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Thirteen teachers from across the St. Louis region have been selected to work with WashU faculty members for the 2025 Summer Teacher-Researcher Program. Administered in collaboration with Washington University in St. Louis’ Institute for School Partnership, the program is designed to provide opportunities for faculty to connect with local educators and to provide professional development for area K-12 teachers.

Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine has been ranked No. 13 of cancer centers nationwide by Newsweek. The recognition — part of the news magazine’s listing of America’s Best Hospitals for Specialized Care 2025 — makes Siteman the highest-ranked cancer center in Missouri, Illinois and beyond.

The Clinical Research Training Center (CRTC) TL1 program recently partnered with the Center for Community Health Partnership & Research (CCHPR) for an impactful day of community engagement. Serving as a Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) session, this four-hour retreat encouraged two-way learning and building stronger community-academic ties.

Thirteen teachers from across the St. Louis region have been selected to work with WashU faculty members for the 2025 Summer Teacher-Researcher Program. Administered in collaboration with the university’s Institute for School Partnership (ISP), the program is designed specifically to provide opportunities for faculty to connect in meaningful ways with educators in the broader community and to provide professional development for area K-12 teachers.

On May 16, 2025, Centennial Christian Church in St. Louis, a longtime community partner of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, was devastated by an EF-3 tornado. Tragically, community leader Patricia Penelton lost her life, and fellow advocate Sherrill Jackson sustained injuries. Despite the destruction, the church and its partners including WashU’s Center for Community Health Partnership & Research (CCHPR) remain committed to rebuilding and continuing their mission of service and community engagement.

For Tyler Richards, who earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from McKelvey School of Engineering in 2022, a high school hobby set the stage for a career with purpose. Richards’ business, uFab, was one of three St. Louis startups to receive a $50,000 WashU Venture Network Follow-on Investment through a partnership between the Skandalaris Center and the “In St. Louis, For St. Louis” Initiative. The investments support ventures that are ready to scale and show promise to make a meaningful impact in the St. Louis region. 

Launched May 12, “The Eye” reflects WashU Professor Rebecca Messbarger’s commitment — as co-founder and former director of the medical humanities minor in Arts & Sciences — to engaging students in community-facing projects that bridge humanistic inquiry and public health. “While our subjects will vary, along with the angle and intensity of our vision, we will always begin where we live: in the city of St. Louis,” said Messbarger, who also has an appointment in WashU’s School of Public Health.

On Thursday, April 24, a closing ceremony event for Philanthropy Lab — a WashU Sociology course co-sponsored by the Gephardt Institute — granted $70,900 among 22 local nonprofit organizations. That’s in addition to $62,500 already granted to St. Louis nonprofits in 2025 via the course, which was championed by former students of the course who were “ambassadors” with the national The Philanthropy Lab organization.

Last year, with funding from the Gephardt Institute’s St. Louis Impact Fund, three students at the WashU School of Medicine hosted a series of workshops aimed at helping St. Louis seniors take a more active role in their own health and well-being. 

The May 16 tornado that devastated parts of the St. Louis region was on the ground for just 24 minutes. The cleanup will take months, maybe years. Several Washington University in St. Louis teams, as well as numerous individual employees and students, have answered the call to help through service and donations — showcasing WashU’s commitment to St. Louis.

A few months ago, The Jewish Light shared stories of some of the bright lights in the St. Louis arts community. Now, it has published a deeper spotlight on three artists whose brilliance illuminates not just St. Louis, but the international art world.

The St. Louis Business Journal has been honoring and celebrating women business leaders for more than 25 years through its Most Influential Business Women Awards program. With the help of past winners, the Business Journal reviewed 160 nominations to select the 2025 class of Most Influential Business Women. These 25 women are making an impact not only at the companies they work for and run, but at local nonprofits and organizations in the communities they serve. Several WashU staff and alums are being honored this year.

Oladipupo Fadeyi, who will attend Washington University in the fall after graduating from Hazelwood East, was a student speaker during the Wash U College Prep Program (CPP) graduation ceremony in Emerson Auditorium on May 4. CPP prepares talented first-generation, limited-income high school students from the St. Louis region to succeed in college. 

As St. Louis shifts from tornado response to recovery, many residents face complex legal questions about housing, contractors, and insurance. To meet them where they are, attorneys and WashU law students are providing free, on-site legal help.

Construction of a north St. Louis farmers market and pavilion is moving forward, thanks in part to a new Washington University program where students design structures for local organizations. Be Well Cafe and Market will open in the Hyde Park neighborhood later this summer after holding weekly pop-up events. The farmers market pavilion will be surrounded by several metal screens. The creation of the screens is part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ Summer Public Design Workshop. A cohort of 10 students designed the concept after working with Fatimah Muhammad, executive director of Be Well Cafe and Market.

The St. Louis Business Journal’s annual Best Places to Work Awards recognize the top workplaces in the St. Louis region and is one of the most anticipated awards programs of the year. This year, WashU was recognized again as one of the top workplaces in the region.

St. Francis — a ministry of Catholic Charities of St. Louis — was an early stop on a path that led Joy Garcia-Pintor to admission at Washington University in St. Louis. She plans to major in both architecture and marketing. Garcia-Pintor is staying close to home — and still volunteering where she grew up, at St. Francis, helping generations to come.

As chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, I have the privilege of witnessing firsthand how our institution’s research enterprise transforms lives, not just through scientific breakthroughs, but through tangible economic and social benefits that strengthen our entire region and state. For the first time in our history, WashU surpassed $1 billion in annual research funding in fiscal year 2024. This milestone is a testament to the extraordinary talent and dedication of our researchers, and a powerful economic catalyst for St. Louis and Missouri.

When Washington University Olin Business School Dean Mike Mazzeo led the creation of a new strategic plan for the school, one new North Star emerged as a strategic imperative: developing true distinction in the business of health. It wasn’t merely a takeaway from the strategy sessions. It became a guiding mandate for moving forward.

A $160 million grant proposal submitted last week could establish St. Louis as a nationally-prominent location for neuroscience research, and officials involved in the bid believe there’s reason for optimism that the region could win the award. The region’s bid proposal was unveiled Tuesday during a summit hosted by Neuro360, a regional neuroscience coalition, at Washington University. The region’s bid for the grant is being led by regional innovation hub BioSTL and Neuro360, along with WashU.

The nearly 11,000-seat Muny in St. Louis is receiving the regional theater Tony Award. This week it began preparing to open its 107th season with “Bring It On.”

The Muny, the century-old theater in Forest Park, is the winner of the 2025 Regional Theatre Tony Award for excellence in regional theater and “contributing to the growth of theater nationally.”

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.