New research from the University of Iowa answers a question that has vexed cystic fibrosis (CF) researchers for almost 25 years: Why don’t mice with CF gene mutations develop the life-threatening lung disease that affects most people with CF?

Andrew Pieper, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry and member of the Pappajohn Biomedical Institute, has been selected for membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation, one of the nation’s oldest and most respected medical honor societies.

We all love our sugar, especially during the holidays. Cookies, cake, and candy are simply irresistible. While sugar cravings are common, the physiological mechanisms that trigger our “sweet tooth” are not well defined.

The link between the gut microbiome and obesity seems clear, but just how changes to gut bacteria can cause weight gain is not. A University of Iowa study in mice shows that drug-induced changes to the gut microbiome can cause obesity by reducing the resting metabolic rate—the rate at which calories are burned while sleeping or resting.

A new mouse-model study shows that exercise causes muscle to release a peptide that increases the muscle’s energy production and physical endurance, supporting longer and more intense exercise.

Jacob Michaelson, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, has been awarded a $3 million NIH grant to study the biological basis of language impairment over the next five years. The project will be the first ever to perform whole-genome sequencing to examine this condition.

Brian Dlouhy, assistant professor of neurosurgery and member of the Pappajohn Biomedical Institute, has been named the first Getch Scholar by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Congress of Neurosurgeons.

Imagine a neurosurgeon completing a complicated, 10-hour surgery without ever looking directly at the patient’s brain or the tumor that’s being removed.

The recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa has claimed more than 11,300 lives and starkly revealed the lack of effective options for treating or preventing the disease. Progress has been made on developing vaccines, but there is still a need for antiviral therapies to protect health care workers and local populations in the event of future outbreaks.