When Ron Muhlenbruck was diagnosed with a rare cancer in 2005, he came to the University of Iowa — then a rising leader in neuroendocrine tumor research. Twenty years later, Iowa remains the only U.S. institution to receive specialized federal funding twice for this rare cancer.

The Gold Foundation Humanism Honor Society recently held its Spring Celebration, recognizing new students, trainees, and faculty members who are leaders for their compassion, empathy, and professionalism in patient care. The society is supported by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.

Inspired by her sister and years of volunteering, Madeline Ungs hopes to support patients with disabilities as they navigate medical care.

Long hours. Routine cases. Always being on call. When Jason Keonin first considered becoming a general surgeon in a rural area, he held these preconceptions about the job. But with advanced technologies and a flexible team structure, the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine grad has found work-life balance and a meaningful, challenging career in small-town northwest Iowa.

MD candidate Kara Rueschenberg hopes to be the kind of family medicine physician she saw growing up: a community leader and trusted confidant across generations.

Being there for patients on their best and worst days is what drives Kenzie Theisen to show up each and every day. As a new graduate of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, that has been Theisen’s North Star on her nontraditional path to a Bachelor of Science in radiation sciences.

As a second-year medical student, Spencer Peterson was on his first day of the labor and delivery rotation when his wife, Julia, went into labor. The University of Iowa Health Care team he would spend weeks learning from would help deliver his son, Wesley. “The physicians rounding on the unit that day said, ‘You'll learn a lot of things today about labor and delivery,’” Spencer recalls. …

New findings from researchers at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine provide a clearer understanding of the cognitive processes that occur in the prefrontal cortex that guide timing-related thinking and behaviors.

In a scientific first, researchers at University of Iowa Health Care recorded responses from single neurons in the human insula—a brain region linked to emotional processing and perception of bodily sensations—while the participants listened passively to simple sounds. These unique recordings showed that insula neurons respond to sound during passive listening, and the responses are just as fast…

Muscular dystrophy refers to a group of inherited conditions that affect muscle structure and function. It causes progressive muscle weakness, reduced mobility, a shortened lifespan, and, in some cases, severe cardiac and respiratory complications and neurological impairment.