A new study from the University of Iowa finds that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more than twice as likely to suffer from a food allergy than children who do not have ASD, suggesting immunological dysfunction as a possible risk factor for the development of the disease.

The University of Iowa is leading a movement to change the way science is taught at K–12 schools statewide. With funding from the National Science Foundation, educators at the UI are revising the science curriculum and recruiting and training teachers to better educate Iowa children in the sciences.

The Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities is working with Mason City on roughly 20 projects throughout the community, ranging from updating the comprehensive plan to designing murals to developing an aging-in-place campaign. Several UI groups are focused exclusively on the North End, aiming to improve residents’ quality of life.

The Richard E. Kerber HeartSafe Initiative aims to train University of Iowa faculty and staff working in non-medical buildings in CPR and the use of AEDs. The initiative also will increase the number and visibility of AEDs on campus.

The search committee in charge of seeking the next vice president for research and economic development at the University of Iowa has been constituted. The committee is expected to begin its search this summer.

The UI will continue to participate in the MidAmerican Energy Company energy curtailment program and receive payment for reducing electricity demand, but all electrical offsets will be made by increasing on-campus electrical generation rather than reducing air conditioning in UI campus buildings.

A new University of Iowa–led study reports educational opportunities and higher incomes may be key to closing the health gap between most black and white Americans. Researchers say socioeconomic factors, mainly wealth and education, influenced the differences in health behaviors between the groups more than other variables.

Natalia Reyes, an MFA student in the world-renowned Iowa Writers’ Workshop, has received a 2018 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. The fellowship will allow Reyes to focus entirely on her writing while at Iowa. She is the second Workshop writer to receive the prestigious award.

The University of Iowa’s RAGBRAI Working Group is seeking volunteers to welcome RAGBRAI riders and campus guests on Friday, July 27. Read on to find out how you can help welcome riders to the UI campus.

The Belin-Blank Center’s STEM Excellence and Leadership program brings hands-on science and technology education to rural Iowa schools. The program provides talented middle school students with extra hours of STEM instruction as well as college and career counseling.

UI Interim Provost Sue Curry has named Tanya Uden-Holman associate provost for undergraduate education and dean of University College beginning June 15. Uden-Holman is a clinical professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy and associate dean for academic affairs at the College of Public Health.

The UI has signed a contract amendment with a Des Moines law firm to continue the employment practices review that began in November. The amendment directs Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. to assess the UI Department of Intercollegiate Athletics' compliance with employment laws and policies concerning equitable treatment of employees.