At A Glance

University of Iowa News Release

Oct. 7, 2010

At A Glance

UI vision researcher receives NIH Director's New Innovator Award

Budd Tucker, Ph.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, has received a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate the use of stem cells to treat blinding eye diseases.

Tucker was one of 52 early-career scientists across the country to receive a 2010 NIH Director's New Innovator Award for his research, which combines state-of-the-art patient-specific stem cells and biodegradable tissue engineering technologies to treat blinding, retinal degenerative diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.

The NIH Director's New Innovator Award, which was established in 2007, aims to support creative new investigators who propose innovative projects with the potential for unusually high impact.

Tucker, who joined the UI this year, is the first UI faculty member to receive this award. To learn more about Tucker's research, visit http://webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu/dept/BIOGRAPH/tucker-budd.htm.

For more information on the New Innovator Award program, see
http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/newinnovator/ProgramInformation2010.asp.

Y105 Radiothon raised over $64,000 for UI Children's Hospital

The ninth annual Y105-FM Radiothon benefiting University of Iowa Children's Hospital through Children's Miracle Network raised $64,804 during a live broadcast from Cumulus Studio in Dubuque, Iowa, Sept. 30 through Oct. 1, 2010.

The Y105 broadcast team shared the stories of children and their families who receive care at UI Children's Hospital in Iowa City.

For more information, call Children's Miracle Network at 319-335-8484.

Registration open for ‘Industrial Biotechnology and Biopharmaceuticals’ Conference

Registrations are being accepted for the 19th Annual Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing Conference entitled “Industrial Biotechnology and Biopharmaceuticals” held at the Iowa Memorial Union Oct. 18 and 19. The University of Iowa Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing (CBB) is hosting the conference.

The focus of this year’s conference is on a broad overview of biopharmaceuticals, biofuel/biochemical, directed evolution of industrial enzymes and a proteomics approach to secondary metabolites. The UI Center for Conferences is organizing the conference for students, faculty and biotechnology industry professionals and others who have interest in recent developments in the field of industrial biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals.

CBB has identified experts in each of these areas both from industry and academia. There will also be an update on CBB offerings, planned expansion and future direction. In addition, a wide range of topics will be covered in the poster sessions. On-line registration is available for this conference but those interested can also register by contacting the UI Center for Conferences at 1-800-551-9029 or 319-335-4141. The cost to register is $250.

All conference information can be found at http://www.uiowa.edu/~biocat/conference.html.

For more information, contact the UI Center for Conferences at 319-335-4141 or conferences@uiowa.edu.

Bishop from Pakistan to present lecture on religious tolerance Oct. 11

The Iowa City Foreign Relations Council (ICFRC) welcomes Bishop Mano Rumalshah for a luncheon and lecture on religious tolerance Monday, Oct. 11, at noon in the Congregational United Church in Iowa City. The cost for ICFRC members is $8 and $9 for nonmembers.

In his talk, Rumalshah wishes to shed some light on religious tolerance in relation to being part of a Christian community in a primarily Muslim population.

Rumalshah is Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Peshawar in the Church of Pakistan. Raised and educated in Pakistan, he spent his ministerial life equally between England and Pakistan. He is deeply committed to Christian presence and service in the Taliban territory of Pakistan that borders Afghanistan. Rumalshah and his wife are experienced in developing interfaith relationships and cross-cultural communications.

Reservations for the luncheon are due by noon on Friday, Oct. 8. For more information and to RSVP, email icfrc@uiowa.edu or call 319-335-0351.

UI series of events feature history of Holocaust Oct. 14, 15

Doris Bergen, the Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor of Holocaust Studies at the University of Toronto, will present “Antisemitism and the Holocaust: Rethinking Old Questions,” at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library, following a reception at 4 p.m. Bergen is visiting the University of Iowa campus as an Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor.

Bergen will also present “Neighbors: Polish Gentiles and Polish Jews in the Holocaust,” at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, in Room E126 of Adler Journalism Building. "A Discussion with Holocaust Historian Doris Bergen" and luncheon will be held at noon Friday, Oct. 15, in the UI Hillel Jewish Center. Bergen’s last talk is “Mothers and Daughters in the Holocaust” at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, at Agudas Achim Congregation, Iowa City. All the events are free and open to the public.

Bergen’s visit is made possible by: UI Office of the Provost; European Studies Group; UI Center for Human Rights; International Programs; and the UI departments of German, History, Religious Studies, and Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies, in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Contact Lisa Heineman at elizabeth-heineman@uiowa.edu or 319-335-2299.

Oct. 16 workshop can help children who stutter and their families

An all-day workshop will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, at the University of Iowa Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center for children and teens who stutter, along with their families and professionals who treat the condition. The center is located at 250 Hawkins Dr. in Iowa City.

The event, which includes lunch, is co-sponsored by Friends-The National Association of Young People Who Stutter and the UI Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Registration is required.

Continuing education units are available for qualified professionals.

For more information, contact Tricia Zebrowski at tricia-zebrowski@uiowa.edu or 319-335-8735, or visit http://www.uiowa.edu/~comsci/ to download a registration form.

'Global Express' Oct. 16 features work by IWP writers, Theatre Arts directors

On Saturday, Oct. 16, the University of Iowa Theatre Arts Department and the UI International Writing Program (IWP) will present "Global Express," an evening of staged readings of works by current participants in the IWP.

The free production will be held at 8 p.m. in Theatre B of the UI Theatre Building and will feature poems, short stories and plays by IWP writers Ghada Abdel Aal (Egypt), Ismail Bala (Nigeria), Milosz Biedrzycki (Poland), Najwan Darwish (Palestine), Laura Fish (England), H.M. Naqvi (Pakistan), Farangis Siahpoor (Iran), Beverly Perez-Rego (Venezuela), Christoph Kloeble (Germany) and IWP alumna Tang Ying (China).

IWP writers IWP writers' bios are available at http://iwp.uiowa.edu/writers/index.html.

Now in its tenth edition, “Global Express” is organized and directed by playwright Maggie Conroy, an alumna of the Theater Arts Department's Iowa Playwrights Workshop. It will also feature the work of two directors in the Theatre Arts graduate program, Kristin Clippard and Nathan Halvorson, as well as guest director Lisa DiFranza.

The IWP writers in "Global Express" will also be part of Works-In-Progress arts festival Oct. 14-16 in Iowa City, http://wipfestival.tumblr.com/.

Unsworth to visit the UI for horn concert Oct. 20

Adam Unsworth, associate professor of horn at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, will perform in a horn concert on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 5 p.m. at the University Capitol Center Recital Hall.

Unsworth will be accompanied by Jessica Johnson on the piano, who is an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The duo will play a variety of sonatas and ballads composed by several musicians, such as Luigi Cherubini, Kirk Nurock and David Sampson.

Unsworth, who was formally trained at Northwestern University, performs recitals at many universities across the country and has appeared in repeated solo and chamber concerts at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. Prior to becoming a faculty member at Michigan, he spent nine years as a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra and three years in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Unsworth often performs his own original compositions and is the leader of his own jazz group, the Adam Unsworth Ensemble, which recorded the CD, "Excerpt This!" He also completed a second jazz recording with the ensemble, entitled "Next Step." His third CD, "Just Follow Instructions" features the highly energized jazz/classical cross-over chamber music of Daniel Schnyder.

For more information, see http://performingarts.uiowa.edu/adam-unsworth-horn/ and http://www.adamunsworth.com/.

Photos for At A Glance items, if available, may be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/artsiowa/ (for arts news) or http://www.flickr.com/photos/uinews/ (for all other news).

Campus events are searchable on the UI Master Calendar: http://calendar.uiowa.edu.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation to participate in a program, please contact the sponsoring department in advance.