In St. Louis, For St. Louis

The Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) Diagnostic Center of Excellence was established in 2019 to solve the trickiest medical mysteries in Missouri and nearby states. Now, the center is expanding. Buoyed by the renewal of the center’s five-year, $3.8 million grant, the UDN leadership team plans to increase outreach to medically underserved communities and increase capacity from 30 to 50 patients a year. The center has established a collaboration with the St. Louis Integrated Health Network, an organization dedicated to improving the quality, accessibility and affordability of health care.

Members of the WashU and St. Louis communities may now recycle their glass in the Ripple Glass depository in the West Campus parking lot. Ripple Glass is a Missouri business offering circular solutions to keep glass out of landfills. By separating out glass at the source, Ripple Glass’ collection method has a 98% recovery rate – the remaining 2% is just the caps, labels, lids and corks.

This February, WashU officially became the host of a Ripple Glass collection site. This exciting new addition offers WashU and the surrounding community a new and high-impact option to recycle their glass bottles and jars.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has launched the Center for Rare, Undiagnosed and Genetic Diseases, supported by an $8.5 million grant from Children’s Discovery Institute (CDI), a partnership with St. Louis Children’s Hospital, St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation and WashU Medicine. The new center brings together WashU Medicine researchers and the rare disease patient community, creating a collaborative network to drive innovative research and accelerate drug discovery.

A new era for public health has begun at Washington University in St. Louis, marked by a two-day celebration welcoming Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, as the inaugural Margaret C. Ryan Dean of the School of Public Health and the Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor in Public Health. The events featured a public lecture as part of WashU’s Assembly Series and a formal installation ceremony honoring the leaders and donors who have laid the foundation for the new School of Public Health. The ceremony signified the launch of WashU’s first new school in a century, an ambitious undertaking aimed at transforming public health research, education and practice.

Two Washington University in St. Louis faculty members are being honored by the Academy of Science – St. Louis for their contributions to science: Peng Bai, an associate professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering, and Ram Dixit, a professor and chair of biology in Arts & Sciences. The awards will be presented at the Outstanding St. Louis Scientists Awards Ceremony April 3 at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Michael Mazzeo, dean and the Knight Family Professor at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, recently announced the launch of a new health initiative — part of the school’s five-year strategic plan — that envisions Olin as the premier institution for the business of health and an engine for innovation at WashU. The health initiative promises to address multifaceted challenges in the health industry by forging collaboration with innovators throughout WashU and the region.

A partnership between WashU Continuing & Professional Studies (CAPS) and T-REX, a regional non-profit innovation hub, is opening doors for students eager to explore careers in the dynamic geospatial industry. In late January, prospective students interested in CAPS’ Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Certificate program gathered at T-REX to discover how GIS is transforming St. Louis’ workforce and to gain insight into potential career pathways.

One day, while sitting in his “Social Inequality in America” class, St. Louis Fellow Brodhi Ramirez ‘27 listened to a teaching assistant discuss the role that the legal and social justice organization, ArchCity Defenders, played in the Ferguson Uprising. “I got chills for a minute, and that same day, I sent Jacki [Langum, Deputy Director of ArchCity] an email,” Ramirez said. Needless to say, he got the job. Ramirez spent the summer at ArchCity as a St. Louis Fellow, supporting their mission of providing pro bono legal and social services support to St. Louisans. 

Mac Barnes ’26, a 2024 Transform Grant recipient of the Gephardt Institute’s St. Louis Impact Fund, unveiled his exhibit, “Quilts as Civic Engagement: An Interactive History of St. Louis and the Delmar Region,” on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Coinciding with the grand opening of WashU’s Community Engagement Office, located in Delmar DivINe at 5501 Delmar Blvd. in St. Louis’ Central West End, hundreds of visitors viewed and praised Barnes’ quilt, posed for photos and asked the WashU junior about his inspiration and process.