Genius Grant Goes to Great Cause

On FedBlog today, Tom Shoop reports that author and Veterans Affairs psychiatrist Jonathan Shay is among the winners of this year's $500,000 MacArthur Foundation "genius grants."

Shay is one of the VA's many success stories; his work with combat veterans has been instrumental in learning how to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder when troops come home, and help prevent it in the first place.

He's also written two fascinating books on the subject -- Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, and Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming -- that use Homer's classics to demonstrate that these problems are anything but new. I reviewed Odysseus in America for NationalJournal.com a few years back, and Shays utterly changed my understanding of PTSD. Given the strains U.S. troops are facing in Iraq and elsewhere, both books are (unfortunately) still very timely reads, regardless of how much one knows about either PTSD or Homer.

The MacArthur grant is unrestricted, so Shays can pursue whatever research or projects he chooses -- though hopefully his clinical work with Boston-area vets will continue. And if his past work is any guide, we can look forward to some fascinating insights over the next few years.