Carver College of Medicine Events
Frontiers in Obesity, Diabetes and Metabolism - Chelsea Howland, PhD, RN
Monday, March 2, 2026 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Chelsea Howland, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing will be giving a presentation titled, "Mind-body physical activity intervention among rural older adults with type 2 diabetes".
Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Workshops, Andrew (Drew) Kain and Hannah Rust
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 9:30am to 10:30am
REDCap Basic Training
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 10:00am to 11:30am
This is the first step in the REDCap training series. In this training, we will build a new REDCap project from scratch and cover basic features such as:
• Building forms with proper field types and validation
• Assigning user permissions
• Project backup and overview with data dictionary, codebook, pdf, and xml
• Ensuring your project works properly by testing with real world application
• Making mid-study modifications safely after having started data collection in production
• Creating and...
College of Pharmacy PSET Seminar Series: Kristina Thiel, PhD
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 11:30am
The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Experimental Therapeutics (PSET) in the College of Pharmacy will host a seminar presented by:
Kristina Thiel, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
All are welcome to attend. No pre-registration required.
BMB Research Workshop
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 12:30pm to 1:20pm
The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology holds research workshops featuring internal speakers on Tuesdays, 12:30-1:20pm. For Spring 2026, these will occur in 2117 MERF. Presentation titles are not publicly available due to the use of unpublished research. Individuals interested in attending workshops or being added to the email list should contact the office at biochem@uiowa.edu.
Jan. 20: CANCELED
Jan. 27: Lori Wallrath, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Feb. 3...
Recent Articles from the University of Iowa
CD4<sup>+</sup> T-Cell-Intrinsic IL-6 Is Critical for Th17 Differentiation and Dampened Responsiveness to CD8<sup>+</sup> T Cell-Mediated Suppression
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
This study investigates the role of T-cell-intrinsic IL-6 in Th17 differentiation and effector resistance. Using CRISPR-Cas9-mediated Il6 knockdown in primary human CD4^(+) T-cells, we demonstrate that T-cell-produced IL-6 is crucial for the optimal development of Th17 cells. Lack of T-cell-endogenous Il6 resulted in impaired IL-17A production as well as significantly increased responsiveness to immune suppression. Importantly, these effects could not be reversed by the addition of exogenous...
The neutralizing antibody titer correlate of COVID-19 risk in the COVID-19 variant immunologic landscape (COVAIL) trial was not modified by SARS-CoV-2 amino acid sequence distances
Monday, February 16, 2026
In the Coronavirus Variant Immunologic Landscape Trial (COVAIL) conducted in the United States in 2022-2023, 985 participants received a second COVID-19 booster with one of twelve monovalent or bivalent mRNA inserts. Pseudovirus serum inhibitory dilution 50% neutralizing antibody titer (nAb titer) measured two-weeks post booster significantly associated with lower COVID-19 incidence over six months follow-up in this trial. COVAIL investigators sequenced SARS-CoV-2 Spike amino acid sequences for...
Estimated Effectiveness of 2024-2025 COVID-19 Vaccination Against Severe COVID-19
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this multicenter, case-control analysis of VE, 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccines may have provided protection against hospitalizations and severe in-hospital outcomes as multiple JN.1 descendant lineages circulated. Monitoring COVID-19 VE, including stratifying by SARS-CoV-2 lineage and spike protein mutations, remains important to guide COVID-19 vaccine composition and recommendations.
A Quantitative Lung Mucin Score to Identify Chronic Bronchitis
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
CONCLUSIONS: The MUCQ metric was superior in distinguishing patients with CB compared to a total mucin concentration. Trials are needed to ascertain the prospective use of MUCQ metrics in research and clinical settings for assessment, management, and tracking therapeutic responses in CB and potentially other muco-obstructive conditions. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others.).
Immortalization and characterization of Schwann cell lines derived from NF1-associated cutaneous neurofibromas
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant condition in which patients are heterozygous for a disruptive pathogenic variant in the NF1 gene. The most characteristic feature of the condition NF1 is the neurofibroma, a benign, multi-cellular tumor which initiates when a cell of the Schwann cell lineage gains a somatic pathogenic variant of the other NF1 allele. Neurofibromas developing at nerve termini in the skin are termed "cutaneous" neurofibromas (cNFs), while those developing...
Effectiveness of biologics for reducing occlusive mucus plugs in patients with severe asthma: a systematic review
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Asthma is a heterogeneous disease characterized by chronic airway inflammation and reversible airflow obstruction. Particularly in severe asthma, airway mucus plugs can contribute to substantial and persistent airflow obstruction, despite inhaled corticosteroid and bronchodilator treatment. Consequently, it is important that clinicians assess and treat mucus plugs. Increased mucus production and airway eosinophilia caused by type 2 (T2) inflammation contributes to mucus plug formation and...
Aroclor 1254 inhibits anti-inflammatory macrophage polarization through an AhR-dependent mechanism
Friday, January 16, 2026
Macrophages are critical regulators of tissue homeostasis and inflammation. During the development of chronic inflammatory diseases, tissue-resident macrophages often shift from an anti-inflammatory (M2) to a pro-inflammatory (M1) phenotype. Understanding the factors that drive this polarization shift is essential for elucidating the mechanisms underlying diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome. Environmental toxicants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),...
Differences in influenza vaccine effectiveness by sex among adults hospitalized with acute respiratory illness-IVY network, January 24, 2022-September 1, 2024
Saturday, January 10, 2026
This analysis assessed differences in influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) and severe in-hospital outcomes between U.S. male and female adults hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza in a multi-center network during 2022-2024. Compared with men, women hospitalized with influenza were less likely to smoke (21.5 % vs 25.3 %, P = 0.02), to have COPD (21.9 % vs 22.7 %, P < 0.001), and to be admitted to an intensive care unit once hospitalized (17.3 % vs 20.7 %, P = 0.04). Influenza VE (95 %...
Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Surveillance: A Delphi Panel Consensus
Saturday, January 10, 2026
CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to provide consensus-based guidance incorporating GEP and PRAME status into surveillance recommendations for uveal melanoma, offering a standardized framework to guide clinical practice and future research.
Anti-IL-15 treatment reduces acute lentivirus inflammation and signaling in the brain
Saturday, January 10, 2026
HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) remains a significant complication in people living with HIV, with inflammation playing a central role in its pathogenesis. Understanding how the brain's immune network responds to lentiviral infection is therefore critical. We show that acute simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection elicits a robust resident brain immune response in control animals, marked by enhanced microglial ramification. In contrast, animals pretreated with...