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Washington University has made
it possible for St. Louis to be a major center for the nation's
research. As a leading research university, Washington University
in St. Louis is among the institutions that, especially since World
War II, have performed most of the nation's basic research and also
have participated in applying that research to practical problems,
especially in the disciplines of engineering and medicine. Not only
do most faculty engage in research and scholarship, but so do students—many
of whom work alongside faculty in the more than 3,500 research projects
under way each year.
Nearly every Nobel Prize winner
associated with St. Louis has had ties to Washington University.
Nine Nobel Prizes have been awarded for work primarily done at the
University. The most recent, in 1993, went to Douglass North, the
Spencer T. Olin Professor in Arts & Sciences, for his studies in
economic history. An additional 13 Nobel Prizes have been awarded
to other individuals, mostly alumni, associated with Washington
University.
Total research support awarded
to Washington University in St. Louis in fiscal year 2009 was $567.4
million.
From 1996-2005, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) consistently ranked the Washington University School of Medicine in the top 5 among all U.S. medical schools receiving NIH funding. The School of Medicine continues to thrive and ranks with the top medical schools receiving NIH research support.
According to the most recent survey conducted by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for its fiscal year 2008, Washington University in St. Loui s ranks 7th among private universities in total science and engineering research expenditures.
Research at Washington University
in St. Louis has led to transfer of technology to the public through
patents, license and option agreements, and industry-sponsored research
agreements. Income from licensing activities for fiscal year 2007
totaled $10.4 million.
Here is a sampling of the variety
of Washington University research projects:
- Using DNA sequencing to find genetic changes that underlie the development of cancer and sustain its growth, ultimately leading to the development of new diagnostic tests and more effective treatments.
- Investigating approaches to weight loss, including low-carbohydrate diets, liposuction, gastric bypass surgery, and extreme caloric restriction.
- Researching ways to help children
learn to spell and read more easily.
- Devising a theory with homeland
security applications that sets limits for the amount of data
that can be hidden in a system, provides guidelines for how to
store and decode data, and provides guidelines on how an adversary
can disrupt the hidden information.
- Compiling the first comprehensive
information on federal criminal laws cited in corporate and white-collar
prosecutions.
- Developing a method for identifying
fraudulent credit cards.
- Investigating nerve transplants,
including the world's first nerve transplants using nerve tissue
from a cadaver donor.
- Developing and using nanoparticles for molecular imaging and targeted drug delivery for cancer and clogged arteries.
- Identifying clinical signs
of early Alzheimer's disease; developing a blood test to diagnose
and potentially treat the disease before symptoms appear.
- Creating a device that traps and deactivates microbial particles, with promising applications in the war on terrorism for deactivating airborne bioagents and bioweapons and also in routine indoor air ventilation.
- Finding new applications,
including the practice of reconstructive surgery, for mathematical
wavelet analysis.
- Proposing new procedures to
address future safety concerns about the federal clean-up of nuclear
weapons complexes.
- Designing and implementing
global policies and programs that foster civic service.
- Assembling a pioneering atlas of the folds of the cerebral cortex, a map already helping scientists see how inherited disorders change the brain.
- Using digital technology to
map accessibility features and barriers facing people with disabilities
who use public transit.
- Designing Individual Development
Accounts, a savings program matched by public or private funds
that allows low-income families to build assets for home ownership,
small-business capitalization, and education.
- Studying the development of
early civilizations in the middle of North America.
- Inventing calculators for
refinancing mortgages to determine how long savings will last
during retirement.
- Translating 19th-century German
novels and Chinese legal codes.
- Devising treatments to compensate for individual genetic traits that interfere with drug performance.
- Studying factors that motivate
students to complete high school.
- Mapping higher brain function,
demonstrating the mechanisms of stroke, and testing potential
avenues for halting or reversing stroke-related brain injuries.
- Researching the role of the
immune system in tumor formation.
- Examining the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission and corporate reform.
- Developing the technology
for a new computer switching system capable of moving voice, data,
and video signals at vastly faster speeds.
- Investigating the development
of a synthetic blood substitute.
- Studying the psychology of
aging.
- Developing a new model of
asthma that addresses the role of antiviral response.
- Advancing the use of ultrasonics
as a diagnostic tool in cardiology.
- Developing a program on HIV
prevention for abused and neglected youth in foster care.
- Enriching world literature
with essays, poetry, and fiction.
- Researching new ways to insulate
buildings against the potentially harmful effects of earthquakes.
- Discovering that zinc may
be responsible for brain damage occurring after cardiac arrest.
- Studying how Michelangelo
operated his studios.
- Developing an understanding
of party and voter strategies in Europe and Russia.
- Studying books as works of
art.
- Raising crop productivity
and improving food nutrition with biotechnology.
- Developing a new surgical
procedure to remove damaged portions of emphysema patients' lungs.
- Collecting, disseminating,
and archiving data from Mars.
- Providing online access to
the freedom suits of hundreds of African Americans.
- Analyzing the urban form of
contemporary cities.
- Studying the use of computer
modeling to design more effective drugs.
- Determining the effectiveness
of landscape management techniques in the Missouri Ozarks.
- Devising a theory and algorithm
that enable robots to think.
- Curating art and photography
exhibits.
- Developing a method to block
the ability of the malaria parasite to spread in the bloodstream.
- Studying how family behavior
is influenced by control over financial resources.
- Scrutinizing the creative process.
- Developing a diabetes prevention
program for American Indians.
- Showing that Neandertals and
early modern humans intermixed through the examination of a 24,500-year-old
skeleton.
- Finding that modest environmental
improvements are coming at a high economic price through a study
of the current system of environmental protection.
- Drawing on game theory to
shed light on how companies capture value to boost the bottom
line.
- Creating metaphorical sculptures
that pay tribute to the past.
- Studying the impact of welfare
reform on American Indian reservations.
- Combining the creative quality
of architecture with cutting-edge technology.
- Proposing a new legal framework
to govern refugee situations around the world.
- Gaining legal victories protecting the rights of local clients, such as victims of domestic violence, homeless and indigent people, and communities battling lead poisoning and other environmental pollutants.
- Helping people with disabilities
improve their everyday lives.
- Studying unsafe sleep practices
and their relation to the risk of infant death.
- Creating a surgical cure for
atrial fiillation, an abnormal heart rhythm.
- Using deep brain stimulation
to disrupt the signals that cause some of the most debilitating
symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
- Imaging brains of healthy
children and those with perinatal stroke to understand how the
brain develops and recovers from injury.
- Creating new works of art.
- Exploring the physician's
constitutional role in abortion and reproductive decisions and
in assisted suicide.
International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability
Washington University has committed $55 million to create a biofuels and sustainable energy research center in St. Louis. With the goal of discovering innovations that can reduce greenhouse gases and slow global warming, I-CARES scientists will seek ways to make the most of existing fuel sources, like ethanol and coal, while developing new ones. The University is partnering with the University of Missouri-Columbia, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and a consortium of international academic institutions.
Environmental & Energy Research
In pursuit of its goal to become a hub for environmental and energy research, education, innovation, and action, Washington University has launched a bioenergy initiative to address the issue of liquid hydrocarbon fuel production from plant-based sources. In addition, the University plans to create five cross-disciplinary research centers: the Center for Aerosols and Air Quality, Center for Energy Research, Center for Environmental Health Studies, Center for Sustainable Ecosystems, and Center for Sustainable River Systems. Also proposed are educational activities to enhance undergraduate and graduate learning in energy and the environment. A sustainability program for the University's facilities and operations is also being developed. Another facet of this initiative is reaching out to build a network of partners among industry, educators, university and other organizations, the media, and regional partners.
BioMed 21
To meet the challenge posed by advances in biomedical sciences, Washington University's School of Medicine has devised BioMed 21 to support translational research. Three research units—the Center for Genome Sciences, Division of Clinical Sciences, and Center for Biological Imaging—catalyze and support emerging forms of bioresearch, and work to rapidly convert the knowledge of the genetic blueprint into effective, individualized treatments designed to improve human health.
Plant Science Research
Washington University in St. Louis
is one of the partners supporting the Donald Danforth Plant Science
Center in its mission to help the world feed its people. The center's
scientists—some of whom hold adjunct faculty appointments at
Washington University—are working to increase understanding
of basic plant biology, apply new knowledge to benefit human health
and nutrition, and improve the sustainability of agriculture around
the world.
Biodefense Research
The Washington University School
of Medicine anchors the Midwest Regional Center of Excellence
for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research, which concentrates on expanding current research efforts in biodefense,
identifying new areas of need in the field, and developing the resources
needed in the event of a bioterrorism attack. The center's focus
is the Midwest, which includes Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas.
Founding members also include Saint Louis University School of Medicine,
Case Western Reserve University, the University of Missouri-Columbia,
and the Midwest Research Institute of Kansas City.
Cancer Research
The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital is an international leader in cancer treatment, research, prevention, education, and community outreach. It is the only cancer center in Missouri and within a 240-mile radius of St. Louis to hold the prestigious Comprehensive Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute and membership in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Siteman offers the expertise of more than 300 Washington University research scientists and physicians who provide care for nearly 6,000 newly diagnosed and more than 32,000 follow-up cancer patients each year. These scientists and physicians hold $130 million in cancer research and related training grants.
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