Asia-Pacific

The McDonnell International Scholars Academy at Washington University, with support from the Office of the Provost, awards seed grants that stimulate high-impact research linking university experts with our partners around the world. These investments help research teams, often representing cross-disciplinary fields, demonstrate the power and potential of their work. 

Kenneth Olsen, the George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg Professor of Biology, frequently works with international colleagues to study the evolution and genetics of plants. Much of his focus is on rice, a crop that has been grown under human control for 10,000 years. Olsen explained that domesticated crops are like prolonged experiments in natural […]

Next Age Institute (NAI), a partnership between Washington University and the National University of Singapore (NUS), envisions a world where people develop their capabilities and engage with the world across the life course, and where the poorest and oldest are not isolated in hardship.

Childhood malnutrition is a major global health challenge. It affects more than 150 million children under the age of 5 worldwide, with a disproportionate impact in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Health Organization.

Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, explores the “vast, mysterious world” of the microbiome to find solutions to promote healthy growth in malnourished children. In recognition of his groundbreaking work, Gordon, who is the director of the Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, received the 2022 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research.

After a distinguished career in international banking and hospitality investing, Albert Ip, BSAMCS ’73, is devoting his time and talent to helping burnish Washington University’s brand in Hong Kong so more students there apply and benefit as he has. Now, with multiple appointments at universities in Hong Kong, the former WashU trustee (2017–21) has established […]

In fall of 2022, Zhao Ma presented his students with a rare, hands-on experience to study cultural history up close, from furniture assembly to 3D modeling, through his acquisition of an elaborately crafted 19th-century Chinese bed. Ma, associate professor of modern Chinese history and culture in Arts & Sciences, and his students assembled the Qing-era […]

Washington University scientists developed the nasal vaccine in collaboration with Bharat Biotech International Limited in India, a global leader in vaccine innovation and a developer of vaccines for infectious diseases.

Some 2,000 years ago, the Yellow River flooded, killing 23 million people and causing untold calamities. A collaboration between WashU and China’s Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology sought to discover the cause of this disaster.