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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.’

Brickline Greenway is kicking off 2025 with three huge wins! Great Rivers Greenway (GRG), the public agency connecting the region with greenways who turns 25 this year, has received a major boost to support the project’s vision to connect 14 neighborhoods with 12+ miles of greenways. Significant investments from both BJC Health System (BJC) and Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) push the $245 million public-private partnership past the halfway-funded mark, as well as provide critical match for future federal funding applications. Greater St. Louis, Inc. (GSL) stepped up its commitment by forming a working group of CEOs to support capital campaign efforts, further ensuring success for the project in 2025.

At Washington University’s Olin School, Izzy Gorton and Chiara Munzi are disrupting the quick breakfast market – and have raised $234,000 to take their startup national. Gorton and Munzi leveraged the school’s Skandalaris Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to guide the launch of their venture, ChiChi. Even more, adds Gorton, they took advantage of their startup-friendly local ecosystem in St. Louis.

Eight floors up in the nondescript Security Building in downtown St. Louis, a small legal team has been engaged in public service work for over two decades at the Great Rivers Environmental Law Center. Last summer as part of the WashU St. Louis Fellows Program, Jordyn Ederer ‘26, a Goldman Fellow, worked out of the firm’s book-laden office on North Fourth Street and interned under the guidance of Bruce Morrison, the General Counsel of Great Rivers, and a WashU Law alumnus. Great Rivers is Missouri’s only public interest law firm focused on tackling the environmental and public health crises facing people in Missouri and Southern Illinois through legal avenues.

The St. Louis Fellows Program is a flagship initiative of the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement which advances Washington University’s commitment to be in St. Louis and for St. Louis. This six-month competitive fellowship prepares WashU students for lifelong civic leadership through an experiential curriculum and local internships focused on advancing mission-critical work that moves the St. Louis region forward

Precious Barry, a WashU undergrad, has partnered with the St. Louis County chapter of the NAACP to help charter a student chapter at the university that will launch this January. The chapter is housed under WashU’s African and African American Studies Department. Its goals are to register to vote as many students as possible, create civically minded leaders and work to promote diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.

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.

Learning a sport typically starts at a young age. Parents often give their child a ball, a bat, a racquet, or a glove to help build their interest in athletics. Kids swing and miss or throw in the wrong direction, but they often get to hear words of encouragement from those at a practice or game to keep going. But it’s not that easy for everyone. Some children have challenges that they must overcome and do so on a daily basis. One group in particular are those children who are deaf and/or hard of hearing. Luckily some have the opportunity to attend the Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) here in St. Louis. Part of their education is learning about physical activities and sports. That is where the Washington University in St. Louis men’s tennis team has been able to make a connection and give back to the community.

Each summer, the Sam Fox School’s Office for Socially Engaged Practice works to place students in 12-week fellowship roles with community partners through the CityStudioSTL program. The fellows and firms intentionally focus on community-driven projects in the St. Louis area, often partnering with area nonprofits to strengthen the region while providing students the opportunity to experience the city beyond WashU’s campus.

Mitra Naseh, an assistant professor at the Brown School, has received a three-year, $463,654 grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health to study and improve the health of refugees in Missouri. Naseh’s project, titled “Structural Barriers and Health Outcomes of New Missourians,” will focus on identifying and addressing the challenges refugees face when seeking initial assistance. The goal is to develop and test community-led solutions to improve health outcomes for newly resettled refugees across the state.