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Washington University faculty are leaders in their fields and offer expertise on topics ranging from aging to anthropology and from race to religion. The faculty are renowned for their scholarly, creative and research achievements and can add perspective and breadth to breaking news or feature stories.
The university's 2,721 full-time faculty teach in eight schools: architecture, art, arts & sciences, business, engineering, law, medicine, and social work. They engage in research, write definitive books, create works of art and win such major awards as the Nobel Prize, MacArthur Prize Fellowships, National Medals of Science and National Book Critics Circle Awards. Current faculty serve on editorial boards of more than 250 professional and scholarly journals.
Our experts can discuss their areas of expertise in everyday language and many of them have extensive print and electronic media experience. You can call our faculty directly or you can call the University Communications staff for assistance. We are available after business hours and on weekends to help you identify and/or contact the right expert on deadline.
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Showing Culture & Living Experts 1 through 5 of 33.
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Ross Brownson
Professor
A leading expert in chronic disease prevention and an expert in the area of applied epidemiology, Ross Brownson is regarded as one of the great intellectual, educational, and practice leaders in the field of evidence-based public health.
Expertise: Chronic disease prevention, evidence-based public health, policy effects on physical activity and obesity
Direct contact: 314-362-9641
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rbrownson@wustl.edu
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Clifton Emery
Assistant Professor
Clif Emery's is available to speak about domestic violence and its effects on children, quantitative methods and social theory. Among his current projects are secondary data analysis of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods data and research on domestic violence in South Korea. ...
Expertise: Effects of domestic violence on children, deviance, trauma, causes of domestic violence
Direct contact: 314-935-7954
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cemery@wustl.edu
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Debra Haire-Joshu
Professor
Debra Haire-Joshu is an internationally renowned scholar of health behavior who develops population wide interventions to reduce obesity and prevent diabetes, particularly among underserved youth.
Expertise: Health policy, obesity and diabetes prevention in underserved populations, public health
Direct contact: 314-362-9554
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djoshu@wustl.edu
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Matthew Kreuter
Professor
Matt Kreuter is a leading national public health expert in the field of health communications.
Expertise: Health communication, cancer prevention and control, health disparities
Direct contact: 314-935-3701
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mkreuter@wustl.edu
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Timothy McBride
Associate Dean for Public Health
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| McBride |
Tim McBride has been active in testifying before Congress and consulting with important policy constituencies on Medicare, insurance and rural health policy issues. He is a member of the Rural Policy Research Institute Health Panel that provides expert advice on rural health issues to the U.S. Congress ...
Expertise: Health insurance, universal health care, public health, Medicare policy, health economics, gerontology and Social Security, state health policy, …
Direct contact: 314-935-4356
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tmcbride@wustl.edu
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Showing Culture & Living Experts 1 through 5 of 33.
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| News Stories & Tip Sheets: |
Showing Culture & Living Stories 1 through 3 of 415.
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Flu season
Eating, drinking and lifestyle changes can boost immunity to ward off seasonal flu
Nov. 5,
2009 --
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| Diekman |
College students looking to stay healthy during flu and exam season need to focus on three very important factors, says a nutritionist at Washington University in St. Louis. "It's really pretty simple," says Connie Diekman, RD, director of University Nutrition and immediate past president of the American Dietetic Association. "There are three key things to think about. No. 1 is hydration. No. 2 is foods and No. 3 is lifestyle issues." Video available.
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Holiday cheer or holiday hunger?
Nearly half of all U.S. children will use food stamps, says poverty expert
Nov. 2,
2009 -- Holidays and tables full of delicious food usually go hand in hand, but for nearly half of the children in the United States, this is not guaranteed. "49 percent of all U.S. children will be in a household that uses food stamps at some point during their childhood," says Mark R. Rank, Ph.D., poverty expert at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. "Food stamp use is a clear sign of poverty and food insecurity, two of the most detrimental economic conditions affecting a child's health." Rank's study, "Estimating the Risk of Food Stamp Use and Impoverishment During Childhood," is published in the current issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Video available.
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Major milestone in the health care debate
Expert discusses the next steps for health care reform in the U.S.
Oct. 16,
2009 -- With health care legislation now up for debate in both the House and the Senate, comprehensive health care reform is closer than ever, says Timothy McBride, Ph.D., health economist and associate dean of public health at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. McBride says that there is still much work to be done with health care reform and contentious issues remain. Among those are the public option, how the legislation will be financed, the generosity of the coverage, Medicare Advantage reforms and whether there will be mandates for employers to offer coverage. (Video available)
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Showing Culture & Living Stories 1 through 3 of 415.
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U.S. Census Bureau data on the medically uninsured simply can't be denied
Los Angeles Times
Sept. 17,
2009 -- Michael Hiltzik says the medically uninsured iin America have become a political football. Opponents and supporters of healthcare reform toss assertions about them back and forth.
The report, which says 46.3 million people lacked coverage as of the end of 2008, makes the case for reform stronger than ever by punching holes in arguments that minimize the plight of the uninsured.
Includes comments by WUSTL social work and public health professor Timothy McBride.
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Elusive price tag for universal health coverage
MSNBC.com
Sept. 10,
2009 -- How much is it going to cost to provide health care for all Americans? Until the details are complete, the only honest answer is: no one knows, reports John Schoen. "We know that the underinsured tend to be healthier," said Timothy McBride, associate dean for WUSTL's public health. "So if they were to get insured they would not be as expensive as the rest of us."
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Girls Gotta Move
Health.com
Sept. 1,
2009 -- In the last decade, there's been a boom in children running races that were once strictly for adults. Getting kids outside and active is obviously a good thing. But are the physical and mental demands of long-distance running safe for children? At what age is competition appropriate, and what do parents need to keep in mind? WUSTL pediatric sports medicine specialist Mark Halstead, who has been a distance runner for most of his adult life, offers advice.
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Knowledge Network -- Fall 2009 Course Listings
The New York Times
Aug. 25,
2009 -- One of the courses offered in The New York Times Knowledge Network Fall 2009 catalog is Introduction to Encore Careers. This course will introduce you to the phenomena of encore careers in the health and human services sector and help you explore some of the distinguishing features and challenges of the nonprofit sector. WUSTL social work professor Nancy Morrow-Howell is among participating faculty.
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(Un)wired For God
Newsweek
Aug. 13,
2009 -- Sharon Begley reports on new data in the debate on neurobiology and whether we are wired to believe in God.
In a paper last month in the online journal Evolutionary Psychology, Gregory Paul posits that, rather than being wired into the brain, religion is a way to cope with stress in a dysfunctional society -- the opium-of-the-people argument.
She mentions research by WUSTL anthropology professor Pascal Boyer.
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Early human European diets studied
United Press International
and 4 others
Aug. 12,
2009 -- U.S. and Canadian scientists say data from human fossils suggest a shift in animal resource exploitation as humans spread into Europe 40,000 years ago.
There is little evidence for the regular eating of fish by the Neanderthals, but early humans consistently consumed fish, supplementing their diet.
This study by WUSTL anthropology professor Erik Trinkaus a Canadian colleague was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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A Fashion Trend Meets A Watery Grave
The Wall Street Journal online
Aug. 7,
2009 -- The rise and fall of bottled water may be the best case study yet in the strange politics of trendy environmental causes.
Bottled water got its foothold in the U.S. as a statement about healthy living.
It wasn't that long ago that making water available everywhere was itself a sort of crusade.
But now schools such as WUSTL have made "Ban the Bottle" a campus cry. Thus does one crusade lead to another, with the solution to yesterday's crisis providing the stuff of today's.
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Movies enhance recall if facts are correct
United Press International
and 1 others
Aug. 7,
2009 -- WUSTL psychology doctoral student Andrew Butler said students who learn history through watching blockbuster movies may be doomed to repeat history.
". . . when information in the film directly contradicted the text, people often falsely recalled the misinformation portrayed in the film."
The findings are published in the journal Psychological Science.
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Happiness: Staying positive in negative territory
USA Today
and 1 others
Aug. 6,
2009 -- Researchers suggest that unlike money, social experiences can provide happy memories, which don't wear away as fast as the rush of buying a new possession. But WUSTL [marketing professor Joseph Goodman] and a Texas colleague have found that negative experiences can have a more negative impact on happiness than other spending of a comparable amount.
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Toddler Depression -- Real or a Phase?
ABCNews.com
Aug. 4,
2009 -- While a number of studies in recent years have found toddlers -- and even babies -- can suffer from major depressive disorder, doctors have debated whether preschool depression was an isolated blip in a child's development or a sign of future problems. According to a new WUSTL study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, preschoolers can suffer from major depression, and those children are likely to face depression again in elementary school.
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Top 10 Schools with the Best Quality of Life
Encarta.MSN.com
July 28,
2009 -- In The Princeton Review's top 10 colleges that offer the best quality of life, WUSTL comes in at No. 4, behind Rice U., Bowdoin College, and Claremont McKenna College.
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Campus Care Improves
The Wall Street Journal
July 27,
2009 -- Many college health clinics provide a wide range of services, including programs that encourage healthy lifestyles. There is a growing recognition that the college years are a time of transition in which healthy habits can be encouraged and dangerous ones, like excessive drinking, discouraged. Includes comments by Alan Glass, director of WUSTL's health and wellness center.
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In New York City, Trans Fat Ban Is Working
U.S. News & World Report online
and 7 others
July 21,
2009 -- In December 2006, New York City required that artificial trans fats be phased out of restaurant food, and the mandate was in full effect by November 2008. Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at WUSTL and a past president of the American Dietetic Association, said that banning fats is not enough.
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Permanent diet may equal longer life
Los Angeles Times
and 8 others
July 10,
2009 -- Evidence has been mounting for years that the practice of caloric restriction — essentially, going on a permanent diet — greatly reduces the risk of age-related diseases and even postpones death. Now, in a much-anticipated HIH study, many of the same benefits have been demonstrated in primates, the best evidence yet that caloric restriction would help people. Includes comments by WUSTL nutritional science expert Luigi Fontana.
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How to quit smoking
Chicago Tribune
and 1 others
July 7,
2009 -- Eric Wolbert has been a non-smoker for 30 days. He quit his pack-a-day habit because he has watched cigarettes hurt too many people, including his grandparents, who died of lung cancer, he said. As part of his third attempt at quitting, Wolbert signed up for a seven-week group therapy program called "Freedom From Smoking" at WUSTL.
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Patterns: Drinking Age Affects Bingeing, to a Point
The New York Times
June 30,
2009 -- A new study in The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry finds that as the drinking age has gone up, binge drinking has gone down -- except among college students. Includes comments by study leader WUSTL psychiatry professor Richard Grucza.
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Black Reverence for Jackson Is Now Unreserved
The New York Times
and 11 others
June 29,
2009 -- Around the world, Michael Jackson was celebrated Sunday, but there was a special fervor in black neighborhoods and churches. Jackson is seen as a towering figure with crossover appeal, even if in life some of his black fans wondered if he was as proud of his race as his race was of him. Includes comments by WUSTL AFAS professor Gerald Early.
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Vacation: What the Heck Is That?
MSN Money
June 26,
2009 -- Not taking some R&R could leave you carrying some heavy baggage down the line, bringing you and your company down. WUSTL entrepreneurship specialist Clifford Holekamp advises that shorter vacations are less stressful for small startups that are "very dependent on the founder to run the day-to-day operations."
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Despite everything . . . Americans are seeing better times ahead
USA Today
and 2 others
June 23,
2009 -- Americans say they're still in a tunnel, but more are beginning to see a light at its end. Fewer people say they've prospered over the past year than in decades, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds. WUSTL social work professor Mark Rank comments on the 'American Dream.'
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Keeping a True Identity Becomes a Battle Online
The New York Times
and 3 others
June 18,
2009 -- Since Facebook started giving out customized Web addresses last Friday, some 9.5 million people have rushed to grab their top choice. But for people signing up for these accounts, the battle over domain names is taking place in murky waters. WUSTL student Jeremy Fancer comments.
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