In the News

One evening in November, a class of about 30 WashU graduate students trickled onto the Cortex campus to learn more about BioGenerator Ventures, the investment arm of the bio-sciences ecosystem nonprofit BioSTL. They were met there by James McCarter, the new head of BioGenerator. McCarter, a major player in St. Louis’ bioscience industry, assumed his role in October. He sees untapped potential for investment particularly at WashU Medicine, which both this year and last garnered the second-highest amount of research funding among all U.S. medical schools from the National Institutes of Health.

The chairman of St. Louis-based Enterprise Holdings and his wife have donated $50 million to Washington University’s neuroscience department. Andrew and Barbara Taylor gave the gift in appreciation for care he received from Wash U neurologists during a recent Illness, according to an announcement from the university.

Duke University and Washington University in St. Louis have each reported receiving $50 million gifts this week in support of advanced medical care. Washington University announced on December 12 that Andrew Taylor and his wife, Barbara, had made a $50 million gift to the university’s neurosurgery department. In recognition of the gift, the department has been renamed the Taylor Family Department of Neurosurgery. The gift was made out of gratitude for the medical care Andrew Taylor recently received from neurosurgeons at Washington University. Mr. Taylor is the executive chairman of Enterprise Mobility, the global car rental and transportation company based in St.Louis.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis received $683 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health this year, making it the second-largest recipient of the federal health funds in the nation for the second straight year. The funding comes in the same year the university opened its $616 million Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building, a recently completed $165 million six-floor expansion of the Steven & Susan Lipstein BJC Institute of Health at Barnes Jewish Hospital, and its new $280 million Siteman Cancer Center building on Forest Park Ave.

Enterprise Mobility Executive Chairman Andy Taylor and his wife, Barbara Taylor, have donated $50 million to Washington University School of Medicine’s neurosurgery department, the university announced Thursday. The department rebranded late last month as the Taylor Family Department of Neurosurgery. The donation from the Taylors is aimed at recruiting and retaining top physicians and researchers to drive innovation in brain tumor studies, spinal surgery and neurotechnology. Washington University said the Taylor’s donation was inspired by Andy Taylor’s own treatment and recovery experience at the Washington University School of Medicine.

Enterprise Mobility Chairman Andrew Taylor and his wife, Barbara Taylor, have gifted $50 million to Washington University’s neurosurgery department, which is being renamed the Taylor Family Department of Neurosurgery. The donation will assist the department with recruiting and retaining physicians and researchers to help drive innovation in brain tumor research, spinal surgery and neurotechnology, according to a university spokesperson.

Staff from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture spent weeks in St. Louis this fall to help Black people find their ancestors using online genealogy tools and preserve family history with digital techniques. Joyce Huston, a blues recording artist who goes by the name Lady J, brought her family memories to Wash U and to the Missouri History Museum so her family stories could help inspire other Black St. Louisans to consider their family archives as treasures that should be viewed by many instead of boxed away in storage.

Congratulations to individuals named 2024 40 Under 40 honorees by the St. Louis Business Journal, including several Washington University in St. Louis alums.

The NEURO360 initiative from WashU and BioSTL has been named a finalist for $160-million in federal grants. Justin Raymundo, Vice President of Innovation Ecosystem-Building at BioSTL, joins Megan Lynch to explain what’s next in this KMOX story.

A new law clinic is providing free legal services for veterans in the St. Louis region. Washington University’s School of Law officially launched the Veterans Law Clinic this month. The free clinic prioritizes low- to moderate-income veterans who want to upgrade their discharge characterizations and correct military records.