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."

Iowa Neuroscience Institute

Provides collaborative support for the neuroscience community.

IDGP Neuroscience Events

ACB Seminar Series - Grace Gottschamer promotional image

ACB Seminar Series - Grace Gottschamer

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 9:30am to 10:30am
Bowen Science Building

Grace Gottschamer, an Interdisciplinary Graduate Student from the Dunnwald Lab will present a seminar titled " Irf6 and Epidermal Homeostasis."

 ACB Seminar Series - Joy James promotional image

ACB Seminar Series - Joy James

Wednesday, October 14, 2026 9:30am to 10:30am
Bowen Science Building

Joy James, a Cell and Developmental Biology Graduate Student in Sam Stephen's Lab will present a seminar titled "Proinflammatory Cytokines Induce Golgi Remodeling In Pancreatic Ī’-cells Beyond Inos-no Signaling."

Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Virtual Career Development Series - Neuroscience alumna, McCall Sarrett, PhD promotional image

Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Virtual Career Development Series - Neuroscience alumna, McCall Sarrett, PhD

Tuesday, October 27, 2026 11:30am
Virtual

šŸŽ“ Neuroscience Alumni Spotlight: McCall Sarrett, PhD ('20)

From Herky to Duo: A Career in the Cognitive Science of Learning

What can a PhD career look like beyond the traditional academic path?

Join the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Career Development Series for a conversation with McCall Sarrett, PhD ('20, Neuroscience), a University of Iowa graduate alumna who has built a career applying cognitive science and research in industry.

McCall is currently a Learning Scientist at Duolingo, where...

2026 Neuroscience Research Day Keynote Speaker: Constanza J. Cortes, PhD promotional image

2026 Neuroscience Research Day Keynote Speaker: Constanza J. Cortes, PhD

Monday, November 2, 2026 1:00pm
Medical Education Research Facility

Keynote Speaker Announcement: Constanza J. Cortes, PhD
2026 Neuroscience Research Day – Monday, November 2, 2026

We are excited to welcome Constanza J. Cortes, PhD, Assistant Professor of Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, to the University of Iowa for this year's Neuroscience Research Day.

Dr. Cortes's research explores the intersection of exercise, brain aging, skeletal muscle, and Alzheimer’s disease, with a particular focus on how...

Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Program Thesis Defense Seminar: Angela Smith promotional image

Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Program Thesis Defense Seminar: Angela Smith

Tuesday, November 10, 2026 11:00am
Medical Education Research Facility

Angela Smith is a PhD candidate in the Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Graduate Program. Her research has been conducted in both Kathleen Sluka's and Stephanie Gantz's laboratories.

If you are unable to attend in person, please consider showing your support and attending via Zoom. Please email britt-hokanson@uiowa.edu for the zoom link.

Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Program Thesis Defense Seminar: Katelin Scott promotional image

Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Program Thesis Defense Seminar: Katelin Scott

Monday, November 30, 2026 10:00am
Medical Education Research Facility

Katelin Scott is a PhD candidate in the Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Graduate Program. Her research has been conducted in Aislinn Williams' laboratory.

If you are unable to attend in person, please consider showing your support and attending via Zoom. Please email britt-hokanson@uiowa.edu for the zoom link.

Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Virtual Career Development Series - Genetics alumna, Kim Bekas, PhD promotional image

Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Virtual Career Development Series - Genetics alumna, Kim Bekas, PhD

Tuesday, December 8, 2026 11:30am
Virtual

šŸ“£ Career Development Series: Finding Flexibility in a Career in Grantsmanship

Looking for a career path that keeps you connected to research while offering a different kind of flexibility after the PhD? Grantsmanship may be an option worth exploring!

The Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Office of Cancer Career Enhancement and Training is hosting the next session of its Career Development Series, featuring Kim Bekas, PhD (ā€˜22 Genetics).

Kim currently serves as a Grants & Contracts Officer IV and...

Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Virtual Career Development Series - Neuroscience alumna, Amanda Bullert, PhD promotional image

Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Virtual Career Development Series - Neuroscience alumna, Amanda Bullert, PhD

Tuesday, January 12, 2027 11:30am
Virtual

Curious about where a PhD can take you beyond the traditional academic career path? Join the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Office of Cancer Career Enhancement and Training for an upcoming Career Development Series conversation featuring

University of Iowa alumna Amanda Bullert, PhD (ā€˜23 Neuroscience)!

šŸ’» ā€œCareers in Research Computing: Data, Supercomputing & Beyondā€

Amanda Bullert, PhD (ā€˜23 Neuroscience)
Senior Research Data Consultant
Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain
University of...

View more events

Outstanding Alumni 

Alex Petrucci

Alex Petrucci

Eric Emmons

Eric Emmons

Katelyn Joyal

Katelyn Joyal

Victoria Muller Ewald

9

DISSERTATION PRIZE WINNERS AWARDED BY THE GRADUATE COLLEGE. Joseph Parvizi, Michael Koenigs, and Benton Purnell (right), Katelyn Joyal EARNED THE SPRIESTERSBACH DISSERTATION PRIZE. Matthew Sutterer, Arianna Rigon, Banu Gumusoglu, Victoria Muller E
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.ā€

Banu Gumusoglu, PhD

2020 winner, Rex Montgomery Dissertation Prize

Iowa Neuroscience Institute Events

2026 Neuroscience Research Day Keynote Speaker: Constanza J. Cortes, PhD promotional image

2026 Neuroscience Research Day Keynote Speaker: Constanza J. Cortes, PhD

Monday, November 2, 2026 1:00pm
Medical Education Research Facility

Keynote Speaker Announcement: Constanza J. Cortes, PhD
2026 Neuroscience Research Day – Monday, November 2, 2026

We are excited to welcome Constanza J. Cortes, PhD, Assistant Professor of Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, to the University of Iowa for this year's Neuroscience Research Day.

Dr. Cortes's research explores the intersection of exercise, brain aging, skeletal muscle, and Alzheimer’s disease, with a particular focus on how...

Hawk-IDDRC Seminar Series featuring Maja Bucan, PhD: "Sleep and activity patterns in autismā€  promotional image

Hawk-IDDRC Seminar Series featuring Maja Bucan, PhD: "Sleep and activity patterns in autismā€

Friday, October 9, 2026 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Carver Biomedical Research Building

Please join us for our first Hawk-IDDRC Seminar of the academic year, featuring: Maja Bućan, PhD.
Professor, Departments of Genetics and Psychiatry; Co-director, Autism Spectrum Program Of Excellence, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Lurie Autism Institute, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and PennMedicine
Presenting: "Sleep and activity patterns in autismā€ Friday, October 9, 2026, Noon – 1pm CST in the Kelch Conference Room (CBRB 1289)
Lunch will be available for those who...

Pain Interest Group Seminar - Andrew Schrepf, PhD promotional image

Pain Interest Group Seminar - Andrew Schrepf, PhD

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 9:00am to 10:00am
Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building

The neuroimmune interface in chronic pelvic pain

Andrew Schrepf, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Anesthesiology
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
University of Michigan

Neuroscience News

Protecting new neurons reduces depression caused by stress

Friday, April 25, 2014
Protecting new neurons reduces depression caused by stressNew class of neuroprotective molecules may lead to improved treatments for depression.By: Jennifer Brown | 2014.04.22 | 11:54 AMScientists probing the link between depression and a hormone that controls hunger have found that the hormone's antidepressant activity is due to its ability to protect newborn neurons in a part of the brain that...

Great minds think alike

Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Study finds pigeons and other animals, like humans, can place everyday things in categoriesBy: Amy Mattson | 2014.04.02 | 12:00 AMPinecone or pine nut? Friend or foe? Distinguishing between the two requires that we pay special attention to the telltale characteristics of each. And as it turns out, us humans aren’t the only ones up to the task.According to researchers at the University of Iowa...

Arrested development: How brain damage impairs moral judgment

Friday, March 28, 2014
Arrested development: How brain damage impairs moral judgmentUI study suggests that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex is critical for moral competencyBy: John Riehl | 2014.03.28 | 07:00 AMWould you lie on your income tax return to save money for your struggling family? Moral judgment calls like this one help weave the fabric of a civilized society.Everyone knows you shouldn’t cheat on your taxes...

Misplaced protein causes heart failure

Thursday, March 20, 2014
Study shows how changes in the organized cell membrane network of heart muscle leads to heart failureBy: Jennifer Brown | 2014.03.06 | 07:00 AMThe green areas in the images show the orderly nature of JP2 protein's distribution in normal human heart muscle (left panel) compared to the disorganized localization of the protein in unhealthy heart muscle (center and right panel). Images courtesy of...

Fund finding

Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Social networking helps UI graduate student raise money for researchBy: Jennifer Brown | 2013.10.02 | 10:43 AMMusic has been part of Amy Belfi's life for as long as she can remember. Now, she's using her other passion—for science—to explore the neurological basis of humans' deep connection with music. And, she's hoping that enough people will share her excitement to actually help finance her...

Achievements: UI faculty, staff, students and alumni making news

Friday, September 27, 2013
Matthew Rizzo, UI professor of neurology and mechanical and industrial engineering, is the 2013 recipient of the Bartimaeus Award from the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology. The award, presented at the 6th biennial World Congress on the Eye, the Brain, and the Auto 2013, recognizes research excellence in the area of vision and driving.Rizzo, an expert in the the role of vision and cognition in...

UI-Ivy League Brain injury summit planned for July

Friday, June 28, 2013
BY ROBERT CROZIER | JUNE 28, 2013 5:00 AMCollaborative research on the impact of brain injuries sustained during athletics competition announced last year may finally begin after a summit scheduled for mid-July.The project, announced June 19, 2012, in a Big Ten press release, aims to bring together athletic programs and research capabilities from the various institutions of the Big Ten and the Ivy...

UI biomedical researcher named a 2013 Pew Scholar

Friday, June 14, 2013
By: UI Health Care Marketing and Communications | 2013.06.13 | 02:38 PM Qi Wu, assistant professor of pharmacology in the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, has been selected as a 2013 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences.Wu is one of just 22 scientists nationwide to receive the prestigious four-year, $240,000 award from the Pew Charitable Trusts.Pew's scholars...

Andreasen receives scientific award for mental illness research

Tuesday, December 18, 2012
By:Jennifer Brown | 2012.11.16 | 10:48 AM Nancy Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D., University of Iowa professor of psychiatry, who holds the Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry, has received the 2012 National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) Scientific Research Award, honoring her contributions to the understanding of schizophrenia. Nancy Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D.Andreasen, who also directs the Psychiatry Iowa...

Twitching whiskers, active brain - UI study links involuntary sleep movements to early brain development

Tuesday, December 18, 2012
By:Kelli Andresen | 2012.11.16 | 10:43 AM A UI research team from undergraduate to post-docs, led by Mark Blumberg, have found that twitching whiskers made by rats in their sleep are signs of development in their brains. From left, Alex Tiriac, Alex Fanning, Brandt Uitermarkt, Blumberg, and Greta Sokoloff work as a research team in the lab. Photo by Tom Jorgensen. If you’ve ever watched a sleeping...