Where to Find Recent Research News from WashU's Department of Molecular Microbiology

The department's own website, microbiology.wustl.edu, is the primary place to find recent research news, and the most reliable way to track it is through the news and events content tied to individual faculty and their labs. The site mixes research highlights, symposium coverage, and faculty recognition into its pages rather than isolating them in a single dated feed, so knowing where to look matters more than expecting a chronological news stream.

What kind of research news appears on the site

The department publishes news-style content in a few recognizable forms:

• Research findings and breakthroughs — for example, coverage of Leishmania parasites once thought to be asexual being "caught in the act," with the note that studying their offspring could lead to improved treatment for deadly infections.
• Symposium and event coverage — such as the Eras of the Microbiome Symposium held in Moore Auditorium on April 26, 2024, featuring Jeffrey Gordon, MD, and his past and present trainees.
• Faculty appointments and honors — for example, Dave Wang's installation as the Robert C. Packman Professor on June 11, 2025, with microbiology faculty gathered for the occasion.
• Lab-based research snapshots — photos and captions showing ongoing work, such as Carolina Lopez, PhD, a BJC Investigator in molecular microbiology, discussing her research on the relationship between a virus and the organism it infects with graduate student Lavinia Gonzalez.

These items typically name the faculty member, the lab, and sometimes the trainees involved, which makes them useful for tracking a specific research group over time.

How news connects to faculty and labs

News on this site is organized around people, not around a press-release archive. Each item tends to feature a named faculty member and their lab context:

Because the news is anchored to faculty, the "Meet our faculty" section functions as a directory you can cross-reference against news items. Faculty listed there include Stephen Beverley, PhD; Siyuan Ding, PhD; Tamara L. Doering, MD, PhD; and Mario F. Feldman, PhD.

Practical ways to track updates

1. Start with the department homepage — research highlights and event coverage surface here, often with photos and captions that identify the lab and the people involved.
2. Browse the faculty directory — use "Meet our faculty" to find a researcher whose work you follow, then look for news items naming that person or their lab.
3. Watch for symposium and event posts — these appear as dated items (for example, the April 26, 2024 microbiome symposium) and often summarize a broader research theme.
4. Check lab-specific coverage — captions frequently name graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and research technicians alongside the principal investigator, so you can follow a lab's output through these mentions.

What to expect and what not to

The site presents research news as narrative highlights rather than a formal press-release index or a dated blog feed. There is no indication on the page of a dedicated news archive with pagination, so updates are best found by revisiting the homepage and faculty-related sections. If you need a specific publication citation or a formal press contact, the site's news-style content is a starting point rather than a citation database — you would need to follow the named researcher or their lab for the underlying publication.