Washington University School of Medicine Digital Commons@Becker Washington University Record Washington University Publications 12-10-2004 Washington University Record, December 10, 2004 Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/record Recommended Citation "Washington University Record, December 10, 2004" (2004). Washington University Record. Book 1023. http://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/record/1023 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington University Publications at Digital Commons@Becker. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington University Record by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Becker. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Medical News: Heart responds to ovations! New York-based Galumpha j" Washington People: Barton Hamilton fasting by remodeling mitochondria to perform at Edison Theatre Jan. 15 O relishes the entrepreneurship process 8 Dec. 10, 2004 Volume 29 No. 17 Washington University in StlDuis Scientists grow norovirus in lab In a study Is common cause published in November in of food poisoning the online jour- nal Public BY MICHAEL C. PURDY Library of Science-Biology, School of Medicine scientists scientists who have become the first to suc- developed the cessfully grow a norovirus in Virgin new technique the lab. reported it may In humans, noroviruses are a already have led them to a good highly contagious source of diar- target for vaccine development. rhea, vomiting and other stomach "By looking at the mouse virus ailments that made headlines two we'd grown in the lab, we were years ago after a series of repeated able to identify a part of the cap- outbreaks on cruise ships. These sid, the virus' protein shell, that is viruses are a major cause of hu- essential to its ability to cause dis- man disease worldwide. ease," said senior author Herbert Researchers showed that the W. "Skip" Virgin, M.D., Ph.D., mouse norovirus MNV-1 could be professor of pathology and im- grown inside cells from mice with munology and of molecular mi- Campaign Celebration Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton receives a standing ovation as he pre- defective immune systems. Their crobiology. "If this part of the pares to address the hundreds who gathered Dec. 3 at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in downtown findings make it much easier to capsid has an equivalent in hu- St. Louis for a gala celebration marking the success of the Campaign for Washington University. learn about the mouse virus and man noroviruses, altering or dis- Attendees were treated to an evening of food, presentations and music and dancing with the Steve may help other researchers seeking abling it may give us a way to pro- Schankman Orchestra. The campaign, the fund-raising initiative launched to secure the resources to duplicate the accomplishment duce forms of the viruses that are needed to realize the University's potential for the good of generations to come, ended June 30 with with human forms of the virus. See Lab, Page 6 $1.55 billion in gifts and commitments and a record 165 new endowed professorships. Mental-health MetroLink project moves center earns advanced toward 2006 completion BY ANDY CLENDENNEN pedestrian bridge. Concrete work will also continue at the tunnel designation Just like the little engine — west of DeBaliviere Avenue. or mass transit train — that At the two other new stations BY JESSICA MARTIN could, the MetroLink cross-coun- adjacent to University campuses ty expansion just keeps on chug- — the University City/Big Bend The Center for Mental Health ging along. Boulevard and Forsyth stations, Services Research (CMHSR) in And December should bring concrete work will continue, and the George Warren Brown School more of the same as Metro chugs shoring and excavation work will of Social Work has received fund- toward an anticipated project- continue for a tunnel between Big ing from the National Institute of completion date in mid-2006. Bend and Kingsland Avenue. Mental Health (NIMH) to be- Mass excavation efforts will Concrete work will continue in come the nation's first Advanced continue at the Skinker Avenue the tunnel between Big Bend and Center for Interventions and Ser- station at the intersection of Skin- Pershing Avenue. vices Research at a school of ker and Forest Park Parkway. As with any major construc- social work. Concrete work is scheduled to tion endeavors, minor side irrita- CMHSR will celebrate its new begin at the Skinker tunnel. tions will pop up once in a while. designation and expanded re- Construction of the station Again, the same holds true for the search agenda during an opening As viewed looking north, at Forest Park Parkway just east of Big entrance, at the southwest corner coming months. and reception from 1-2:30 p.m. Bend Boulevard, construction crews work on a new MetroLink sta- of that intersection, will continue, The pedestrian crossing of Jan. 11 in the Brown Hall Lounge. tion. Metro is anticipating that the cross-county expansion project will be finished in mid-2006. as well as substructure work for a See MetroLink, Page 2 Visitors can hear about the cen- ter's current and future research from CMHSR leaders. "We are proud and excited to Mother Nature's nuclear reactor Olin Cup entrepreneurship contest have received support for this next, more ambitious phase of described by WUSTL researchers winners named; Luminomics is 1st our research," said Enola K. Proc- tor, Ph.D., center director and the BY TONY FITZPATRICK Analyzing a fragment of Ga- In this year's Olin Cup entre- An honorable mention was Frank J. Bruno Professor of Social bon-site rock that's less than one- Ipreneurshipt competition, the given to Core Devices, maker of Work Research. To operate a nuclear power eighth of an inch, Alexander Me- Olin School of Business has a portable anesthesia machine. "This advanced center pro- plant like Three Mile Island, shik, Ph.D., senior research scien- awarded a total of $70,000 in "We've created an open, vides critical core support to our hundreds of highly trained em- tist in the Department of Physics seed investment capital to two inclusive environment for team faculty as they test new ways to ployees must work in concert to in Arts & Sciences, has calculated startup businesses. formation," said Kenneth A. meet the mental health needs of generate power from safe fission, that the precise isotopic structure The awards were announced Harrington, managing director the most vulnerable members of all the while containing danger- of xenon in the sample reveals Dec. 2 at a reception in Simon of the Skandalaris Center for our society — those served by ous nuclear wastes. an operation that worked like a Hall. Entrepreneurial Studies, which publicly funded social service On the other hand, it's been geyser. The reactor, active 2 bil- The Olin Cup for first place, sponsors the competition. "A agencies. Finding out how to im- known for 30 years that Mother lion years ago, worked on a 30- along with $50,000 in seed business startup idea can be prove the quality of their mental Nature once did nuclear chain minute reaction cycle, accompa- money, went to Luminomics, a submitted from anywhere in See Center, Page 6 reactions by her lonesome. nied by a 2.5-hour dormant peri- biotechnology company that the University or community, Now, University researchers od, or cool-down. develops regenerative drug ther- and funding will be made avail- Happy holidays! have analyzed the isotopic struc- In a recent issue of Physical apies for degenerative diseases. able to teams having only one ture of noble gases produced in Review Letters, Meshik and his An award of $20,000 went to Olin student or recent alumnus The Record will not be pub- fission in a sample from the only University collaborators wrote: The Blessing Basket, a not-for- on the team. "But we are also actively lished again until Jan. 21. We known natural nuclear chain re- "This similarity (to a geyser) profit company that imports searching for sponsors and cor- hope you and your family have action site in the world in Gabon, suggests that a half an hour after baskets made by weavers in a wonderful holiday season. West Africa, and have found how the onset of the chain reaction, undeveloped countries. See Olin, Page 6 she does the trick. See Reactor, Page 6 WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL LIBRARY 3 2201 20337 2020 2 RECORD WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Law dean advisory committee named BY ANDY CLENDENNEN dean of admissions and financial aid in the School of Law; Michael Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton R. Cannon, J.D., executive vice has appointed an advisory chancellor and general counsel; committee to assist him in Glenn L. Dalton, president of the search for the next dean of the the RKD Group; Rebecca S. Dres- School of Law. ser, J.D, the Daniel Noyes Kirby Joel D. Seligman, J.D., dean of Professor of Law; Jean C. Hamil- the School of Law and the Ethan ton, chief judge, U.S. District Court, A.H. Shepley University Professor, Eastern District of Missouri, and a announced recendy that he would member of the law school's nation- be leaving Washington University al council; Edward F. Lawlor, Ph.D., to become president of the Uni- dean of the George Warren Brown versity of Rochester. He is sched- School of Social Work; Stephen H. uled to step down here June 30. Legomsky, J.D, D.Phil., the Charles The Advisory Committee on F. Nagel Professor of International the Appointment of the Dean of and Comparative Law; the School of Law is charged with Ned O. Lemkemeier, J.D., mem- identifying 3-5 individuals with ber of the Board of Trustees, part- the intellectual, administrative, ner with Bryan Cave LLP, and personal and leadership qualities chair of the law school's national sought for the new dean, said council; Sasha E.