Keith A. Wailoo, visiting associate professor of the history of science and Afro-American studies, became one of 10 scholars to win the McDonnell Centennial Fellowship on Jan. 26.

The $1 million research fellowship is awarded to 10 young scholars who will "contribute substantially to the development of knowledge and its responsible application in the next century," according to the foundation's Web site.

"It allows me to pursue [research] without the funding constraints that a lot of other young scholars have to deal with," Wailoo said.

After conducting extensive research, the Centennial Fellowship honored scholars from around the globe. In addition to the United States, recipients came from France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada.

The weekend of April 8, Wailoo will join the nine other recipients at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. There, they will present their work to the public at the Centennial Fellowship Symposium.

"It is a terrific platform for translating the historic understanding of disease into public policy," Wailoo said of the fellowship.

The Foundation gives awards in five categories: astrophysics and cosmology, human genetics, global and complex systems, human cognition and history and philosophy of science. It awards two scholars in each field.

Wailoo, along with Professor Kathleen Akins of Simon Fraser University, received the history and philosophy of science award--the only humanities award given.

"This grant is unprecedented in a field like mine," Wailoo said.

But he said he does not anticipate a lighter workload because of the grant. Instead, Wailoo is planning an eight-year research program, capitalizing on his new resources.

Wailoo said he plans to explore how ideas about disease have changed over the 20th century. He hopes to concentrate on ideas about disease have changed over the 20thcentury. He hopes to concentrate on four topics:the history of genetic diseases, immunology,oncology and anesthesiology.

Wailoo will use his research on the four topicsto generate a greater understanding of patientexperience, biological understanding and clinicalpractice.

After attending Yale University, Wailooreceived an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University ofPennsylvania.

Now a faculty member at the University of NorthCarolina--Chapel Hill, Wailoo teaches for both thehistory department and medical school there. He isthe author of Drawing Blood, which exploresideas about blood and blood disease.

Wailoo is currently working on a second book,Pain and Suffering in Memphis, aboutsickle-cell anemia among black populations in theSouth.

At Harvard for the year, Wailoo is teachingHistory of Science 145, "The Politics ofParenthood."

The fellowship is given in honor of aerospacepioneer and McDonnell-Douglas Corporation founderJames S. McDonnell