Don't be surprised to find Debra Schwinn, the new dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine, in the violin section of the UI Health Care Faculty-Staff Orchestra. Throughout her medical training and academic career, she's found time to pursue her interest in music.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Radio features John Spencer and Sammy Perone's University of Iowa psychology research into how infants learn to look and how looking helps them learn.

Kristi Williams, a University of Iowa professor of gerontological nursing, says a 2011 study she co-authored found that seniors who challenge their brains, keep moving, eat well, and maintain social connections experiencing positive effects in maintaining memory and thinking ability.

Patricia Foster and Jeff Porter, faculty members in the University of Iowa Department of English and the Nonfiction Writing Program, will read from their new book, "Understanding the Essay," at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The reading also will be streamed live on the UI Writing University website.

Researchers at the University of Iowa say the human brain has a new, second gatekeeper that registers fear. The region, perhaps the brainstem, diencephalon or insular cortex, signals fear from internal dangers. The finding could lead to more precise treatment for people suffering from panic attacks and other anxiety disorders. Results appear in "Nature Neuroscience."

A study by University of Iowa researchers found significant associations between heart attacks and influenza, particularly in those over age 80.

The University of Iowa has partnered with health-care organizations to create the Iowa Liver Center. The center will expand care and patient service to people with diseases of the liver and biliary tract in central and western Iowa.

Edgar Folk, Ph.D., UI professor emeritus of molecular physiology and biophysics, has published his memoir, "Science on the Far Horizon," which chronicles his more than seven decade scientific career. Folk pineered the field of environmental physiology and has been an influential member of the UI Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics since 1953.

Iowa’s three Regents universities are making faculty hires, launching studies, partnering with community colleges, and building industry partnerships—all in a $22 million effort to boost the state’s research capacity in renewable energy and energy utilization. The benefits to Iowa could be many: research grants, new technologies, startup companies, educational opportunities and workforce...

Josipa Roksa, co-author of "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on Campuses," suggests college students may not be learning much during their years on campus. Roksa will speak about her book at the University of Iowa College of Education Thursday, Feb. 7, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in Jones Commons, room N300 Lindquist Center.

James Potash, head of the Department of Psychiatry in UI Hospitals and Clinics, and John Hosp, chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning in the UI's College of Education, were two of more than a dozen experts who participated in a recent mental health roundtable discussion.

The University of Iowa has created a map showing foreclosures, county by county, spanning the recession. The data are made available for the first time free to Iowans.