Drs. Vladimir Badovinac and John Harty have been awarded a new five-year R01 research grant from the NIH/NIAID entitled “Impact of Whole-Body Radiation Exposure on Pathogen-Specific Memory CD8 T Cells.” The award totals $3,247,420. The project began on February 10, 2026, and will conclude on January 31, 2031.

David Buhr, a 1973 alum of the University of Iowa Medical Laboratory Science program, helped relaunch the MLS program with guidance and scholarships alongside his wife Pam for UI students pursuing a similar career path. Buhr credits his medical laboratory science education from the University of Iowa for playing a pivotal role in his career.

Featuring: Andrew Bellizzi. MD; Michael Crawford, MD; Brooks Jackson, MD, MBA; Kshitija Kale, MD; Nitin Karandikar, MD, PhD; Steven Moore, MD, PhD; Prerna Rastogi, MD, PhD; Chakrapani Vemulawada, PhD

February's recipients are Farah El-Zein, Michael Gingerich, and Evelyn Irving.

Featuring: Gillian DeWane, PhD; Yuliia Drebot, PhD; Colleen Fullenkamp, BS; Keith Garcia, PhD; Krishnendu Ghosh, PhD; Ali Khan, BS; Mariah Leidinger, BS; Vincent Liu, MD, FAAD; Nicole Merritt, PhD; Prerna Rastogi, MD, PhD; Nicholas Scalora, BS; Souradip Sinha BS, MS; Douglas Spitz, PhD; Munir Tanas, MD; Samuel Yu, BS

Featuring: Gary Baumbach, MD; Andrew Bellizzi, MD; Alexander Boyden, PhD; Grant Bullock, MD, PhD; Michael Crawford; Kathryn Eschbacher, MD; Kshitija Kale, MD; Nitin Karandikar, MD, PhD; Michael Knudson, MD, PhD

Research on how prior malaria infection compromises subsequent vaccine responses and development of strategies to overcome this dysfunction by Mariah Hassert, PhD; Lisa Drewry, PhD, Lecia Epping, BS; Lisa Hancox, BA; and Sahaana Arumugam, BA, BS from the Harty lab was recently published in Nature Microbiology.

Featuring: Melissa Blessing, DO; Di Hu, PhD; Hui Li, PhD; Hong Lin; Vincent Liu, MD, FAAD; Jia Luo, PhD; Osorio Lopes Abath Neto, MD, PhD; Elliot Stalter; Brian Swick, MD, FAAD; Wen Wen, PhD; Zuohui Zhang, MD, PhD; Claire Voyles

Two recent studies from Ashutosh Mangalam, PhD’s laboratory now provide converging evidence that oral microbial imbalance is closely linked to immune activation and metabolic disruption in people with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), highlighting oral health as an underappreciated contributor to MS pathobiology.