Carver College of Medicine Events
Honors Symposium
Monday, May 4, 2026 2:30pm
Celebrate Seniors graduating with Honors in Microbiology and Immunology.
REDCap Basic Training
Tuesday, May 5, 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...
BMB Research Workshop
Tuesday, May 5, 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 Presentation titles are not publicly available due to the use of unpublished research.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...
Seminar Series: Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Tuesday, May 5, 2026 3:00pm to 4:00pm
Each semester, we are proud to host outstanding seminar speakers. Everyone is encouraged to attend.
ACB Seminar Series - Dr. Meilian Liu
Wednesday, May 6, 2026 9:30am to 10:30am
Dr. Meilian Liu, a Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from the University of New Mexico will present a seminar titled "Adipose Tissue as an Immunometabolic Signaling Hub."
Recent Articles from the University of Iowa
Coinfection ecology and pathogen emergence in a <em>Borrelia</em>-endemic landscape: 5 years of <em>Borrelia burgdorferi</em>, <em>Anaplasma phagocytophilum</em>, and <em>Babesia microti</em> surveillance in Maryland
Monday, April 20, 2026
The emergence of tick-borne pathogens depends on ecological opportunity and barriers to persistence within vectors and hosts. Borrelia burgdorferi is well established in the mid-Atlantic, whereas Babesia microti and Anaplasma phagocytophilum remain patchily distributed. Five years of integrated surveillance (2020-2024) at three Maryland sites allowed us to track B. microti and A. phagocytophilum establishment by screening questing Ixodes scapularis nymphs, Peromyscus leucopus-fed nymphs, and P....
Global burden of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, 1990-2023, and projections to 2050: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023
Thursday, April 16, 2026
BACKGROUND: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), previously known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, is one of the most prevalent liver diseases globally, contributing to both economic and health-related challenges. We aimed to evaluate the global, regional, and national burden of MASLD from 1990 to 2023, quantify the contribution of identified modifiable risk factors, and project future prevalence up to the year 2050.
Typhoid Toxin of Salmonella enterica Induces ISG15 Responses Mediating Host Cell Survival and Counteracting Intracellular Infection
Monday, April 13, 2026
The typhoid toxin is a secreted virulence factor of typhoidal serovars of the bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica implicated in typhoid fever and chronic infections. The toxin causes a DNA damage response in human cells, characterised by cell-cycle arrest and cellular distension, resulting in cellular senescence and increased bacterial burden. To better understand host responses to typhoid toxin, we performed a transcriptomic analysis of intoxicated host cells and found that the toxin induced...
Impact of OMICS Technologies in Our Understanding of the Pathogenesis of Peri-Implantitis
Monday, April 13, 2026
CONCLUSIONS: OMICS analyses show that peri-implantitis is a complex host-microbiome molecular ecosystem. Integrated molecular insights provide a foundation for biomarker development, predictive diagnostics, and targeted interventions. However, future studies with larger cohorts and functional validation are needed to support clinical translation.
Impact of Anti-HLA Antibody Desensitization Strategies in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients: A PHTS-PHIS Linkage Analysis
Friday, April 10, 2026
CONCLUSION: Elevated PRA adversely impacts graft survival in pediatric HTx recipients. Efficacy of the studied DS therapies in this limited cohort was inconsistent. In patients highly sensitized at listing, efforts at DS are not associated with improved outcomes. Given cost and morbidity associated with DS, careful assessment of risks and benefits for individual patients is warranted.
A Pre-Clinical Model of Synovitis Using Ex vivo Human Synovial Tissue with Preserved Function and Architecture
Monday, April 6, 2026
Arthritis is an inflammatory state within joints resulting in cartilage damage, pain, and loss of mobility. Recent advances in arthritis research specifically demonstrate that the joint capsule (e.g., synovium) is an important source of this inflammation, but there are no human models that replicate essential synovial architecture. To address this, the Joint Space Analysis System, or JSAS, was created. Anterior synovium was obtained intra-operatively from patients undergoing Total Knee...
Global burden of cancer in children and adolescents aged 0-19 years, 1990-2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023
Sunday, April 5, 2026
BACKGROUND: Information on childhood cancer burden is crucial for effective cancer policy planning. Unfortunately, observed paediatric cancer data are not available in every country, and previous global burden estimates have not discretely reported several common cancers of childhood. We aimed to inform efforts to address childhood cancer burden globally by analysing results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2023, which now include nine additional cancer...
The ULK1-NCOA3 axis restrains de novo lipogenesis and prevents diet-induced steatohepatitis and fibrosis in mice
Thursday, April 2, 2026
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and steatohepatitis (MASH) are leading causes of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Defects in autophagy contribute to the development of MASLD, however, the role of the Unc-51-like autophagy-activating kinase 1 (ULK1) in the pathophysiology of MASLD remains unclear. Herein, we show that ULK1, a serine/threonine kinase and core autophagy protein, is significantly repressed in human MASH livers, and that hepatocyte-specific...
Pharmacological METTL3 inhibition attenuates HIV-1 latency reversal in CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells
Friday, March 27, 2026
N ⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) is a major epitranscriptomic modification that regulates RNA metabolism and affects the replication and latency reversal of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in cells. Methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) is the principal catalytic enzyme responsible for m⁶A deposition, and its pharmacological inhibition has emerged as a potential therapeutic strategy for cancer and viral infections. However, the relative potency of METTL3 inhibitors in reducing m⁶A levels and...
Multi-omic identification of key transcriptional regulatory programs during endurance exercise training in rats
Saturday, March 21, 2026
Transcription factors play a key role in regulating gene expression. We conduct an integrated analysis of chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation, mRNA expression, protein abundance and phosphorylation across eight tissues in fifty rats of equally represented sexes following endurance exercise training to identify coordinated epigenomic and transcriptional changes and determine key transcription factors involved. We uncover tissue-specific endurance exercise training associated changes and...