Alyssa Billmeyer of Marion, Iowa, is the first University of Iowa College of Pharmacy student to serve as president of the Graduate and Professional Student Government.

The University of Iowa College of Public Health is recognizing four leaders whose contributions across a range of disciplines are helping to promote better health and prevent disease throughout the state of Iowa. The 2014 Iowa Public Health Heroes Awards will be presented Oct. 7 at the 15th annual Iowa Public Health Practice Colloquium in Iowa City.

A new UI study finds twitches during rapid eye movement sleep comprise a different class of movement, which researchers say is further evidence that sleep twitches activate circuits throughout the developing brain and teach newborns about their limbs and what they can do with them.

The Twitch international screening tour is coming to Iowa City with a free screening and discussion with Twitch creator and star Kristen Powers Thursday, Oct. 2 on the UI campus thanks to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America Center of Excellence.

Members of the media are invited to tour an active construction site Tuesday, Sept. 30, to learn how the University of Iowa and industry partner during this busy building season to protect themselves and the community.

A study by the University of Iowa and the Iowa City VA finds American service women are reluctant to report sexual assault due to a number of perceived and real barriers, including negative effects on careers and the belief that nothing would be done. Results appear in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

"Iowa Now Minute" is a 60-second roundup highlighting recent UI activities, research, public engagement, and campus life. Look for a new video every Thursday in Iowa Now.

Grant Brown, a student from Clive, Iowa, who is seeking his doctoral degree in biostatistics from the UI College of Public Health, is working with faculty member Jacob Oleson to develop open source software that will model and predict the spread of the Ebola epidemic.

Kid Captain Matthew McCarthy of Marion, Iowa, had a cold, and the virus from the cold activated his immune system, which mistakenly attacked the myelin in his spinal cord, resulting in messages not being carried to and from the brain properly. McCarthy receives all of his primary care at UI Children’s Hospital.

A University of Iowa study shows that patients with Alzheimer’s disease are profoundly impacted emotionally by events that they cannot recall. Their feelings persist long after the memories have vanished.

The 2014 Farm Safety and Health Week runs from Sept. 21-27. This year’s theme, “Safety Counts: Protecting What Matters,” underscores the importance of all Iowans working together to build a safer and healthier agricultural work place.

Members of the media are invited to cover the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Center for the Advancement of Laboratory Science at the State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the State Hygienic Laboratory in Coralville.