Mapping the brain lesions that led multiple patients, once heavy smokers, to abruptly quit has revealed a brain network associated with addiction. The new study, which involved University of Iowa Health Care neuroscientists, suggests that targeting this circuitry with neuromodulation therapies, like transcranial magnetic stimulation or deep brain stimulation, may have potential for treating addiction.

University of Iowa professor Michael J. Welsh, MD, has won the 2022 Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine together with Paul A. Negulescu, senior vice president and site head for San Diego research with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Two University of Iowa faculty members have been awarded Williams-Cannon Faculty Fellowships through the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. Alejandro Pezzulo, MD, assistant professor of internal medicine, and Michelle Voss, PhD, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences, will each receive $45,000 in research funding.

The Iowa Neuroscience Institute has awarded a total of $2.4 million to four research teams to carry out Research Programs of Excellence over the next three years.

Three University of Iowa undergraduates, Molly Harris, Manuela Lizarazu, and Rochelle Lopez, have won the 2022 Iowa Neuroscience Institute Summer Scholar Awards.