UI Signs $1.5 Million Contract To Study Macular Degeneration

The Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (CBCB), a joint enterprise of the University of Iowa College of Engineering and the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, has signed a five-year, $1.5 million contract with Alcon Research, Ltd. of Ft. Worth, Tex., a leading ophthalmic pharmaceutical research company, for research aimed at helping to prevent blindness. More >>
Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology: http://genome.uiowa.edu/

With UI Help, Israeli Aids Arab With Political Violence Dissertation

The University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication has helped arrange a unique collaboration: the coming together of an Israeli professor and an Arab scholar to discuss the media coverage of political violence in the Middle East and elsewhere. More >>
School of Journalism and Mass Communication: http://www.uiowa.edu/~journal/
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: http://www.clas.uiowa.edu/

Tippie MBA Students Meet Wall Street Legend

Every year, students in the Tippie MBA Program at the University of Iowa arrange personal visits with prominent industry leaders throughout the country. This year, Jafar Azmayesh, a resourceful second year MBA student, decided to test his networking skills by attempting to set up a visit with Warren Buffett, one of the greatest American investors in history. Azmayesh's tenacity paid off when Buffett agreed to the visit with MBA
students from the Tippie Leadership Association and undergraduate students
from the Hawkinson Institute of Business Finance. More >>
The Tippie MBA Program: http://www.biz.uiowa.edu/fulltimemba/academics/

Researchers Present Saturn Lightning Findings

As NASA's Cassini spacecraft approached Saturn last July, it found evidence that lightning on Saturn is roughly one million times stronger than lightning on Earth. That's just one of several Cassini findings that University of Iowa Space Physicist Don Gurnett presented in a paper published Thursday, Dec. 16 in Science Express, an online version of the
journal Science, and in a talk delivered Friday, Dec. 17 at a meeting
of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. More >>
Graduate Study Physics & Astronomy: http://www.physics.uiowa.edu/graduate/space.html

Report On Health Insurance Coverage Of Iowa Children Shows Gaps

A new report on health insurance coverage of Iowa children indicates that nearly 90,000 children in the state are uninsured at some point in the year. Some programs, however, are available to help families, and more could be done to expand, as well as educate people about, options. The findings are included in the report "Health Insurance Coverage of Children in Iowa," a collaborative effort by the University of Iowa Public Policy Center, the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), and the Child Health Specialty Clinics based at the UI. More >>
Public Policy Center: http://ppc.uiowa.edu/

Resolve to Quit Smoking In 2005 With Help From Quitline Iowa

For smokers who are serious about quitting, the key to success is adequate preparation, according to University of Iowa smoking cessation experts. More >>
Community and Behavioral Health: http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/cbh/

Researcher Examines Rural Injuries

Agriculture has long been considered one of the most dangerous occupations, but from a public health perspective, country living has plenty of other risks, too. Prevention remains as important as ever, according to a University of Iowa researcher who studies injury patterns among rural and urban residents. More >>
College of Public Health: http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/

Scientists Uncover New Mechanism For The Amygdala In Fear Recognition

A new study by scientists at the University of Iowa, the California Institute of Technology and their colleagues sheds more light on how the amygdala works. The study, published in the Jan. 6 issue of Nature, suggests that the mechanism by which the amygdala contributes to processing visual information about facial expressions is by actively directing a person's gaze to the eye region to seek out and fixate on the critical visual cues for fear. More >>
Department of Neurology: http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/med/neurology/welcome/

Writers Will Work With Chronically Ill Patients In Arts Share Project

The University of Iowa Arts Share program has received $10,000 from the UI Provost's office to launch "The Patient Voice," a project in which Iowa Writers' Workshop students will help chronically ill patients in University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City to write about their experiences. More >>
Iowa Writers’ Workshop: http://www.uiowa.edu/~iww/

Anderson Identifies Cause Of Hoarding
(Medical News, Dec. 16)

By studying patients who developed abnormal hoarding behavior following brain injury, neurology researchers in the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A Carver College of Medicine have identified an area in the prefrontal cortex that appears to control collecting behavior. The findings suggest that damage to the right mesial prefrontal cortex causes abnormal hoarding behavior by releasing the primitive hoarding urge from its normal restraints. The study was published online in the Nov. 17 Advance Access issue of the journal Brain. Hoarding behavior is common among animals; around 70 species hoard and mostly they hoard food, which makes sense from a survival standpoint. Studies of hoarding behavior in rodents have shown that collecting is driven by certain primitive structures deep in the brain and most mammals, including humans, share these subcortical regions. "But human collecting goes beyond items that are solely useful for survival," said STEVEN ANDERSON, Ph.D., UI associate professor of neurology and lead author of the study. "People often collect art or stamps or pretty much anything. Clearly there is some higher structure in humans that modulates the collecting drive and that's what we think we have tapped into." The same story appeared on the websites of PLEBIUS PRESS, NEW KERALA (INDIA) and WEBINDIA 123. More >>
Carver College of Medicine: http://www.medicine.uiowa.edu/

Damasio Studies Pleasure-Seeking Behavior
(Salon.com, Dec. 17)

Scientists are trying to figure out why, when we already have it all, we risk everything for more excitement. At the University of Iowa, a team lead by neuroscientist HANNA DAMASIO has been studying people with lesions in a region of the cortex associated with pleasure. They found that although the patients had no intellectual impairment, in a simple gambling test they made hopeless decisions. "They are oblivious to the consequences of their actions," the team noted in a paper published in the journal Brain. More >>
Hanna Damasio Biography: http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/med/neurology/neurologymds/damasioh.html

Lutgendorf Study: Churchgoers Live Longer
(ChurchCentral.com, Dec. 28)

Those who made their once-yearly trip to church on Christmas may want to think again. Research shows that regular churchgoers live longer. A 12-year study tracking mortality rates of more than 550 subjects older than 65 found that those who attended services at least once a week were 35 percent more likely to live longer than those who never attended church. The research also found that going to church boosted seniors' immune systems and made them less likely to suffer clogged arteries or high blood pressure. "There's something involved in the act of religious attendance, whether it's the group interaction, the worldview or just the exercise to get out of the house. There's something that seems to be beneficial," said University of Iowa psychology professor SUSAN LUTGENDORF, who carried out the study. More >>
Department of Psychology: http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/

Ghoneim Comments On Anesthesia Problem
(Chicago Tribune, Jan. 2)

Every year an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 of the 21 million patients who receive general anesthesia wake up during surgery because they are under-anesthetized, usually by mistake or because doctors fear too high a dose of anesthesia could be dangerous. "Anesthesiologists think they can measure the depth of anesthesia, but there are times when this is not true," said MOHAMED M. GHONEIM, a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Iowa. "It's really difficult to measure, especially in light anesthesia such as cardiac cases or trauma with lots of blood loss." The best way to detect whether a patient is sufficiently anesthetized is by using a specialized EEG machine that monitors brain waves, Ghoneim said. He predicts such monitoring will become the standard of care in a few years. More >>
Department of Anesthesia: http://www.anesth.uiowa.edu/portal/

Gitler Leads Malpractice Study
(New York Times, Jan. 5)

Experts retained by the Bush administration have said that more effective disciplining of incompetent doctors could significantly alleviate the problem of medical malpractice litigation. As President Bush prepared to head to Illinois to campaign for limits on malpractice lawsuits, the experts said that states should first identify those doctors most likely to make mistakes that injure patients and lead to lawsuits. The administration recently commissioned a study by the University of Iowa and the Urban Institute to help state boards of medical examiners in disciplining doctors. "There's a need to protect the public from substandard performance by physicians," said JOSEPHINE GITTLER, a law professor at Iowa who supervised part of the study. "If you had more aggressive policing of incompetent physicians and more effective disciplining of doctors who engage in substandard practice, that could decrease the type of negligence that leads to malpractice suits." Versions of the story also ran on the websites of the FORT WORTH (Texas) STAR TELEGRAM, the HOUSTON (Texas) CHRONICLE, the SPARTANBURG (S.C.) HERALD-JOURNAL
More >>
College of Law: http://www.law.uiowa.edu/

A Year In The Life of the UI

The editors of fyi, the UI's newsletter for faculty and staff, recap nine of the most significant University stories to emerge during 2004. More >>

Babes (and Scientists) in Toyland: Unraveling the Mysteries of Human Development

Psychology researchers in the UI's Children's Research Laboratory observe and "play" with thousands of young children each year to learn more about how human beings develop. More >>

Cartographers "Map" Iowa's Path from Territory to Statehood

UI education professor emeritus H.D. Hoover becomes so excited when he talks about an exhibition of old maps (for which he is guest curator) at the UI Museum of Art , it's hard to believe he did not spend his career teaching and studying geography or world history. More >>

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