Des Moines University Research

🎉Congratulations to Caden Riessen — the winner of our contest!

Students attending the Young Research Program this past Saturday got to hear from Iowa’s top science and health care leaders, including a student cancer survivor, during the Katie Miller Young Adult Cancer Conference and poster presentation.

Another great year for our Young Research Program!

The Office of Research is pleased to announce that on February 22-25, Anna Baumer DO ’26 presented her research at the annual meeting of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health in Long Beach, California. Anna’s research focused on the impact of COX signaling on Localized Provoked Vulvodynia. She explored via a fibroblast model the effect of NSAIDS on vulvar pain.

The Office of Research is proud to present the Annual Research Symposium on November 30 . The symposium is available by a Zoom Webinar to see the Key Note Speaker, Pravin Mishra PhD speaking on View to the Future: Bench-to-Bedside Research at DMU and the oral research presentations.

Zoom Link

We have a website for the symposium that has the agenda, abstracts, posters and program book.

Research Symposium | Des Moines University Research Symposium Thursday, November 30, 202311 a.m. to 5 p.m. View Posters and Abstracts Open to All Students, Faculty and Staff Des Moines University Cam ...

Garvin and Butaric Receive National Institute of Justice Grant

Congratulations to Drs. Heather Garvin (Anatomy Professor) and Lauren Butaric (Anatomy Associate Professor) for receiving a $495,637 grant from the Office of Justice Program, National Institute of Justice, for their research on “Empirical Analysis of Saw Mark Characteristics in Human Bone: Meeting Forensic Standards in Dismemberment Cases.”

In cases of criminal dismemberment, forensic anthropologists are tasked with providing medicolegal agencies with accurate information about the dismemberment methods and tool(s) utilized, which they do from features in the bony cuts. The information gained can then assist in the search for suspects and weapons and as evidence during legal proceedings. Current methods, however, rely mostly on unproven anecdotal relationships. Incorrect information can have serious implications on case investigations and prosecutions. This grant project will provide an overdue empirical assessment of the relationships between bony cut features and saw characteristics, provide required error rate documentation, and facilitate standardization in forensic saw mark analysis for accurate application in criminal dismemberment cases. Funding from this grant will also provide support for a post-doctoral researcher and MSA thesis
Garvin and Butaric Receive National Institute of Justice Grant

Congratulations to Drs. Heather Garvin (Anatomy Professor) and Lauren Butaric (Anatomy Associate Professor) for receiving a $495,637 grant from the Office of Justice Program, National Institute of Justice, for their research on “Empirical Analysis of Saw Mark Characteristics in Human Bone: Meeting Forensic Standards in Dismemberment Cases.”

In cases of criminal dismemberment, forensic anthropologists are tasked with providing medicolegal agencies with accurate information about the dismemberment methods and tool(s) utilized, which they do from features in the bony cuts. The information gained can then assist in the search for suspects and weapons and as evidence during legal proceedings. Current methods, however, rely mostly on unproven anecdotal relationships. Incorrect information can have serious implications on case investigations and prosecutions. This grant project will provide an overdue empirical assessment of the relationships between bony cut features and saw characteristics, provide required error rate documentation, and facilitate standardization in forensic saw mark analysis for accurate application in criminal dismemberment cases. Funding from this grant will also provide support for a post-doctoral researcher and MSA thesis
Garvin and Butaric Receive National Institute of Justice Grant

Congratulations to Drs. Heather Garvin (Anatomy Professor) and Lauren Butaric (Anatomy Associate Professor) for receiving a $495,637 grant from the Office of Justice Program, National Institute of Justice, for their research on “Empirical Analysis of Saw Mark Characteristics in Human Bone: Meeting Forensic Standards in Dismemberment Cases.”

In cases of criminal dismemberment, forensic anthropologists are tasked with providing medicolegal agencies with accurate information about the dismemberment methods and tool(s) utilized, which they do from features in the bony cuts. The information gained can then assist in the search for suspects and weapons and as evidence during legal proceedings. Current methods, however, rely mostly on unproven anecdotal relationships. Incorrect information can have serious implications on case investigations and prosecutions. This grant project will provide an overdue empirical assessment of the relationships between bony cut features and saw characteristics, provide required error rate documentation, and facilitate standardization in forensic saw mark analysis for accurate application in criminal dismemberment cases. Funding from this grant will also provide support for a post-doctoral researcher and MSA thesis student.

Garvin and Butaric Receive National Institute of Justice Grant

Congratulations to Drs. Heather Garvin (Anatomy Professor) and Lauren Butaric (Anatomy Associate Professor) for receiving a $495,637 grant from the Office of Justice Program, National Institute of Justice, for their research on “Empirical Analysis of Saw Mark Characteristics in Human Bone: Meeting Forensic Standards in Dismemberment Cases.”

In cases of criminal dismemberment, forensic anthropologists are tasked with providing medicolegal agencies with accurate information about the dismemberment methods and tool(s) utilized, which they do from features in the bony cuts. The information gained can then assist in the search for suspects and weapons and as evidence during legal proceedings. Current methods, however, rely mostly on unproven anecdotal relationships. Incorrect information can have serious implications on case investigations and prosecutions. This grant project will provide an overdue empirical assessment of the relationships between bony cut features and saw characteristics, provide required error rate documentation, and facilitate standardization in forensic saw mark analysis for accurate application in criminal dismemberment cases. Funding from this grant will also provide support for a post-doctoral researcher and MSA thesis student.

Christian Receives $152,000 NIH Grant for Evaluating the Role of GluD1 in Substance Disorder Relapse

Daniel Christian, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, was awarded $152,000 in funding over two years from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for the project titled “GluD1 regulation of structural plasticity in chronic ethanol exposure and protracted withdrawal.”

Long-lasting vulnerability to relapse is a significant hurdle to successful treatment outcomes in persons with a substance use disorder. By understanding how the brain’s communication network is altered during withdrawal, we hope to assist the individuals with maintaining abstinence. Alterations in both the structure of neurons and a function of glutamate receptors have been implicated in the development and expression of substance use disorders.

Dr. Christian and his team seek to identify structural alterations in dendritic spines during chronic ethanol exposure and withdrawal states. These studies will be the first to investigate the contribution of GluD1 to synaptic dysfunction and remodeling during protracted ethanol withdrawal, providing a novel target for therapeutic development and further mechanistic study. Through their involvement in the project, several DMU students will acquire hands-on research experience while developing scientific reasoning, and a better understanding of specialized clinical populations.

The large crowd that attended Des Moines University’s 13th annual Research Symposium on December 1 reflected diverse scientific interests and great excitement for an in-person opportunity to explore them.

DMU Research Symposium reflects diverse interests, draws large crowd | News | Des Moines University The large crowd that attended Des Moines University’s 13th annual Research Symposium on Dec. 1 reflected diverse scientific interests and great excitement for an in-person opportunity to explore them. Students and scientists explored a wide variety of topics at the 2022 DMU Research Symposium. “...

Thank you to all who attended and participated in the DMU 2022 Research Symposium. Without you ALL the event wouldn't have been the success it was!

Can't wait to see you all at the🔬2022 DMU Research Symposium🔬 today!