General Medicine faculty additions – July, 2019

The Department of Internal Medicine would like to introduce the newest members of the Division of General Internal Medicine, who joined the faculty in July. We are pleased to welcome them to the department and look forward to introducing you to the new faculty members of our other divisions in the coming weeks. Luna Acharya, […]

Iowa researchers identify commonalities among effective rapid response teams

Rapid response teams (RRTs) are highly specialized hospital emergency teams that treat patients who develop a sudden worsening of their clinical condition, which if not treated can be life-threatening. However, prior studies of the effectiveness of RRTs have shown varied results, leading some to suggest these teams are irrelevant, while others have argued they are […]

Potential new front opens against parasite

In Africa, the Middle East, Mexico, Asia, and South America, more than one billion people are at risk of contracting leishmaniasis, a disease spread through sandflies and caused by the parasite Leishmania major, which manifests most commonly as skin lesions but with the potential for more harmful internal damage. Leishmaniasis mainly affects people in tropical […]

Undergrads in research: Abagail McKernan

As part of our ongoing series on the role undergraduate students play in Internal Medicine research, we are pleased to feature a few individual students’ stories. Abagail McKernan was a first-year student at the University of Iowa without a major and mostly just looking for a paycheck when she applied to work in the lab […]

Marx to keynote Quality and Safety Symposium on “Just Culture”

With the 7th Annual Quality and Safety Symposium (QSS) just four months away, David Marx, CEO of Outcome Engenuity, a risk management agency, has been confirmed as a speaker for one of the two keynotes. As the author of the NIH publication “Patient Safety and the ‘Just Culture’: A Primer for Healthcare Executives,” Marx helps apply […]

Training in bedside exam offers opportunity

Fellows from around the region and even some farther corners continue to come every year for the Midwest Fellows Critical Care Ultrasound Symposium. This year, the growth was not in the numbers of fellows traveling for training in point-of-care ultrasound for two days, but in the number of faculty members assisting in the training. Now […]

Breast cancer patient preferences for test result communication

Article: Breast cancer patient preferences for test result communication Authors: Sneha Phadke DO, Mark Vander Weg PhD, Najla Itani MD, Nicole Grogan MD, Timothy Ginader MS, Sarah Mott MS, Bradley McDowell PhD Journal: Breast J. 2019 Jul 12. doi: 10.1111/tbj.13461. [Epub ahead of print] Excerpt: From personal observation in the breast oncology clinic, it appeared […]

Research, diversity, and immunology

During this month of transition, we have focused quite a bit on our education mission, but research within the Department of Internal Medicine never slows down. This last month has seen a number of compelling research stories come to light that reflect the diversity of research that is being conducted within our Department. These include […]

Update from the Division of Immunology

The following is a guest post from Scott Vogelgesang, MD, Director of the Division of Immunology. It is part of an ongoing 2019 series of division updates. In the Division of Immunology, which includes Rheumatology and Allergy, our vision is to be Leaders in Immunology through:         New Knowledge Robust basic immunobiology program Vigorous data mining from University […]