University of Iowa researchers have demonstrated how harmful health complications passed from mother rats to their offspring can be reversed. The tests may point the way toward preventing the transfer of certain health conditions from human mothers to their children.

The Iowa City Area Development Group submitted an application to be considered one of the sites for testing automated vehicles. Its director of strategic growth, Tom Banta, says the presence of the National Advanced Driving Simulator at the University of Iowa helped the application stand out.

Every year, UI faculty member Bob Walker takes a group of entrepreneurial students to consult with small-business owners in San Pedro Columbia, Belize. Last fall, UI student Mackenzie Phillips visited on her own as part of a research assignment and found that Walker’s efforts have made a big difference.

University of Iowa Health Care staff will begin moving pediatric patients into the new University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital on Saturday, Feb. 25.

The French government has named Raymond Mentzer, the Daniel J. Krumm Family Chair in Reformation Studies at the University of Iowa, a knight in the Order of Academic Palms for his service and contributions to French education and culture. Mentzer will be decorated on June 12 in Paris.

Noaquia Callahan, a Fulbright alumna at the UI, has founded a pilot program to help students from underrepresented groups learn about applying for the U.S. State Department’s Fulbright grants, among others. The Diversity International Scholarship Academy kicks off this spring.

The University of Iowa will divest fully from coal as a campus energy source by 2025. UI officials, led by President Harreld, announced the goal, which will come from the university increasing its use of biomass and other renewable energy sources.

The University of Iowa was ranked 139 among the world’s top international universities in a survey by “The Times of London,” up more than 60 spots from the last survey.

“The New York Times” uses big data to tell big stories. Leading the visual storytelling effort at the “Times” is UI alumnus Matthew Ericson, an early advocate of visual journalism and a former staff member of the University of Iowa’s “Daily Iowan.”

The University of Iowa again will host 25 young business and government leaders from several African countries this summer as part of the U.S. State Department Mandela Washington Fellowship for African Leaders.

The search committee for the next vice president for student life held its first meeting this week and adopted an aggressive timeline that would conclude the hiring process in late June or early July.

Since its launch in 2006, the liveWELL program has demonstrated 10 years of health improvements for faculty and staff. That translates into improved performance and value to the University of Iowa.