While still a relatively new discipline compared to other academic medical specialties, emergency medicine historically has focused on acute clinical care—and clinical education and training—to the near exclusion of research. But the scope—and impact—of emergency medicine is changing.

Mice and rats treated with uric acid, a small naturally occurring molecule, were more likely to survive and have better functional outcomes following a stroke than animals treated with placebo (saline infusion). The findings from a University of Iowa-led research team add to mounting evidence that uric acid protects the brain during stroke and may help to improve outcomes for the almost 795,000…

Curiosity. It’s what Michael Welsh, MD, cites as a motivating factor at the heart of his extraordinary career dedicated to understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind cystic fibrosis (CF).

Michael Welsh, MD, has received the 2025 Canada Gairdner International Award for his research on cystic fibrosis (CF), which paved the way to new therapies that have transformed the health and life expectancy of people with CF.

The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine programs in physician assistant studies and physical therapy and rehabilitation science remain in the top five nationally—with the physician assistant program tied for the No. 1 spot—in the 2025-2026 edition of “Best Graduate Schools” from U.S. News & World Report. In its “Best Health Schools” and “Best Medical Schools” rankings, U.S. News lists…

Researchers at the University of Iowa are studying the sleep of premature babies to get the earliest look to date into how the twitches that occur during REM sleep shape the nascent communication between brain and body. William Kline was not interested in falling asleep. Instead, the 4-month-old was lying belly down on his baby blanket in the Sleep and Behavioral Development Lab on the University…

A public health team from the University of Iowa is collaborating with partners across the state to share county-specific cancer data with residents in each of Iowa’s 99 counties. A U.S. News & World Report article in 2023 sounded the alarm for residents of a rural county in northwest Iowa. Palo Alto County, the report stated, had the second-highest rate of newly diagnosed cancers in the country …

Match Day Q&A: Chandler Brown. What made you decide you wanted to be a doctor? I was never one to sit still in classrooms well, but I was good at school. I liked learning. I also really like sports. So, I thought, “Physical therapy is what you do if you're good at sports and good at school.” I started out majoring in athletic training with the intent to go to physical therapy school. But then,…

Match Day Q&A: Andrea Fjelstul-Bonert. What made you decide you wanted to be a doctor? When I was in fourth grade, my dad fell off the top of his semi-trailer. He was a semi-truck driver. He sustained some pretty significant injuries, and seeing him navigate the health care system coming from a rural community—whether that be trying to find a good primary doctor to coordinate things or traveling…