Iowa Neuroscience Institute

A new study that used genetic data from nearly 43,000 autistic individuals and their families has identified 60 autism spectrum-associated genes with exome-wide significance, including five new genes not previously implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders. University of Iowa scientists led by Jake Michaelson, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry in the UI Carver College of Medicine, contributed to the new study, which was published recently in Nature Genetics.

Aaron Boes, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and director of the division of pediatric neurology, has been awarded the Roy J. Carver Professorship in Neuroscience in the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. The recognition honors his outstanding academic achievements and contributions to the Carver College of Medicine and Iowa Neuroscience Institute.

Two students in the University of Iowa Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience have been awarded Kwak-Ferguson Fellowships from the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. Samantha Pierson and Marco Pipoly, fourth- and fifth-year students, respectively, were awarded $5,000 each for their work in the area of neurodegenerative diseases.

University of Iowa researchers have confirmed in a new study that a specific region in the brain is critical to governing the mind’s communication with the body’s motor control system. The findings could yield advances in treatment for Parkinson’s disease, as declining motor coordination is a central symptom of the disorder.

Mapping the brain lesions that led multiple patients, once heavy smokers, to abruptly quit has revealed a brain network associated with addiction. The new study, which involved University of Iowa Health Care neuroscientists, suggests that targeting this circuitry with neuromodulation therapies, like transcranial magnetic stimulation or deep brain stimulation, may have potential for treating addiction.

University of Iowa professor Michael J. Welsh, MD, has won the 2022 Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine together with Paul A. Negulescu, senior vice president and site head for San Diego research with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Two University of Iowa faculty members have been awarded Williams-Cannon Faculty Fellowships through the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. Alejandro Pezzulo, MD, assistant professor of internal medicine, and Michelle Voss, PhD, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences, will each receive $45,000 in research funding.

The Iowa Neuroscience Institute has awarded a total of $2.4 million to four research teams to carry out Research Programs of Excellence over the next three years.