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Yixin Chen, professor of computer science & engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering, was given the St. Louis Innovator Award by the Bar Association of Metropolitan Saint Louis at its inaugural Spirit of Innovation Awards Jan. 23, 2025. Chen was selected his contributions and dedication to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in our region, specifically, in AI and large-language models and their applications in health care and legal practices.

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. 

Washington University’s Olin School of Business is trying to streamline communication between people who specialize in health business and medical professionals. The university last week announced a new “Business of Health” initiative, which the head of the program says will “improve individual and societal well-being” through communication.

WashU has evolved dramatically on Andrew Martin’s watch, and its School of Continuing & Professional Studies is a prime example. By reimagining the school to allow for an easier entry point, WashU hopes to provide direct paths to higher-paying careers, while also helping companies across the region develop and retain talent in some of the most high-demand sectors. All told, Martin believes it’s an exciting time to work in higher education. “There’s so much potential to build upon and expand on long-standing partnerships, establish new ones, and activate the talents of our students and faculty in service to and alongside our region,” he says.

In addition to the prolonged pain and suffering endured by sickle cell patients, a Washington University School of Medicine study has concluded that there could be a significant impact on cognitive thinking. More than 200 young, Black adults with and without sickle cell disease, living in St. Louis and the surrounding region in eastern Missouri and southwestern Illinois, participated in brain MRI scans and cognitive tests as part of the study.

The Washington University Make-a-Thon is an event in its second year in which WashU students design and produce a prototype of a functional tech device for people with disabilities. People from different fields work together to create a product for a person with a disability, said Marit Watson, an occupational therapy professor at the university.

Washington University is known far and wide as a top notch place to go to college. But here in our hometown, you call us WashU, and you know us not just as a great school, but as the place to go when you need answers to complicated medical questions – like you did about 2.5 million times in 2024 – or when you’re looking for a meaningful job with great benefits – like 22,000 of your neighbors have done.

Flint Fowler, a Washington University alumnus, received the annual Rosa L. Parks Award at the 38th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration on Monday, Jan. 20.

BJC Health System and Washington University have each donated $5 million to the Brickline Greenway project, the 10-mile biking and walking trail system that officials hope to extend across the city over the next few years. Great Rivers Greenway, which is overseeing the project, said the contributions have pushed the $245 million public-private partnership past the halfway-funded mark.

Public health education in St. Louis is on the brink of transformative growth. The Washington University School of Public Health, slated to open in 2026, will mark the university’s first new school in a century and signal a major shift in how public health research and community engagement will be organized on campus.

St. Louis has been home to a branch of the NAACP for more than a century. While the organization has had a presence on many university campuses, it’s launching it’s first chapter at Washington University in St. Louis this year.

Washington University in St. Louis is preparing to launch its first new school in a century: the school of public health. Dr. Sandro Galea, the dean of the school of public health, says public health is many things from pandemics, infectious disease, to chronic disease and mental health. “What distinguishes public health is that we think about how we can structure the world to keep us healthy for as long as possible to prevent disease,” said Galea on ‘Total Information A.M.’

As Forest Park Forever raises $85 million in donations to make the Steinberg Skating Rink a year-round attraction – along with the 22 acres around it referred to as “the Glade” – the park’s leadership also has a list of “next-up big ticket items” over five years.

St. Louis is a forgotten place in a way. In fact, it has long been on lists of the most underrated cities in America. Back in 2016, Thrillist called St. Louis the “most overlooked city in America.” Perhaps the low-profile is due to the humility of its mid-west residents, who are easily approachable and nice, even when you’re wearing the wrong jersey at Busch Stadium. Or maybe it’s because of the city’s location, far from the coasts. No matter, the secrets of St. Louis, like they always have, await those who pass through.

The Pulitzer Arts Foundation’s Cara Starke shares must-see art experiences in St. Louis, from museums to monuments and beyond.

Across the metro area, transplants can quickly make an impact, both in the community and in their own careers.

The Washington Post recently named the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) as one of the top art museums in the nation. The Post’s art critics ranked SLAM as #12, citing its geography in the “huge, gorgeous” Forest Park and calling its art collection “broad and deep.”

Joi Riley is one of three female business owners selling products in Park Central Development’s Eric Outlaw Business Center at 4256 Manchester Ave. The Grove neighborhood’s business incubator, which opened Oct. 10, helps women in the St. Louis region develop their businesses online and in store.

The employment gain by the St. Louis metro area that ranked as the fourth highest percentage increase in the nation is an indicator of progress, but it must be sustained for the rest of this decade to charge the region’s narrative, some officials say. Federal data released Oct. 4 showed that the number of non-farm employees in the St. Louis region grew 2.6% from August 2023 to August 2024. That’s an addition of 36,600 employees, from 1,422,200 a year ago to 1,458,800 in August, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Only the metro areas of Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Indianapolis showed larger percentage increases.

The number of employees in the St. Louis region grew 2.57% from August 2023 to August 2024, the fourth-highest percentage increase in the nation, according to federal data released Friday. The St. Louis metro area in the time added 36,600 employees, growing from 1,422,2000 a year ago to 1,458,800 in August, according to federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Only three U.S. metro areas posted larger percentage employment increases: Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Indianapolis.

It’s the result of concerted efforts to attract immigrants here by organizations including Greater St. Louis Inc., the International Institute of St. Louis and the St. Louis Mosaic Project. By raising private donations for targeted recruitment, the campaign has attracted Latin American and Cuban immigrants and provided job training and placement with the help of the Missouri AFL-CIO. More than 1,300 Afghan refugees have come for programs including entrepreneurial grants. Mayor Tishaura O. Jones has created a city Office of New Americans to help facilitate immigrant settlement.

Newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that efforts to increase the St. Louis metro’s immigrant population are succeeding, as the 15-county bi-state St. Louis metropolitan area recorded the highest percentage increase in foreign-born population among the 30 largest metro areas in the United States from 2022-2023.