News, milestones, and spotlights from across Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
 

• Hollywood calling
  Teaching professor Mijeong Mimi Kim advised the filmmakers behind Netflix’s hit "KPop Demon Hunters," ensuring authentic Korean cultural details across the film’s storyboards, animation, dialogue, and costume design.

• Supersizing plant cells
  Assistant professor Kevin Cox adapted expansion microscopy to gently enlarge plant cells, allowing researchers to study proteins, RNA, and cell organization in unprecedented detail.

• Reading between the lines
  Assistant professor Joe Feldman used Bayesian models to show that the educational impacts of childhood lead exposure may be far greater than previously understood.

• Copycat evolution
  Jonathan Losos, the William H. Danforth Distinguished University Professor, discovered that selective breeding has caused Persian cats and Pekingese dogs to evolve strikingly similar skull shapes, revealing unexpected parallels in mammalian evolution.

• Broadening access to mental health care
  Professors Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft and Denise Wilfley are developing a chatbot to deliver self-guided cognitive-behavioral therapy and expand access to eating disorder treatment.

• Partnership powerhouse
  WashU and MilliporeSigma launched a partnership to accelerate innovation in science and medicine, translating campus research into real-world biotech applications.

• Unlocking STEM potential
  Economist Ismael Mourifié studies why high-achieving women often leave STEM pathways, identifying how stereotypes, wage gaps, and limited role models shape career outcomes.

• Building a better antibiotic
  Timothy Wencewicz and his team redesigned a malaria drug to create new antibiotics that disable bacteria through multiple mechanisms, helping combat drug resistance.

• Tick talk
  Senior Sam Ko identified St. Louis County’s first Asian longhorned tick while researching invasive species at Tyson Research Center.

• A major boost for plant research
  WashU and the Missouri Botanical Garden welcomed renowned botanists Lúcia Lohmann and Toby Pennington, strengthening their long-standing partnership in plant science.

• On a mission
  WashU’s Geosciences Node was named NASA’s lead hub for managing and sharing lunar data from upcoming Artemis missions.

• Biology faculty earn record NIH awards
  Seven biology faculty members received NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Awards, marking a record year for the department.

• Along the flyway
  Volunteers at WashU’s Tyson Research Center are helping track migratory birds along the Mississippi Flyway as part of a long-term study led by alumna Samantha Matchefts, AB ’87.

• Philosophy in action
  WashU’s Summer Philosophy Academy invites high school students to explore ethical questions around AI, social media, and emerging technologies in a free, one-week program.