Three University of Iowa undergraduates, Nathan Fassett, Ava Vaillant, and Christina Yu, have won the 2026 Iowa Neuroscience Institute Summer Scholar Awards. As INI Summer Scholars, the students receive a stipend of $5,000 and have the opportunity to attend a summer undergraduate seminar series and a variety of informal events.

Becoming the seventh brain bank in the NBB’s network, the Iowa brain bank will bank 100 brains per year with 50 more dedicated to grant-supported investigator projects. UI will receive $1.4 million in funding for the first year of the contract.

Susan Shen, assistant professor of psychiatry in the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, is the first female psychiatrist, the first from Iowa, and only the third psychiatrist overall to receive the highly-competitive Avenir Award from the NIH. The $2.3 million grant is awarded for innovative research by “early-stage” investigators in three focus areas: HIV/AIDS, the genetics and epigenetics of substance use, or the chemistry and pharmacology of substance use.

Post-traumatic headache (PTH) shares many of the same symptoms as migraines. Characterized by severe pain and sensory hypersensitivity, they’re disruptive and often difficult to treat. Despite the similarities, there are currently no FDA-approved treatments specifically for PTH. This gap in care is what drives University of Iowa Health Care researcher Levi Sowers, assistant professor in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics and the Division of Child Neurology.