Anil Sood’s pioneering contributions to basic and translational cancer research began when he showed that short fragments of RNA can be harnessed to shut down dysfunctional cell processes. This finding opened the door to a new approach to targeted therapies, some of which are now FDA-approved. He is an internationally recognized expert on ovarian cancers, and he has led MD Anderson Cancer Center’s ambitious Moon Shots Program for ovarian cancer research since its inception in 2012. With extensive funding from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Defense, among others, Sood has produced hundreds of peer-reviewed publications over the course of his career.

Harold Adams’ 50-year career in stroke research cemented his place as a titan of the field. He is among the originators of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, a tool to assess stroke severity that still guides patient care today. As director of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, he spearheaded the development of vascular neurology as a subspecialty. Additionally, as principal investigator of the landmark multicenter study known as TOAST, Adams and colleagues steered physicians away from a commonly used anticoagulant toward safer and more effective therapies. He has served on national committees for the American Heart Association, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and more, but his proudest accomplishments were in teaching.

James Christensen (64R–­­gastroenterology) is an internationally recognized physician, scholar, and scientist responsible for major contributions to the understanding and management of gastrointestinal tract diseases. He provided the first explanation of the motions of the human esophagus in swallowing, proved the existence of the lower esophageal sphincter, and discovered the pacemaker cells of the colon. Christensen became the first director of the Division of Gastroenterology in the Carver College of Medicine in 1971, serving there for 17 years and concurrently as the director of the division’s National Institutes of Health academic training program. Christensen received the Janssen Award for Lifetime Achievement in Gastrointestinal Motility from the American Gastroenterological Association in 1997. He has been a University of Iowa professor emeritus of internal medicine since his retirement in 1998.

The eighth NIH grant renewal extends funding for the Iowa Cochlear Implant Clinical Research Center to more than $76 million over 43 years.

UI Health Care is pleased to announce the funding competition for the Stead Family Scholars Program is now open for applications. This program is designed to recognize and advance the development of outstanding early-career investigators. The goal of this program is to identify and support outstanding early-career faculty who are becoming internationally recognized leaders in their respective fields of research. The program provides financial support to pursue new unexplored ideas that promise consequential discoveries. Stead Family Scholars will also be provided leadership and communication training to advance their professional development.

Former UI fellow Paari Dominic, MBBS, MPH, has returned to UI Hospitals & Clinics, specializing in a procedure that helps people with heart rate issues.

Melissa Palma (15MD) is many things these days—a physician, an educator, an advocate. But when it all began, she was an Iowan. “I like to tell people I spent K through 20th grade in Iowa,” she says.

Did smokers do better than non-smokers in a clinical trial for an experimental cancer treatment? That was the intriguing question that led University of Iowa researchers and their colleagues to develop a drinkable, carbon monoxide-infused foam that boosted the effectiveness of the therapy, known as autophagy inhibition, in mice and human cells. The findings were recently published in the journal Advanced Science.

The University of Iowa’s educational course in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been endorsed by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO). Iowa is one of only two institutions in the U.S. and 19 worldwide to earn this distinction, cementing the university’s place as an international leader in the advanced life support technology.

The Carver College of Medicine’s Global Health Distinction Track gives medical students a chance to explore differing modes of health care delivery and give back in meaningful ways.