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Barry named vice provost for graduate and professional education

Tammy Barry.
Barry

Psychology Professor and Graduate School Associate Dean Tammy Barry has been named vice provost for graduate and professional education at Washington State University. She will assume the new position, which was formerly titled Graduate School dean, effective July 1.

Barry, who holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, also has served as the director of WSU’s clinical psychology doctoral program. As associate dean, she oversaw the Graduate School function of program assessment and review, represented the Graduate School on the Committee on Institutional Accreditation and Program Assessment, and worked with the Provost’s Office to meet the needs of institutional accreditation processes.

“I am am thrilled to welcome Dr. Barry to the academic leadership team, and I know that she will bring a renewed energy to graduate and professional education across the WSU system,” said Elizabeth Chilton, WSU provost and executive vice president. “Dr. Barry’s commitment to collaboration and strong leadership was apparent throughout the interview process. It is clear that she has a firm understanding of graduate education at WSU and is well respected by the Graduate School’s staff and members of the University community.”

In her new role, Barry will be charged with creating a vision for dynamic growth and excellence in WSU’s graduate and professional education programs.

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WSU Insider

New research at WSU could help doctors stop patients’ diseases before they start

Wouldn’t it be great to find out years in advance if you were at risk of developing a disease later in life and be able to take steps to prevent it?

With some recent research findings from Washington State University, that reality may be closer than you think.

Michael Skinner.
Skinner

Researchers from the university, which include Michael Skinner, a professor in the School of Biological Sciences, studied epigenetic biomarkers — factors that change how a gene is expressed without changing the DNA itself — that are connected to preterm birth, rheumatoid arthritis and autism spectrum disorder.

Epigenetics doesn’t research the DNA sequence, but instead the molecular entities around the DNA that affect how the genomes function. Those entities are called methyl groups, and they’re organic compounds which link to a DNA molecule that can turn genes within that DNA on and off and regulate how they’re expressed.

“We’ve been studying epigenetics for well over 20 years, but it’s only recently we’ve been looking at a human population to find these new associations,” Skinner says.

According to Skinner, epigenetic research has a much higher frequency at accurately identifying an individual’s likelihood of developing a disease than genetic research does.

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Inlander

Breakthrough study examines evolution of snake venom genes

A new study from  an international team of collaborators, including biologists at Washington State University, provides the first comprehensive explanation of how snake venom regulatory systems evolved—an important example that illuminates the evolution of new complex traits.

Blair Perry.
Perry

“This work gives us a better understanding of how snake venom evolved and how venom production functions at a genomic level,” said Blair Perry, a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Biological Sciences at WSU. He is lead author of the new paper.

“In addition to studying specific venom genes, we can now investigate parts of the genome involved in the regulation of these genes as well,” Perry said. “This opens up new opportunities to understand how variation in snake venom, both within and between snake species, corresponds to variation in the genome.”

In 2019, the World Health Organization declared snakebite a neglected tropical disease. The primary challenge for treating snakebite is the extreme variation in venom composition across populations and species of snakes.

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Phys.org
Science Daily
Technology.org
Dallas Morning News
Mirage News

WSU students awarded Gilman Scholarships to study abroad

Eight CAS students are among 13 WSU undergraduates who recently received the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship toward study abroad programs of their choice. Cougs will use the funding to study in Austria, Italy, Japan, Portugal and Spain this summer and fall.

“The Gilman scholarship is a federally funded initiative and is the top study abroad award in higher education,” said Senior Advisor Tiffany Prizzi. “Besides looking great on a resume, this award is an open door to international opportunities and consideration for post-graduate awards, such as the Fulbright and Rhodes scholarships.

“The Gilman award also grants 12 months of federal job eligibility, meaning recipients can be considered for vacant federal government jobs with as little as an application, sidestepping what’s typically a lengthy process for consideration.”

CAS students receiving the award, their major, and their intended study abroad destination are Zoe Alamillo, Psychology (Sociology minor), Italy; Jesus Avina, Sociology (Human Development minor), Spain and Portugal; Makayla Daniels, International Business (Japanese minor), Japan; Emily Dickson, Pre-Pharmacy (Psychology minor), Spain; Milo Edwards, Women’s, Gender, Sexuality Studies (Queer Studies minor), Italy; Citlaly Gomez-Ledezma, Criminal Justice, Italy; Claudia Jacobo, Japanese (Business Administration and Digital Technology and Culture, minors), Japan; and Johan Luna, Biology and Pre-Dentistry.

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WSU Insider

 

When the heat is unbearable but there’s nowhere to go

Late last June, farmers in Walla Walla, Washington, noticed something odd happening to their onions. Walla Walla, an oasis in the middle of the state’s high desert, is bursting with vineyards, wheat fields and acres of the city’s eponymous sweet onions. As temperatures climbed above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, then above 110 degrees, the oversized onions began to burn, pale blisters forming underneath their papery skins. When the temperature reached 116, the onions started cooking, their flesh dissolving into mush.

Four miles away is the Washington State Penitentiary. It’s one of the country’s oldest prisons, established in the 1880s, before Washington achieved statehood. In June 2021, over 2,000 people were incarcerated in its large concrete buildings. In the Hole — the name incarcerated people use for the solitary confinement unit — the air conditioning had stopped working. Dozens of people spent 23 hours a day locked in small concrete and metal cells, even as temperatures continued to soar.

Washington isn’t known for extreme heat, but far above the fields and prison, two air pressure systems had collided, creating a massive heat dome: a cap of warm air that sealed in the heat and blocked the flow of cool marine breezes from the Pacific. The resulting weeklong heat wave brought some of the hottest temperatures that the state has ever experienced.

Deepti Singh.
Singh

In a particularly alarming trend, climate change is causing average nighttime temperatures to warm even faster than average daytime temperatures, said Deepti Singh, a climate scientist at Washington State University who studies extreme weather events. This is especially dangerous because it limits the body’s ability to cool down, significantly increasing the risk of heat-related illnesses.

Researchers predict that if global temperatures continue to rise, similar events could happen as often as every five to 10 years before the end of this century in the Pacific Northwest. According to Singh, the Washington State University climate scientist, future heat waves could be even longer, hotter and more widespread.

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High Country News
Mother Jones
Crosscut