Fungal infections are a major contributor to illness and death among people with weakened immune systems. In these patients, fungal infections caused by molds or fungi are complicated to treat due to limited drug classes and antifungal drug resistance. Sarah Beattie, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics-infectious diseases, at University of Iowa Health Care, and her team, are using high-throughput drug screening against the most common disease-causing mold, Aspergillus fumigatus, to identify new treatments. Beattie and her team hope to improve treatments for fungal and invasive mold infections, moving toward a future in which treatments are safer and more effective for patients who urgently need them. 

In September, several of our ICTS leaders attended the CORES Annual Meeting hosted by The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Translational Research Institute (UAMS TRI) in Little Rock, Arkansas. This meeting was a gathering of representatives from each academic medical institution involved in the Consortium of Rural States (CORES), a collaborative research consortium working to improve health in rural communities with funding from the Clinical & Translational Science Award (CTSA) of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health.

In October of 2025, Heath Davis presented at the Annual Clinical and Translational Science Award Meeting. It was there that they were awarded Best Poster in Biomedical Informatics for their project on the "Iowa Health Data Resource: A Scalable Ecosystem for Advancing Translational science through Data, Workforce, and Infrastructure Innovation."

Believe-- a seven-letter word that means far more than its dictionary definition for the Wackers, a family of six from Eureka, Missouri. In the four and half years since their eldest daughter Gianna was diagnosed with Sanfilippo syndrome, a terminal illness, “Believe” has become their family mantra — a testament of hope and joy that has spread beyond their home in Missouri and into the University of Iowa Clinical Research Unit. 

Through the CTSA “Beyond Boundaries” initiative, the University of Iowa championed the Research Unit Network (RUN), a National and International collaboration of Clinical Research Units (CRUs) to support the mission of improving translational science. CRUs are central hubs that accelerate translational research. They provide the infrastructure, expertise, and services needed to manage study protocols, ensure compliance, and support research participants and their families. By bridging innovation and practice, CRUs streamline research by supporting the full translational spectrum from early clinical and pre-clinical studies to patient-centered outcomes.