The 2024 cohort of Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Award winners will present their research at a scholar symposium March 5 at 3:30 p.m. in the Iowa Theatre Room at the Iowa Memorial Union. The event is open to the public with a reception to follow.

The Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Award was created in 2022 to support and recognize outstanding UI faculty members across a broad array of academic disciplines who have established national or international reputations within their field and are exceptional teachers in and outside the classroom. Each awardee receives $25,000 annually for three years to support their scholarly activities.

Highlights from the 2024-2027 Cohort

James Ankrum, PhD

Professor, Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering

Ankrum and his team are developing in vitro models of human tissues that can be used to accelerate drug and toxicology discovery. His lab has pioneered the use of human fat organoids for tissue engineering and to understand how toxins in the body contribute to metabolic diseases like obesity and diabetes.

Since receiving the award, Ankrum’s team has made great strides in incorporating immune cells into in vitro human models. 

“We can now culture human fat organoids with human macrophages, which allows us to understand the direct effects of drugs and toxicants and the indirect effects these compounds have on tissues modulated through the immune system,” Ankrum says.

Funds from the award have allowed Ankrum to recruit an additional student to support his work, as well as to strategically present his work at national and international meetings where he is able to learn from and network with fellow leading experts around the globe.

Natoshia Askelson, MPH, PhD 

Professor, Department of Community & Behavioral Health

Askelson uses qualitative and quantitative data to increase vaccination coverage rates in communities where low-vaccination rates could negatively impact public health. She then adapts evidence-based interventions to rural Iowa settings and tests them to see if they’re effective.

At the symposium, Askelson will present her research on increasing HPV vaccination uptake, including her most recent study Educate, Recommend, Refer. The Educate, Recommend, Refer intervention—currently being tested in dental clinics across rural Iowa—helps dental professionals recommend the HPV vaccine to parents of eligible patients.

Askelson credits the Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Award with allowing her to do things not covered by federal grants, including attending national and international immunization and HPV meetings where she interfaced with potential collaborators and international experts. 

“I’ve also been able to explore a new line of research, the adoption of HPV screening, which I learned about at the International Papillomavirus Society annual meeting,” she says.

Abbey Dvorak, PhD

Associate Professor and Program Director of Music Therapy

When Dvorak’s father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, music therapy played a pivotal role in improving his speech and communication. This personal experience inspired her to pursue research and clinical work focused on using music to support individuals with neurodegenerative conditions. 

Dvorak will present on her interdisciplinary team’s findings from working with Tremble Clefs Iowa, a group she facilitates where participants use breathing exercises, vocal techniques, movement exercises, and familiar songs to address common Parkinson’s symptoms. These activities strengthen vocal ability, enhance respiratory function and motor coordination, and foster well-being and social connection.

“I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity and deeply appreciate the award and overall program,” Dvorak says.

Funds from the Mid-Career Award, together with the Williams-Cannon Faculty Fellowship through the Iowa Neuroscience Institute, have enabled Dvorak to fund graduate and undergraduate researchers, meet cost-share requirements for larger grants, keep Tremble Clefs Iowa free for participants, present at international conferences, publish in peer-reviewed journals, and co-author a book on music and neurodegenerative conditions. 

David Miles, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy

Miles and his team develop and fly instruments on rockets and satellites and then analyze the resulting data. His primary focus is magnetic sensing instruments that allow for the study of space weather, the northern lights, and how solar wind interacts with Earth and other planetary bodies. Miles recently took over as principal investigator for NASA’s Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites – or TRACERS – mission.

At the symposium, Miles will speak about the TRACERS satellite mission, the instruments his team built for it, the launch campaign, the trials the team has overcome, and some of the science made possible by the data collected.

Since receiving the Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Award, Miles has delivered two flight-ready magnetic field instruments to TRACERS, constructed and tested two TRACERS spacecraft, managed a serious on-orbit anomaly, released available scientific data, and wrote scientific journal articles.

“I’ve been helping get those satellites built, tested, on-orbit, and getting data out to the scientific community,” Miles says.