News

The St. Louis nonprofit BioSTL is taking a leading role to turbocharge neuroscience in St. Louis. BioSTL is partnering with Washington University in St. Louis to lead a new program for the St. Louis region, called the NEURO360 initiative.

Juan Williams Chávez is founder and director of Northside Workshop, an indoor workspace surrounded by a teaching garden divided into a variety of habitats. Visitors learn about bees and ecosystems and make art projects. He’s also one of 10 artists in an exhibition at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum that showcases people who use their artwork to call for a better balance between humans and the natural world.

More than 150 nominations were submitted for the St. Louis Business Journal’s annual Best Places to Work Awards program for 2025. The 80 companies identified including WashU stand out as the finalists in this year’s program.

Black pediatric patients believed to have neurological conditions are falling through the cracks. Half of Black pediatric patients completed the necessary genetic tests for diagnosis and treatment. That puts them well behind white pediatric patients at 75%. This is just one disparity highlighted in a new study from Washington University’s School of Medicine. WashU Medicine neurology professor Dr. Christina Gurnett said these tests are necessary to unlock treatment options.

It wasn’t until 1961 that Washington University in St. Louis’s architecture program saw its first Black graduate – renowned modern architect Charles E. Fleming, who passed last July. From the start, he was destined to break barriers through his craft.

WashU Pledge scholarships, first announced in 2019, provide free undergraduate education to all incoming, full-time students from Missouri and southern Illinois whose families make $75,000 or less. Gateway to Success, announced two years later, is a $1 billion investment in student financial aid and support that has allowed WashU to adopt need-blind admissions, meaning that an applicant’s financial situation no longer factors into admission decisions.

A new Washington University program seeks to use business principles to improve health care systems and operations, and spur new innovations. Launched late last year, the Business of Health initiative leans on research originating at WashU’s Olin Business School to solve industry challenges, help students launch careers on the business side of the health care field, and turn fresh ideas into real-world solutions.

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.

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.