases. Checkpoints operate during each phase and assess whether a cell is healthy enough to continue growing and dividing. If not, signals from checkpoints should tell the cell to wait until repairs are made or should induce the cell to die. “The defective checkpoints contribute to radioresistance,” says Pandita, associate professor of radiation oncology and of genetics. “When a cell gets damaged by radiation, normally checkpoints will make it stop growing to repair the damage. If the checkpoints are working but the cell has a defective DNA repair system, the cell will be radiosensitive. But if the checkpoints don’t operate, the cell can bypass DNA repair and continue to grow and divide. Then the cells are radioresistant.” The results indicate that to increase radiation sensitivity in tumors with PTEN mutations it will be necessary to develop drugs that correct for the faulty checkpoint processes, Pandita says.

Plant biodiversity enhanced thanks to spillover from landscape corridors: Recently, images of melting sea ice and shrinking rainforests have highlighted the world’s biodiversity crisis and made us aware of the need to find a balance between preserving natural ecosystems while still having enough land for human use. “About 10 percent of the world’s land surface is afforded formal protection. We need to manage that 10 percent as best as we possibly can to preserve biodiversity but also be mindful of human needs, such as food and fiber production,” says Lars A. Brudvig, post-doctoral researcher in biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University. “One way to do this is by managing the land in a way that promotes biodiversity beyond the habitat’s borders.” Brudvig and Ellen I. Damschen, assistant professor of biology at Washington University, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Washington, North Carolina State University, and the University of Florida, have discovered that the biodiversity in a patch of habitat can extend outside the borders of a protected area; this effect is magnified when the habitats are connected by corridors. Their findings provide a strategy for managing nature preserves to maximize biodiversity in the small spaces that are already formally protected.

One of North America’s greenest buildings opens at Washington University: A flagship building on the cutting edge of sustainable design and energy efficiency opened on May 29 at Washington University’s new Living Learning Center at the University's Tyson Research Center. Tyson, located 20 miles southwest of the Danforth Campus, is 2,000 acres of woods, prairie, ponds, and savannas where dozens of WUSTL faculty and students predominantly do environmental research. The Living Learning Center is a 2,900-square-foot facility built to meet the Living Building Challenge—designed to be the most stringent green building rating system in the world—of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council (CRGBC). No building has met its standard yet, but the Living Learning Center is in the running to be the first in North America. The center is designed to be a zero net energy and zero wastewater building—both among the 16 requirements to earn “living building” recognition from the CRGBC.  The Living Learning Center will capture rainwater and purify it for drinking and will be powered so efficiently by solar energy that the building often will pump energy back into the electric grid to be purchased by the local energy company.

Researchers discover why eczema often leads to asthma: Many young children who get a severe skin rash develop asthma months or years later. Doctors call the progression from eczema, or atopic dermatitis, to breathing problems the atopic march. Now scientists at Washington University School of Medicine have uncovered what might be the key to atopic march. They’ve shown that a substance secreted by damaged skin circulates through the body and triggers asthmatic symptoms in allergen-exposed laboratory mice. The findings, published May 19, 2009, in Public Library of Science Biology, suggest that early treatment of skin rash and inhibition of the trigger substance might block asthma development in young patients with eczema. “Over the years, the clinical community has struggled to explain atopic march,” says study author Raphael Kopan, professor of developmental biology and of dermatology. “So when we found that the skin of mice with an eczema-like condition produced a substance previously implicated in asthma, we decided to investigate further. We found that the mice also suffered from asthma-like responses to inhaled allergens, implicating the substance, called TSLP, as the link between eczema and asthma.”

Ultrasound imaging now possible with a smartphone: Computer engineers at Washington University in St. Louis are bringing the minimalist approach to medical care and computing by coupling USB-based ultrasound probe technology with a smartphone, enabling a compact, mobile computational platform and a medical imaging device that fits in the palm of a hand. William D. Richard, associate professor of computer science and engineering, and David Zar, research associate in computer science and engineering, have made commercial USB ultrasound probes compatible with Microsoft Windows mobile-based smartphones, thanks to a $100,000 grant Microsoft awarded the two in 2008. As a result, it is now possible to build smartphone-compatible USB ultrasound probes for imaging the kidney, liver, bladder, and eyes; endocavity probes for prostate and uterine screenings and biopsies; and vascular probes for imaging veins and arteries for starting IVs and central lines. “You can carry around a probe and cell phone and image on the fly now,” says Richard. “Imagine having these smartphones in ambulances and emergency rooms. On a larger scale, this kind of cell phone is a complete computer that runs Windows. It could become the essential computer of the developing world, where trained medical personnel are scarce, but most of the population, as much as 90 percent, have access to a cell phone tower.”

Obama names WUSTL biologist to his science advisory council: President Obama has appointed Barbara A. Schaal, Ph.D., the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and vice president of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). PCAST is an advisory group of 20 of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers who will advise the president and vice president and formulate policy in the many areas where understanding of science, technology, and innovation is key to strengthening the nation’s economy and forming policy that works for the American people. “Professor Schaal has long been regarded as one of the top plant biologists in the United States,” says Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. “As we have benefited from her leadership here at Washington University, our nation will be stronger because of her contributions to this important presidential advisory committee.” Schaal was elected the first woman vice president of NAS in 2005 and recently won re-election to the post. Schaal, who served as chair of WUSTL’s Department of Biology from 1993-97, is known for applying molecular genetic techniques to the study of plant evolution. She currently chairs the Division of Earth and Life Studies and is on the Governing Board of the National Research Council.

DOE makes largest research award in Danforth Campus history: Washington University and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center have received two awards totaling $35 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to do research on novel energy initiatives. At $20 million, the Washington University research award is the largest ever received on the Danforth Campus. The $15 million for the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is the largest the organization has ever received. The University and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center will be home to two of 46 new multimillion-dollar Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs). As an EFRC, WUSTL will establish the Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center (PARC) and study forms of energy based on the principles of light harvesting and energy funneling. Plans are to house the center at the Stephen F. and Camilla T. Brauer Hall, scheduled to open in 2010. Robert E. Blankenship, Ph.D., the Lucille P. Markey Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, will be director of the WUSTL program. Dewey Holten, Ph.D., WUSTL professor of chemistry, will be associate director. The center comes under the umbrella of the International Center for Advanced Research in Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES).

Washington University in St. Louis and Brookings Institution form academic partnership: The Brookings Institution and Washington University in St. Louis will begin offering joint programs including internships, lectures, and other educational activities. Washington University's Olin Business School also will lead management of Brookings' executive education activities, effective July 1, 2009. Known for its exceptional executive education for mid- and senior-level organizational leaders in the United States and abroad, the school will bring its approach to the Brookings Center for Executive Education, which offers courses covering critical global issues, U.S. policy-making, and public leadership for government and corporate leaders. Jackson A. Nickerson, the Frahm Family Professor of Organization and Strategy at the Olin Business School and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at Brookings, will serve as the director of the new executive education partnership. The new partnership between Brookings and Washington University could be considered a reunion of old friends. Turn-of-the-last-century St. Louis businessman Robert S. Brookings (1850-1932) both founded the D.C.-based think tank and, as leader of Washington University's governing board for 33 years, laid the foundation for the university to become the world-renowned institution it is today.