Latin America

A nutrition program for pregnant women inspired by ancestral dietary patterns and adapted to locally available foods in Ecuador increased growth in a key fetal brain region, according to a study led by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis.

Guided by graduate student Tasman Ezra, a WashU undergraduate turns classroom skills into field research in Honduras and gains a deeper understanding of what it means to be a scientist.

A new study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Newcastle University in the U.K. finds that the share of adults living with dementia rose substantially across several Latin American and Caribbean sites over the past two decades.

Researchers at WashU Medicine will investigate genetic and molecular factors behind Alzheimer’s prevalence in Caribbean populations. This groundbreaking study, supported by NIH funding, aims to enhance personalized care, diagnostics and treatment strategies for patients worldwide.

WashU biologists Toby Pennington and Jonathan Myers contributed to an ambitious study on South America’s tropical forests, revealing important shifts in biodiversity.

Peruvian artist Blas Isasi was the 2024-25 Henry L. and Natalie E. Freund Teaching Fellow at the WashU Sam Fox School.

A total of 20 projects won Global Incubator Seed Grants this month, allowing them to kickstart new research examining a whole host of issues, from the cyber defense of medical devices to the impacts of affordable housing on physical activity and health in Brazil.

Rodrigo Siqueira Reis was running in a park in Curitiba, Brazil, on a weekend morning when he realized he had spent years approaching health backward. Around him, people were playing pickup soccer, jogging, and walking. They were simply living in a space that made movement natural, joyful, and free.

More than 20 years ago, Jonathan Losos was in the Bahamas pursuing one of his favorite pastimes — catching and measuring anole lizards — when he spotted a familiar reptilian flash on a branch. A chance encounter by him inspired a team of biologists to study lizards with missing or reduced limbs.

For the first time, the Prevention Research Center (PRC) at Washington University in St. Louis has taken its signature Evidence-Based Public Health training program (EBPH) to a U.S. territory. This summer, the EBPH faculty delivered the course over three and half days in Caguas, Puerto Rico.