Pathology Welcomes New Faculty: Drs. Abdullah Thayyil, Kathryn Eschbacher, Osorio Lopes Abath Neto, Jhanvi Kanotra, Rostislav (Rossy) Ranguelov, and Daniel Griffin

Invasive Candida infection is one of the leading causes of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections, which carry a mortality rate ranging from 45 to 75 percent. Toxicity and resistance to the limited number of anti-fungal agents currently available contributes to high morbidity and mortality associated with invasive fungal infections. Therefore, there is an urgent need to better understand the host-pathogen interaction during fungal infection and develop new immuno-therapeutic approaches to fight invasive candidiasis.

Dr. Bing Li received a five-year NIH U01 award entitled “Determine the Molecular and Metabolic Mechanisms by which A-FABP Links Dysregulated Lipid Metabolism-induced Obesity/Breast Cancer Risk”. This award in combination with four other selected projects and a Coordinating Center will constitute the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Metabolic Dysregulation and Cancer Risk Program, which will focus on metabolic dysregulation as the key process linking obesity with cancer risk.

Current surgical pathology fellow and former pathology resident Alex Isaacson, MD, was interviewed for CAP Today on the importance of the University of Iowa pathology externship (‘post-sophomore fellowship’) in her own journey into pathology as a career and also as a recruitment tool for generating interest in pathology for medical students.

For the 2022 AANP Meeting, Dr. Moore was also invited to give the Korey Lecture. This occurred on Friday afternoon, June 10th. The title of his talk was “Adventures in muscular dystrophy: the DGC, LAMA2, and other sticky relationships.”

Dr. Hasem Habelhah received a five-year NIH R01 entitled ‘The Roles of TRAF2 and RIP1 in Breast Cancer Cell Survival’ from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

We are pleased to announce our Scholarship award winner for the 2021-2022 school year is Katie M. Sheehan. And congratulations to the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine 2022 MLS graduates! Receiving their Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Laboratory Science this spring are Matt Nasers, Katie Sheehan and Cassidy Colwey.

Dr. Munir Tanas has been selected as an inaugural Stead Family Scholar by the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. The goal of the Stead Family Scholar program is to recognize and advance the development of outstanding early-career faculty who are becoming internationally recognized leaders in their respective fields of research.

Chandni Desai and Soham Ali received the Special Achievement in Pathology Award for 2022. This award is given by the University of Iowa Department of Pathology in conjunction with the Iowa Association of Pathologists (IAP).

Dr. Carol Holman has been appointed as the 3rd Charles E. Platz Professor of Pathology Education.