News

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports from around the world suggested that violence against women and girls was rising during lockdowns — a pattern widely described as a “shadow pandemic,” prompting researchers to take a closer look.

In August, global robotics competition First Lego League challenged children to design a robot to help archaeologists. The task would demand skills in engineering, design and technology. But, first and foremost, teams needed a fundamental understanding of the discipline itself — what archaeologists do, where they work, what tools they use.

Nearly half of young adults across eight countries report feeling lonely — and those who do face much higher likelihood of depression and anxiety, according to a new international study led by researchers at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Public Health.

Li Zou, International Director at Center for Social Development (CSD), moderated the opening panel of the Civil Society Forum at the 64th session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development on February 6, 2026.

Twenty food and agriculture experts from seven countries visited Washington University in St. Louis on Thursday, February 5, to learn about the School of Public Health’s Food and Agriculture Research Mission (FARM), one of the school’s six research networks.

The global food systems that keep more than 8 billion people fed come at a huge cost to public health and the environment in terms of climate change, wasteful and unsustainable production practices, and diseases of overnutrition, undernutrition and malnutrition. These costs will only rise as the global population continues to grow. To ensure that nourishing food is accessible and available to all while staying within planetary limits, the world must transform how food is produced, distributed and consumed.

Researchers in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis have used a variety of models to take on the challenging task of measuring ambient concentrations of black carbon in the “global south” and found estimates of these harmful emissions have been grossly underestimated.

Zhong received a WashU Global Incubator Seed Grant for research on plant thermal stress. Her new NSF grant will allow her to take a closer look at what happens when plants face nutrient stress such as nitrogen deficiencies.

Amid growing concern over U.S. public health funding cuts, experts at Washington University in St. Louis warn that pulling support from key data systems could erase decades of progress in protecting women and children from violence.  

The WashU Empower program will receive a “What’s Right with the Region” Award from Focus St. Louis at its 28th annual celebration event May 15.