The Iowa City Book Festival will celebrate its fifth year in the City of Literature with an ambitious and varied slate of programming that includes more than 70 events from Oct. 10-13. Several events have University of Iowa ties, including a discussion with Writers' Workshop affiliates in the Englert Theatre.

In 1951, cells from cancer patient Henrietta Lacks were used in research without her consent. Those cells, called HeLa, have contributed to many medical breakthroughs, along with raising questions about science, ethics, and privacy. Two members of the Lacks family will give talks in Iowa City on Thursday, Oct. 10.

Fourteen staff members at the University of Iowa received 2013 awards for excellence presented by the UI Staff Council.

A Mini Medical School program on "The Future of Human Reproduction" will discuss the ethical, social, and legal issues surrounding the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis of embryos conceived by in vitro fertilization before a woman becomes pregnant.

In 2009, 11-year-old Alex Kirby learned he had a rare genetic kidney disorder. After his transplant, doctors determined his sister, Molly, had the same disorder and would also need a transplant.

Amy Belfi, a fourth-year graduate student in the UI Neuroscience Graduate Program, is using crowdfunding to help support her study on the link between music and autobiographical memory. Her goal of $1,500, to be raised by Oct. 18, will be used to compensate study participants and defray their travel costs.

Friends of teens are the most significant risk factor for adolescents having that first drink too early. UI psychiatry professor Samuel Kuperman says a teen's friend might be the biggest risk factor for starting drinking ahead of family history and social behavior.

Lung transplant patients and their families walked alongside their physicians from University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics' transplant center Saturday at the American Lung Association's Fight for Air Walk in Des Moines.

The University of Iowa has named Edwin Dove and Susan Johnson this year's recipients of the Michael J. Brody Award for Faculty Excellence in Service, recognizing their contributions to the university and the state of Iowa.

Emma Miller was just 4 years old when she had an adverse reaction to medication, causing her lips to swell and her skin to blister and eventually shed. The Oelwein youngster will be the honorary Kid Captain when the Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers Saturday, Sept. 28, in an away game.

UI student Meghan Ryan will share her Irish heritage and culture through her performance with the Champagne Academy of Irish Dance at the Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival this Sunday, Sept. 29, held for the first time in Hubbard Park and as the kickoff to Homecoming 2013.

The University of Iowa is one of nine institutions nationwide to receive a multimillion-dollar contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to conduct clinical trials of promising vaccines and therapies for infectious diseases.