Washington University campuses are tobacco-free beginning July 1

All Washington University campuses are tobacco-free beginning Thursday, July 1.

Under the new university policy, smoking and tobacco use is prohibited on all university-owned and -managed properties. The School of Medicine has prohibited tobacco use on school property since 2007.

“This is an important milestone for the Washington University campus community,” says Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. "The tobacco-free initiative helps the university provide a healthy, comfortable and productive environment for students, faculty and staff."

"Tobacco use — including smoking and breathing secondhand smoke — constitute a significant health hazard," says Alan I. Glass, MD, assistant vice chancellor and director of the Habif Health and Wellness Center. "The tobacco-free policy is an important campus health initiative, and the university is offering support to those affected in hopes of making the transition as easy as possible for our campus community."

The university will continue to work with community members to support tobacco-cessation efforts.

For faculty and staff, the “Preparing to Quit” and “Freedom from Smoking” programs are available.

During the “Preparing to Quit” program, which is 40 minutes, experts will discuss the benefits of tobacco-cessation and what it takes to be successful in quitting. The “Preparing to Quit” class schedule will be posted wellnessconnection.wustl.edu. Check the website periodically for more information.
In the seven-week “Freedom From Smoking” program, participants can receive support and learn skills to permanently quit tobacco use. This program is free to benefits-eligible faculty and staff and is available to other members of the WUSTL community for $50. For more information, call 935-5990 or e-mail wellnessconnection@wustl.edu.
Faculty and staff members enrolled in the “Freedom From Smoking” program will be able to purchase a six-week supply of smoking-cessation medication for $15 via a payroll deduction after the completion of the program's third and seventh classes.

Students have access to tobacco-cessation services through their student health plan. Students can access the “Aetna Quit & Fit Tobacco Cessation” program by visiting quitandfit.com/aetna or aetnastudenthealth.com/wustl or calling “Quit & Fit” at 877-330-2746. Smoking-cessation medications will be made available at no cost for students covered by the Washington University student health insurance.
Betsy Foy, EdD, assistant director of Student Health Services, is available during the summer and throughout the school year to work with students who would like an individualized quitting plan, continued support in quitting, or nicotine-replacement medication.
Several organizations offer free online smoking-cessation programs for all, including the American Lung Association's Freedom From Smoking program at LungUSA.org; the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation's EX Plan at BecomeAnEX.org; and QuitNet at QuitNet.com.
Students and employees also can call 1-800-QUITNOW or visit smokefree.gov for counseling and other information about quitting tobacco use.

Visit wustl.edu/tobaccofree for more information about tobacco-cessation options and the tobacco-free policy. Frequently asked questions and ready-to-download promotional materials also are available on the website.

Celebrating collaboration

picture by Robert Boston

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius spoke in the Ellen S. Clark Hope Plaza June 16 prior to the dedication of the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University School of Medicine. The keynote speaker at the event was Francis Collins, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health. Maya Lin, the artist who designed the plaza’s water feature, also attended the event.

BJC Institute of Health at Washington University School of Medicine to be dedicated June 16

The BJC Institute of Health at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will be formally dedicated at a Collaboration Celebration on June 16.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius will make remarks prior to the dinner, and Francis Collins, MD, PhD, director of the National Institute of Health will be the featured speaker at the dinner.

In addition, Maya Lin, designer of the Ellen S. Clark Hope Plaza surrounding the building, will attend.

The 680,000 square-foot BJC Institute of Health at Washington University School of Medicine, located at Euclid Avenue and Children's Place, is an 11-story research building housing laboratories and support facilities for BioMed21, Washington University's research initiative to rapidly translate basic research findings into advances in medical treatment. The $235 million building, supported by a $30 million naming gift from BJC Healthcare, opened in December 2009. It is Washington University's largest building.

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Protein lets brain repair damage from multiple sclerosis, other disorders

A protein that helps build the brain in infants and children may aid efforts to restore damage from multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative diseases, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.

In a mouse model of MS, researchers found that the protein, CXCR4, is essential for repairing myelin, a protective sheath that covers nerve cell branches. MS and other disorders damage myelin, and this damage is linked to loss of the branches inside the myelin.

"In MS patients, myelin repair occurs inconsistently for reasons that aren't clear," says senior author Robyn Klein, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine and of neurobiology. "Understanding the nature of that problem is a priority because when myelin isn't repaired, the chances that an MS flare-up will inflict lasting harm seem to increase."

The findings appear online in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Platypus hunter studies the bizarre mammal's venom

Camilla Whittington and a live platypus being held by its tail.

When she was a child "in the land Down Under," Camilla Whittington’s dad decided it would be fun for them to go look for platypuses. These animals, found only in Australia, are technically mammals, yet they are like no other mammals around – sure, like all mammals, they produce milk for their babies, but they also lay eggs and have a bill like birds do, and, most oddly, the males shoot venom from spurs in their hind legs that causes pain even the strongest painkillers can’t alleviate.

A vet by training, Whittington’s father helped inspire his daughter’s love of science from a young age.

“Both my parents encouraged my siblings and me to take an interest in the natural world." Whittington says. "I really like the way science explains logically why things are the way they are."

This passion led her to become a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at The University of Sydney. Last year, she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, and she chose to use it to come to The Genome Center at Washington University to study the genetics of platypus venom.

There are very few mammals that produce venom. Even in platypuses, only the males make venom, which they use to defend their territories and protect themselves against predators. It’s also very hard to collect platypus venom since it’s mainly produced during the animal’s breeding season, and they don’t breed easily in captivity. Besides that, as Whittington knows from her childhood trips in Australia, it’s quite difficult to catch a wild platypus

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The Great Pond Experiment

A seven-year experiment shows that pond communities bear a lasting imprint of random events in their past.

Photo by Jon Chase
Students sample the more than 100 species of plants and animals that made a home in the ponds set in a field at Washington University's Tyson Research Center.

In graduate school, Jon Chase worked in a lab that set up small pond ecosystems in order to run experiments on species interactions and food webs. “And because this was an experimental science, we tried to replicate each pond system,” Chase says.
“We would try really, really hard to duplicate pond communities with a given experimental treatment,” he says, “putting 10 of this species in each pond, and five of these species, and eight of the other species, and 15 milliliters of this nutrient and 5 grams of that and SPROING, every replicate would do its own thing and nothing would be like anything else. “
“That made me curious. What if, instead of trying to eliminate the messiness, I tried to figure out where it was coming from.”
On May 27, the results of his investigation were published on the Science Express web site. The seven-year experiment isolated one reason experimental ponds go wild.
History.
If the ponds have enough nutrients, the pond community that emerges depends on the order in which species were introduced into the pond, says Chase, PhD., professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University and director of the university’s Tyson Research Center.
The discovery has broad implications for highly productive ecosystems such as tropical rainforests and coral reefs and for attempts to restore these ecosystems. Restoration can fail if the original ecosystem bears the imprint or memory of its past in ways that were not understood.

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Doctors diagnose rare lung worm infection

Michael Lane (left) and Gary Weil have diagnosed a rare parasitic infection in people who had eaten raw crayfish from rivers and streams in Missouri.

Physicians at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have diagnosed a rare parasitic infection in six people who had consumed raw crayfish from streams and rivers in Missouri. Paragonimiasis causes fever, cough, chest pains, shortness of breath and extreme fatigue. The infection is generally not fatal, and is easily treated if properly diagnosed. But the illness is so unusual that most doctors are not aware of it.

Video News - Washington University in St. Louis

Read the full article here

DBBS Alum Focus

Recipe for a company
Post-Disptch article highlighting local start up company run by a DBBS alum, Jarrett Glasscock

When a group of Washington University scientists decided to start a gene sequencing company, conventional wisdom said they should go after big money.

They headed for California and talked with several venture capital funds. Those investors didn't exactly say no, but the founders of Cofactor Genomics got a financial education in a hurry.

"We realized how much control we would be giving up, and it was an eye-opener," recalls Jarret Glasscock, Cofactor's chief technology officer. "It really wouldn't have been our company anymore."

After their West Coast tour, the group scaled back their business plan and decided to start with one-tenth the money they originally had envisioned. They launched Cofactor in November 2008 with their own money, an equity investment by one out-of-town angel investor and vendor financing from the maker of their half-million-dollar sequencing machine.

Read the David Nicklaus Article here