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The Department of English in Arts & Sciences has received a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support Big Read programs next semester. Modeled on successful “city reads” programs, the Big Read is a new national program designed to encourage literary reading by helping communities come together to read and discuss a single book.

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A simple points system may soon help guide treatment of elderly heart failure patients. Researchers at the School of Medicine found that by counting how many of seven easy-to-obtain health factors a patient has, physicians can estimate the patient’s risk of dying.

The large globules in the liver cells on the left are characteristic of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency. The image on the right shows normal liver cells.Research performed at the School of Medicine sheds light on the mechanisms that contribute to liver disease in alpha-1-AT deficiency patients. People with alpha-1-deficiency have a genetic mutation that can lead to emphysema at an early age and to liver damage. Using an experimental mouse model of the disorder, the researchers investigated the effects of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) on liver injury.

Jerry BauerOrhan PamukTurkish writer Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, will receive Washington University’s inaugural Distinguished Humanist Medal as part of “Celebrating Our Books, Recognizing Our Authors,” the university’s fifth annual faculty book colloquium. The award — which includes a cash prize of $15,000 — is supported by the Center for the Humanities and the Office of International and Area Studies, both in Arts & Sciences. It will be given biannually to a distinguished scholar, writer or artist whose career merits special recognition for excellence and courage.

Robert Heider, Ph.D., adjunct professor of chemical engineering, and Milorad P. Dudukovic, Ph.D., the Laura and William Jens Professor and director of the Chemical Reaction Engineering Laboratory, have received a two-year, $111,650 grant from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville for research titled “Utilizing the National Corn to Ethanol Pilot Plant to Develop a Predictive Model for Distillers Dried Grain for the Fuel Ethanol and Animal Feed Industries.” … Roger J. Phillips, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, has received a three-year, $238,002 grant from NASA for research titled “Tharsis and the Geodynamical and Hydrogeological Evolution of Mars.” … Ibrahim M. Saeed, M.D., clinical cardiology fellow in internal medicine, received the 2006 Leadership Award from the American Medical Association Foundation. The award provides special training to develop their skills as future leaders in medicine. Saeed was one of 55 individuals, residents and fellows to receive the national award, which recognizes those who show outstanding non-clinical leadership skills in advocacy, community service and education, and provides special training to medical students, residents, fellows and physicians to develop their skills as future leaders in organized medicine. … Jacob Schaefer, Ph.D., the Charles Allen Thomas Professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, has received a four-year, $420,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for research titled “Solid-state NMR Analysis of Chain Packing and Dynamics in Polycarbonates.”

The Office of Human Resources has announced the introduction of the Health Savings Account (HSA) and Retirement Medical Savings Account (RMSA) for eligible faculty and staff. These new savings accounts, a major component of the Benefits Plan for the Future, will be effective Jan. 1.

The Concept of Constituency by Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science in Arts & Sciences, takes on the origins of the country’s electoral districts and how they came to be.

Robert W. Sussman, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, has been awarded the 2006 W.W. Howells Book Prize from the American Anthropological Association for best book in biological anthropology written for a wide audience.

Kathryn Davis, the Fannie M. Hurst Senior Fiction Writer in The Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, has won a $150,000 Lannan Foundation Literary Award. Presented annually, the Lannan Literary Awards honor “both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional quality.”