The latest news from the UW

Species recovery plans have multiplied quickly since the Endangered Species Act was spawned 25 years ago. But there’s still a question of how well the more than 900 species listed as endangered or threatened are recovering. Now a University of Washington zoologist is spearheading a national effort to review 200 recovery plans in detail.

Secretin, a hormone that some parents claim possesses almost magical properties as a treatment for autism, will be scientifically tested in large-scale trials starting later this month in Seattle and Denver.

Deciphering the human genome and the increasing availability of genetic testing raise ethical, legal and social challenges. The University of Washington School of Nursing will address these challenges when it hosts the 20th annual Elizabeth Sterling Soule Lecture.

Western Washington’s two major earthquakes this century had minimal impact north of Seattle. But new evidence suggests that in the previous 1,100 years an area between Everett and Marysville experienced at least three earthquakes of at least moderate intensity that produced liquefaction.

Major Puget Sound-area earthquakes in 1949 and 1965 are but a dim memory for most people who lived through them. But geological records going back thousands of years imply an even greater hazard in the Cascadia subduction zone than is reflected in 200 years of written history.

A Douglas fir log plucked from a sewer trench along the shores of Puget Sound has helped scientists narrow the time frame for a major earthquake more than a millenium ago, the last big rupture of the Seattle fault.

Dr. Robb Glenny, associate professor of medicine and of physiology and biophysics at the University of Washington, has won the only Guggenheim Fellowship Award given in medicine this year.

Hoping to add their names to Seattle’s growing ranks of successful entrepreneurs, contestants in the University of Washington Business School’s student business plan competition will vie for $25,000 in seed capital to launch companies that may become the next REI, Visio or Wizards of the Coast.

Researchers at the University of Washington are testing programs to improve the shaky state of many marriages and are looking for 300 Puget Sound couples who, if they are not exactly undergoing the worst of times, are experiencing problems in their relationships.

Recent developments in surgical techniques and technology are boosting the chances of regaining sexual function and continence for men who have undergone radical prostatectomies.

You could call it Martian Standard Time. The new “time zone” takes effect in January 2002 when a sundial designed and assembled at the University of Washington lands on the red planet aboard NASA’s 2001 Mars Surveyor.

The 50th anniversary of the UW Health Sciences Libraries and Information Center will be celebrated next week with a symposium on “The Health Information Challenge: Connecting People to Knowledge for Life.”

As University of Washington Business School students prepare to enter the global marketplace, they are bringing peers from around the globe to Seattle for a week of events culminating in the West Coast’s first international business case competition.

Recently, anesthesiologists at University of Washington Medical Center have refined the “walking epidural” technique by using meperidine (Demerol), thus minimizing uncomfortable side effects that can occur with commonly used pain control techniques.

Reporting in the April 15 issue of Nature, Ratner and Galen Shi, a graduate student in the UW Department of Bioengineering, describe a technique they developed for coating a biomaterial surface with tiny keyhole-like indentions that bind specific proteins to potentially unlock the body’s natural healing process.

The Scientific Instruments Division of the University of Washington will celebrate 50 years of achievement with an anniversary celebration and open house.

A 56-year-old Maple Valley man is about to leave UW Medical Center with the help of a new, fully portable heart pump that will assist his failing heart until a donor heart becomes available for transplant.

University of Washington President Richard L. McCormick will recommend to the Board of Regents that Yash P. Gupta, dean and professor of management in the College of Business and Administration of the University of Colorado at Denver, be appointed dean of the UW Business School, effective Aug. 1, 1999

Tim Walsh, a state DNR geologist, will provide an overview of the effects of the 1949 Olympia earthquake. Stephen Kirby, a USGS senior research geophysicist, then will discuss what can be learned about subduction zone earthquakes from the 1949 event

Alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems were significantly slashed among a group of high-risk college-age drinkers using a brief, non-confrontational intervention treatment. The study, conducted by a team of UW researchers headed by psychology professor Alan Marlatt, was published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

UW student named 1999 Truman Scholar
Dawn Hewett, a University of Washington junior, was named today as one of 79 1999 Truman Scholars by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation.

Damage to the sensory hair cells in the inner ear is the most frequent cause of permanent hearing loss.

Porter and Eastman Kodak Chairman George Fisher will be in Seattle April 14 to address inner-city economic development issues as guests of the University of Washington Business School’s business and economic development program.

A group of low-income high school students is learning how to build computers in a UW class–and they will get to keep the product of their labors.

Dr. Chee will be giving a lecture titled “Free Speech and the Political Maturation of Singapore.”

The second annual panel discussion and reception to benefit the Warren G. Magnuson Endowed Library Fund will be held at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 24, in 220 Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus.

Three professors from the University of Washington School of Dentistry in Seattle were recipients of awards at the opening of the 77th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) held in Vancouver, B.

WCI Cable, in support of the cooperative Pacific/Northwest Gigapop and national Internet 2 efforts, is providing to the UW a state-of-the-art fiber optic connection from Seattle to the University of Alaska Statewide System in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The University of Washington will hold a campus Diversity Fair on April 10 to recruit minorities from local high schools, community colleges, and nearby communities.

Like teenage boys hanging out on a street corner or fans cheering at a football game, animals behave differently when they’re in a large group than they do when they’re by themselves.

Living donors can now donate a kidney using laparoscopic surgery

The Washington State Department of Health has re-designated Harborview Medical Center to provide Level I Adult and Pediatric Trauma Services.

A “Walk for Life” will mark the beginning of Suicide Prevention Week, which will be observed May 2 to 8. Suicide Prevention Week is an opportunity to raise awareness of suicide, which takes the lives of 30,000 Americans every year.

Parents should be part of the fun, not the No. 1 problem in youth sports, say University of Washington sport psychologists Frank Smoll and Ronald Smith.

Researchers at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine have produced new analyses predicting the risk of heart disease among diverse population groups — younger women, middle-aged men and older Japanese-American men.

Julian Bond, a participant in movements for civil rights, economic justice and peace for nearly 40 years, will be the University of Washington commencement speaker June 12 at Husky Stadium.

University of Washington President Richard L. McCormick will recommend to the Board of Regents that Warren W. Buck be appointed chancellor and dean of the UW, Bothell. The regents are expected to act on this appointment at the board’s April 16 meeting.

Radar data will help scientists in their quest to pinpoint climate change

Reflecting the growing public interest in alternative and complementary medicine, the 20th annual Don B. Katterman Lecture will focus on “Practical Herbal Medicine.” The lecture is sponsored by the University of Washington Pharmacy Alumni Association and the School of Pharmacy.

The University of Washington administration is recommending that its Graduate School of Public Affairs be named for Daniel J. Evans, former Washington governor, U.S. senator, college president and current UW regent.