Director Spotlight

On location with Neuroscience Program Director Daniel Tranel, PhD

"Join the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of Iowa and become part of the bright team of scientists trying to solve the mystery of the human brain."


09242024 Distinguished Mentor Ceremony 1

Iowa Neuroscience Institute

Provides collaborative support for the neuroscience community.

IDGP Neuroscience Events

Neuroscience & Pharmacology Workshop - Emily Hagan and Andrew Kain

Thursday, March 6, 2025 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Medical Education Research Facility
Presented by Emily Hagan Graduate Student in Dr. Sarah Ferri's lab Presented by Andrew Kain Graduate student in Dr. Stephanie Gantz's lab

Iowa Neuroscience Institute Seminar: Matthew Leonard, PhD

Friday, March 7, 2025 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Carver Biomedical Research Building
"Speech and language computation in the human superior temporal gyrus" Matthew Leonard, PhD Associate Professor Department of Neurological Surgery Weill Institute for Neurosciences University of California, San Francisco
Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Graduate Program Guest Speaker: Dr. Erin Calipari promotional image

Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Graduate Program Guest Speaker: Dr. Erin Calipari

Tuesday, March 11, 2025 4:00pm
General Hospital
Dr. Erin Calipari, Vanderbilt University, will be joining our Neuroscience Student Seminar Series as a guest speaker. Dr. Calipari's current roles at Vanderbilt include Director of Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research and Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology.

Neuroscience & Pharmacology Postdoctoral Seminar - Mauricio Oliveira, PhD

Tuesday, March 25, 2025 10:30am to 11:30am
Medical Education Research Facility
"Regulation of cell type-specific translatomes in response to neuronal activity and behavior" Presented by Mauricio Oliveira, PhD Postdoctoral Research Scholar New York University New York, NY

Neuroscience & Pharmacology Workshop - Isaias (Izzy) Herring and Emma Simpson-Wade

Thursday, March 27, 2025 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Medical Education Research Facility
Presented by Izzy Herring Graduate Student in the labs of Drs. Krystal Parker and Aislinn Williams Presented by Emma Simpson-Wade Graduate student in Dr. Marie Gaine's lab

Neuroscience & Pharmacology Workshop - Gabrielle (Gabby) Bierlein-De La Rosa and Alex Dou

Thursday, April 3, 2025 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Medical Education Research Facility
Presented by Gabby Bierlein-De La Rosa Graduate Student in Dr. Catherine Marcinkiewcz's lab Presented by Alex Dou Graduate student in Dr. Chris Ahern's lab
Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Program Thesis Defense Seminar: Bill Milanick promotional image

Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Program Thesis Defense Seminar: Bill Milanick

Friday, April 4, 2025 12:00pm
Medical Education Research Facility
Bill Milanick is a current PhD candidate in the Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Graduate Program. He is apart of Dr. Sam Young's lab.

Neuroscience & Pharmacology Workshop - Nathan Gentilman and Hannah Hazzard

Thursday, April 10, 2025 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Medical Education Research Facility
Presented by Nathan Gentilman Graduate Student in Dr. David Roman's lab Presented by Hannah Hazzard Graduate student in Dr. Serena (Banu) Gumusoglu's lab
Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Program Thesis Defense Seminar: Maya Evans promotional image

Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Program Thesis Defense Seminar: Maya Evans

Friday, April 18, 2025 2:30pm
Medical Education Research Facility
Maya Evans is a current PhD candidate in the Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Graduate Program. She is apart of Dr. Hanna Stevens's lab.

Hawk-IDDRC Seminar Series: Elizabeth Berry-Kravis, MD, PhD; Rush University Medical Center

Friday, May 9, 2025 12:00pm
Virtual
Please join us for the Hawk-IDDRC Seminar Series Elizabeth Berry-Kravis, MD, PhD; Rush University Medical Center Professor, Departments of Pediatrics, Neurological Sciences, Anatomy and Cell Biology Director, RUSH Pediatric Neurosciences F.A.S.T. Center for Translational Research Friday, May 9, 2025, noon CST in the Pediatric Conference Center JCP2415 More information to come!  

Outstanding Alumni 

Alex Petrucci

Alex Petrucci

Eric Emmons

Eric Emmons

Victoria Muller Ewald

8

DISSERTATION PRIZE WINNERS AWARDED BY THE GRADUATE COLLEGE. Joseph Parvizi, Michael Koenigs, and Benton Purnell (right) EARNED THE SPRIESTERSBACH DISSERTATION PRIZE. Matthew Sutterer, Arianna Rigon, Banu Gumusoglu, Victoria Muller Ewald (left) and Alex Petrucci WON THE REX MONTGOMERY DISSERTATION PRIZE.

Benton Purnell
Serena Gumusoglu
"The fact that I was able to perform at this level and do this work is representative of this program. The strength of the Neuroscience Program at the University of Iowa is what makes it such a destination program for people.”

Banu Gumusoglu, PhD

2020 winner, Rex Montgomery Dissertation Prize

News & Events

Zorilla, Erik in White Coat

Congratulations to program alumnus Erik Zorrilla, PhD!

Monday, March 3, 2025
Dr. Zorrilla is the first author of the recent paper, “Combined effects of cannabidiol and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol alleviate migraine-like symptoms in mice,” which has been selected as the Editor’s Choice for the February issue of Cephalalgia.
02102025 Chiara Borrelli AHA Predoctoral Fellowship Awardee

Chiara Borrelli Announced as Awardee of AHA's Predoctoral Fellowship

Monday, February 10, 2025
2025 Dare to Discover - NSCI

Four students from the neuroscience graduate program featured in the 2025 Dare to Discover Campaign

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Carver College of Medicine Research Events

Hardin Open Workshops - Scopus & Web of Science (Zoom) promotional image

Hardin Open Workshops - Scopus & Web of Science (Zoom)

Thursday, March 6, 2025 10:00am to 11:00am
Virtual
Both databases are multidisciplinary and allow you to measure scholarly impact. This hands-on session will show you: • How to quickly find the articles you need for you research or systematic review in each database. • How to track an article’s cited and citing references in each database. • How to find journal ‘Impact Factors’ using the Journal Citation Reports of Web of Science. • How to determine an author’s h-index. • How to identify a researcher and her/his publication track with...

Neuroscience & Pharmacology Workshop - Emily Hagan and Andrew Kain

Thursday, March 6, 2025 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Medical Education Research Facility
Presented by Emily Hagan Graduate Student in Dr. Sarah Ferri's lab Presented by Andrew Kain Graduate student in Dr. Stephanie Gantz's lab

Iowa Neuroscience Institute Seminar: Matthew Leonard, PhD

Friday, March 7, 2025 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Carver Biomedical Research Building
"Speech and language computation in the human superior temporal gyrus" Matthew Leonard, PhD Associate Professor Department of Neurological Surgery Weill Institute for Neurosciences University of California, San Francisco
Hardin Open Workshops - PubMed (Zoom) promotional image

Hardin Open Workshops - PubMed (Zoom)

Wednesday, March 12, 2025 10:00am to 11:00am
Virtual
This hands-on session will help you improve your searching through best practices for basic and advanced searching and show you features for saving or exporting citations. The session will also help you understand medical subject headings (MeSH) and how they improve your search as well as the benefits of a MyNCBI account. PLEASE NOTE: Class will be taught via Zoom. Advance registration is required. Registrants will be emailed the Zoom link 30 minutes before the class time.
Hardin Open Workshops - EndNote Desktop (Zoom) promotional image

Hardin Open Workshops - EndNote Desktop (Zoom)

Wednesday, March 12, 2025 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Virtual
EndNote is a reference management tool that helps you to easily gather together your references in one place, organize them, and then insert them into papers and format them in a style of your choosing. This session will walk you through the basics of using EndNote to collect and format your citations. The class will be hands-on, and there will be time for questions at the end.

Biomedical & Health Informatics Community Meeting

Thursday, March 13, 2025 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Virtual
We have established a community of CCOM Informaticists who are applying these skills in their work at UIHC. You are invited to join us during our monthly seminar presentations. 

Biomedical & Health Informatics Community Meeting

Thursday, March 13, 2025 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Virtual
We have established a community of CCOM Informaticists who are applying these skills in their work campus-wide and at Iowa Health Care. You are invited to join us during our monthly seminar presentations.

Neuroscience & Pharmacology Workshop - Pravda Quinones-Labernik and Yutong Wang

Thursday, March 13, 2025 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Medical Education Research Facility
Presented by Pravda Quinones-Labernik Graduate Student in Dr. Ted Abel's lab Presented by Yutong Wang Graduate student in Dr. Ted Abel's lab

ACRC Seminar Series

Friday, March 14, 2025 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Medical Education Research Facility

Neuroscience & Pharmacology Postdoctoral Seminar - Mauricio Oliveira, PhD

Tuesday, March 25, 2025 10:30am to 11:30am
Medical Education Research Facility
"Regulation of cell type-specific translatomes in response to neuronal activity and behavior" Presented by Mauricio Oliveira, PhD Postdoctoral Research Scholar New York University New York, NY

Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs Events

Women In Micro & Immuno Coffee Hour

Monday, January 13, 11:00am to Monday, December 8, 2025 12:00pm
Carver Biomedical Research Building
Join us for the Women in Micro & Immuno Coffee Hour. It is the monthly coffee hour on the second Monday of the month from 11 a.m. to noon in 1289 CBRB. Enjoy coffee, pastries and contribute to the discussion! This is open to ALL — students, staff, postdocs, and faculty interested in promoting women in science. Speakers change monthly. Contact: jessica-tucker@uiowa.edu for details.
CS Colloquium - Secure and Timely Execution in Cyber-physical Systems promotional image

CS Colloquium - Secure and Timely Execution in Cyber-physical Systems

Monday, March 3, 2025 3:30pm to 4:30pm
MacLean Hall
Jinwen Wang (WashU) on "Secure and Timely Execution in Cyber-physical Systems"
Canceled
 ACB Seminar Series - Sahebgowda Patil & Zewei Zhang  promotional image

ACB Seminar Series - Sahebgowda Patil & Zewei Zhang

Wednesday, March 5, 2025 9:30am to 10:30am
Bowen Science Building
Sahebgowda Patil, a Cell and Developmental Biology Student in the Yang Lab, will present a seminar titled “Role of Lysosomal Enzyme GILT on Maintaining Bone Marrow Adipose Metabolic Homeostasis in Obesity.” Zewei Zhang, a Cell and Developmental Biology Student in the Rutkowski Lab, will present a seminar titled “Loss of Hepatocyte Identity Diminishes ER Stress.”
CS Colloquium - Cyber-Physical Security Through the Lens of AI-Enabled Systems promotional image

CS Colloquium - Cyber-Physical Security Through the Lens of AI-Enabled Systems

Wednesday, March 5, 2025 3:30pm to 4:30pm
MacLean Hall
Zhiyuan Yu (Washington University in St. Louis) on "Cyber-Physical Security Through the Lens of AI-Enabled Systems."

Neuroscience & Pharmacology Workshop - Emily Hagan and Andrew Kain

Thursday, March 6, 2025 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Medical Education Research Facility
Presented by Emily Hagan Graduate Student in Dr. Sarah Ferri's lab Presented by Andrew Kain Graduate student in Dr. Stephanie Gantz's lab

Iowa Neuroscience Institute Seminar: Matthew Leonard, PhD

Friday, March 7, 2025 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Carver Biomedical Research Building
"Speech and language computation in the human superior temporal gyrus" Matthew Leonard, PhD Associate Professor Department of Neurological Surgery Weill Institute for Neurosciences University of California, San Francisco
CS Colloquium - Powering the Infrastructure for Critical Services: Ensuring Secure and Reliable Emergency Communications over Cellular Networks promotional image

CS Colloquium - Powering the Infrastructure for Critical Services: Ensuring Secure and Reliable Emergency Communications over Cellular Networks

Friday, March 7, 2025 3:30pm to 4:30pm
MacLean Hall
Yiwen Hu (Michigan State University) on "Powering the Infrastructure for Critical Services: Ensuring Secure and Reliable Emergency Communications over Cellular Networks"

Alumni talk about a career in industry

Friday, March 7, 2025 3:30pm to 4:20pm
MacLean Hall
Speaker: TBA (now at Netflix)
Biology Seminar: "Physiological and Deleterious Aggregation in S. cerevisiae" promotional image

Biology Seminar: "Physiological and Deleterious Aggregation in S. cerevisiae"

Friday, March 7, 2025 3:30pm
Biology Building East
The Department of Biology's seminar speaker this Friday, March 7, at 3:30pm is from our own department, Professor Jan Fassler, Ph.D.

Women In Micro & Immuno Coffee Hour

Monday, March 10, 2025 11:00am to Monday, February 2, 2026 11:00am
Carver Biomedical Research Building
Join us for the Women in Micro & Immuno Coffee Hour. It is the monthly coffee hour on the second Monday of the month from 11 a.m. to noon in 1289 CBRB. Enjoy coffee, pastries and contribute to the discussion! This is open to ALL — students, staff, postdocs, and faculty interested in promoting women in science. Speakers change monthly. Contact: jessica-tucker@uiowa.edu for details.