University of Iowa researchers will study the most prevalent type of muscular dystrophy, thanks to a one-year, $39,998 grant from the FSH Society, Inc. The organization focuses on raising awareness and advancing research on facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), which affects about one in 14,286 individuals worldwide and currently has no treatment or cure.

JEFF MURRAY, who specializes in cleft lip and palate, which affects the upper lip and roof of the mouth, and a team of UI researchers have joined a nationwide project to create the first-ever encyclopedic database on how children's faces develop and what may cause defects in them.

Graduate College recognizes professors for exceptional mentorship

The University of Iowa Graduate College is recognizing four professors for excellence in mentoring graduate students: Ed Folsom, Jeff Murray, Frederick Domann and Constance Berman.

Yi Xing, Ph.D., a computational biologist with appointments in both the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and the UI College of Engineering, has received a junior faculty award from the Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation. The one-year $60,000 grant was effective Oct. 1, and Xing is eligible for two additional years of funding.

Mallinckrodt grants support highly promising young investigators. The foundation is particularly interested in funding basic research that has the potential to impact disease.

Adam Dupuy, Ph.D., assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology, received a two-year, $50,000 award to study, at the genetic level, how the immune system detects and eliminates some tumors but cannot control the growth of other tumors.

Genetics Retreat 2009 Oral and Poster presentation evaluation results:
 
Oral Presentation Awards:
1st Place:       Pamela Pretorius (Slusarski/Sheffield)
2nd Place:      Erin Burnight (McCray)
3rd Place:       Amber Hohl (Geyer)
 
Poster Presentation Awards:
1st Place:       Di Xu (Sigmund)

Curt D. Sigmund, Ph.D., University of Iowa professor of internal medicine and molecular physiology and biophysics, received the 2009 Novartis Award for Hypertension Research. The American Heart Association's Council for High Blood Pressure Research sponsors the award.

The award is the highest honor in hypertension research given annually by the association and Novartis. It recognizes outstanding researchers whose investigations have improved treatment and increased understanding of high blood pressure.