Q&A with Radiation Sciences alumna Samantha Nguyen

In addition to graduate programs in medicine, physician assistant studies, and biomedical sciences, the UI Carver College of Medicine offers undergraduate degrees in radiation sciences and nuclear medicine technology. We chatted with Samantha Nguyen, a first-generation student who earned a Bachelor of Sciences in Radiation Sciences at the University of Iowa, about her career path and what her day-to-day looks like now.

Huntington’s disease gene also enhances early brain development and intelligence

The genetic mutation that causes Huntington’s disease, a devastating brain disease that disrupts mobility and diminishes cognitive ability, may also enhance early brain development and play a role in promoting human intelligence. “The finding suggests that early in life, the gene mutation is actually beneficial to brain development, but that early benefit later becomes a liability,” says Peg Nopoulos, MD, professor and head of psychiatry at the UI Carver College of Medicine.