What's been going on in the lab?
2023
May 4th: Congratulations to Jax on an outstanding paper accepted to Annals of Neurology on the neuroanatomy of time orientation earlier this week!!!
April 20th: Mark and Jax were accepted at INSPIRE T32 post-doctoral fellows - this is an NIH funded fellowship program in psychiatry that covers salary for two years and preps you for being a PI.
April19th: Congratulation to Asmaa for presenting her poster at the Iowa Psychiatry Symposium!
February 20th: It's a big day for the day for the lab! Congratulations are in order for:
1) Mark Bowren for winning best poster competition at the meeting in Boston last week!
2) Alyssa Sullivan for submitting her paper to Cortex!
3) Maya for accepting an offer from West Virginia University Clinical Child Psychology Program this fall!
February 17th: Huge congratulations to Alyssa Sullivan. She matched at her first choice, MGH-Harvard for internship!!!
January 24th: Jamie successfully defended her comps project this morning and Jax got his first post-doc offer. A good day for the lab!
January 18th: Big Congratulations to our collaborator, Dr. Jing Jiang! Her paper on lesion network mapping of emotion regulation was accepted at Biological Psychiatry
2022
November 29th: Jax won the award for the best poster and poster presentation at the University of Iowa's Neuroscience Research Day
October 25th: Dr. Nick Trapp interviewed with Iowa Public Radio! Check out his interview here! University of Iowa study finds distinct brain networks associated with depression | Iowa Public Radio
October 14th: Dr. Nick Trapp's new study was featured in Psychology Today! Check it out:
New Study Finds Brain Network for Resilience in Depression | Psychology Today
October 10th: Dr. Nick Trapp's new study published in Brain was featured in the Carver College of Medicine's Newsletter: New study finds distinct brain networks associated with risk and resilience in depression.
September 28th: Maya is the new fNIRS Coordinator for the CDD! Maya is now both a research intern at the Boes Lab and the fNIRS Coordinator at the Center of Disabilities and Development at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital! Congratulations Maya!
September 22nd: Welcome Asmaa Mhanna to the lab as our new Clinical Trials Research Assistant!
September 13th: Congratulations to Dr. Aaron Boes! He is now a Carver Professor in Neuroscience! https://medicine.uiowa.edu/iowaneuroscience/content/boes-named-carver-professor-neuroscience
August 30th: Congratulations to Dr. Nick Trapp for winning a 2022 Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Grant! The BBRF award is a highly competitive two-year grant that focuses on cutting edge topics in translational psychiatry.
July 13th: Congratulations to Hassan for successfully defending his prospectus!
July 1st: Welcome newest faculty member Dr. Jing Jiang.
June 6th: Welcome Maya and Alan! Maya and Alan are joining the lab as Research Interns! Both recently graduated from the University of Iowa and plan to apply to graduate school in the Fall.
June 13th: The Carver College of Medicine featured new research from the lab!! In an article titled Lesion mapping and brain connectivity data reveal addiction network. The study, which included daily smokers who lost their nicotine addiction following a brain lesion, was published in Nature Medicine and can be found here.
Brain lesions disrupting addiction map to a common human brain circuit | Nature Medicine
June 2nd: Congratulations to Dan Tranel! He was recognized this week by Brooks Jackson and the Carver College of Medicine for reaching an H index of 100! Achieving that milestone means he has published >100 papers that have each been cited >100 times, placing him amongst the most highly cited scientists in the world.
April 27th: Congratulations to Jax Skye for successfully defending his Prospectus!
XXXXX: Dr. Aaron Boes was invited as an editor on a Special Issue of Brain Structure and Function, entitled “The Disconnectome”.
XXXXXX: The Iowa Lesion Registry surpasses 1000 lesions and becomes one of the world's largest of its kind!
2021
September 21st: Justin Reber's recent PNAS paper was featured in the Iowa Medicine magazine. The article is titled 'White matter vs Gray matter' Check it out here!
October 15th: Congratulations to Laren Garret for passing her LISW licensure exam! She will be wrapping up her master's degree Program and has accepted a job as a counselor at the end of November.
September 21st: Congratulations to Dr. Aaron Boes! He will now serve as the Division Director for the Division of Neurology in the Department of Pediatrics!
August 30th: Welcome Carrie Shea! Carrie joined our Lab and the Hwang Lab as the new Project Coordinator for the Iowa Lesion Registry. Welcome Carrie!
XXXX: Congratulations to Hassan for passing his MSTP comprehensive exam!
XXXX: Congratulations to Justin for accepting a post-doc position with Desmond Oathes, whose lab is doing really exciting work combining functional imaging and TMS!
July 13th: Congratulations to Jax for successfully passing his Neuroscience Graduate Program comprehensive exam!
XXXXX: Congratulations to Gino for receiving a 50K Dance Marathon grant for his proposed lesion study of cognitive and affective outcomes following pediatric cerebellar tumor resection!
XXXXX: Hassan’s diversity supplement grant on central post-stroke pain was funded and will support his work on this topic for the next 2 years!
XXXX: Collaborator Christine Fox’s (UCSF) RO1 to evaluate lesion network mapping in pediatric stroke as a predictor of developing post-stroke epilepsy received a fundable score of 5th percentile. We look forward to getting started!
May 7th: Congratulations to Justin. for publishing their new study in PNAS! The title of the paper is Cognitive impairment after focal brain lesions is better predicted by damage to structural than functional network hubs. Carver College wrote an article about it! Read it here!
XXXX: Congratulations to Dr. Mark Bowren for successfully defending his PhD Dissertation!
2020
September 5th: Justin Reber et al. published a new study in PNAS showing that following a stroke, damage to white matter is linked to worse cognitive outcomes after brain injury. Check it out here!
Cognitive impairment after focal brain lesions is better predicted by damage to structural than functional network hubs (uiowa.edu)
May 20th: The University of Iowa Brain Stimulation Program was recently featured in a special by the Big Ten Network. In the article, How Iowa is using a stimulating treatment to battle depression: BTN LiveBIG, Dr. Boes describes new research aimed at improving treatments using transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Iowa is using a stimulating treatment to battle depression: BTN LiveBIG
April 27th: Congrats to Kasra Zarei for being selected for the 2020 AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Summer Fellowship! This 10-week writing program serves to strengthen the connections between scientists and journalists by placing advanced undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate level scientists, engineers, and mathematicians at media organizations nationwide, such as National Public Radio, Los Angeles Times, WIRED, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and NOVA.
April 22nd: Fatimah Albazron and Mark Bowren presented their findings from lesion studies at the NYC Neuromodulation Online 2020 Conference on April 22nd. Fatimah's presentation described the network localization of cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome (CCAS) and Mark's described the network localization of general cognitive ability (g).
February 12th: Dr. Aaron Boes was featured in an article highlighting recent advances in brain stimulation for disorders of consciousness. Recent work has raised the possibility of modulating the coma state in humans by stimulating regions of the thalamus, but Dr. Aron Boes points out other regions within the brainstem may also be critically involved based on a recent study from our lab.
A Tiny Electric Brain Implant Could Wake People in Comas | OneZero (medium.com)
January 16th: Congrats to Mark Bowren on his invitation to present at the 2020 International Neuropsychological Society Meeting in Denver! The title of his talk is "The Elements of g: Psychometric and Neuroanatomic Evidence for the Constitutive Processes of General Intelligence."
XXXX: Dr. Aaron Boes' NINDS R01 grant titled 'Predicting Cognitive Outcomes from Stroke Based on Lesion Location' has officially been awarded! Funding will support expanding the Iowa Lesion Registry, one of the world's largest patient registries of neuroimaging and neuropsychological data.
2019
September 6th: Dr. Nick Trapp and Laren were featured in a KCRG story about the University of Iowa's Brain Stimulation Program and their TMS clinical trial.
July 15th: Fatimah and Joel published an article in the Journal of Neurology describing severe cognitive and affective disturbances from pediatric cerebellar lesions. This will be the largest cerebellar lesion mapping study to date.
July 2nd: Dr. Aaron Boes met with Antonio and Hannah Damasio on their recent visit to Iowa to celebrate the Centennial Anniversary of the Department of Neurology. Their decades of research helped establish the University of Iowa's reputation as one of the top neuroscience research institutions in the world.
May 21st: Dr. Nick Trapp and others published a paper in Brain Stimulation describing a new device that can be used to improve TMS target localization.
April 16th: Joseph Hindman was featured in the Noon News in an article titled 'First author, third year med student' that talks about his recent publication that stemmed from his Summer Research Fellowship work in the Boes lab.
First author, third year med student | Carver College of Medicine (uiowa.edu)
XXXX: Congratulations to Mark Bowren for successfully defending his research proposal and passing his comprehensive exam in the Clinical Science PhD Program!
XXXX: Congratulations to Dr. Nick Trapp who officially accepted a tenure-track faculty position with the Department of Psychiatry and will be launching his own lab at the University of Iowa!
Nicholas Trapp
April: The Department of Psychiatry featured a recent TMS patient in an article called "Comedic relief: Brain stimulation helps writer-comedian manage bipolar disorder." Dr. Boes and Dr. Trapp describe the Noninvasive Brain Stimulation Clinic and the new FDA-approved treatment protocol called intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS).
March 20th: Mark Bowren presented his research findings at the 2019 American Neuropsychiatric Association meeting in Chicago. The title of his talk was "Lesion-Symptom Mapping of General Cognitive Ability (g) in Humans." Dr. Boes also received the 2019 Career Development Award by the American Neuropsychiatric Association at the meeting.
2018
December 6th: A recent paper from the Lab was featured in the Daily Iowan and also the University of Iowa Health Care News & Events in an article called Rewriting the brain pathway for consciousness. The title of the paper published in Annals of Neurology is Thalamic Strokes that Severely Impair Arousal Extend into the Brainstem and the study challenged long held beliefs that the thalamus is essential for arousal and has important implications for understanding coma and developing new treatments.
UI study makes strides in coma treatment research - The Daily Iowan
Rewriting the brain pathway for consciousness | Carver College of Medicine (uiowa.edu)
Congratulations to Dr. Nick Trapp who was awarded a departmental Psychiatry grant for his project titled "Predicting Depression Treatment Response with Functional MRI: Personalized engagement of the Central Autonomic Network with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Treat Major Depressive Disorder." This study aims to investigate new methods for personalizing TMS for patients with depression. Specifically, the study looks at whether engagement of brain targets mediating heart rate and other autonomic functions can be used to predict treatment response and ultimately tailor treatment for future patients.
July 27th: Congratulations to Juan Vasquez who received an award for outstanding poster upon completing his Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) jointly in our lab and Dr. Krystal Parker's lab! His poster titled "Personalized Cerebro-Cerebellar Networks Identified Using 7T MRI" was presented at the symposium and was selected as one of the top 3 posters presented!!
July 23rd: We were awarded an ISU-UI seed grant to test newly developed TMS coils from the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Iowa State on human subjects at the University of Iowa. The title of the proposal is “Iowa-ISU Brain Research Advancement through Innovative Neuromodulation Strategies to Improve Mental Health.” Read more about each of the 5 ISU-UI seed grants here.
July 2nd: Fatimah Albazron presented new research findings in a talk entitled Lesion localization in Posterior Fossa Syndrome at the International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology in Denver, Colorado.
June 20th: The University of Iowa featured Dr. Boes' return to Iowa following his residency and fellowship and described his role in establishing the Noninvasive Brain Stimulation Clinic! Read the article here.
Home state perfect fit for UI-educated neurologist (uiowa.edu)
May 3rd: Congressman Dave Loebsack visited the lab and learned about TMS as a treatment tool while touring the Iowa Neuroscience Institute!
April 12th: Nick Trapp and Brandt Uitermarkt both presented posters and were invited to give highlight talks at the Minnesota Neuromodulation Symposium at the University of Minnesota.
April 9th: Mark Bowren's recent paper examining the role of the vmPFC in decision making was featured in the Noon News and Graduate College News website. The title of the paper is "Choosing Spouses and Houses: Impaired Congruence Between Preference and Choice Following Damage to the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex.”
April: Dr. Aaron Boes was featured as one of the Hometown Hawkeyes in the 2018 Hawkeye Caucus!
April 29th: Fatimah Albazron will be giving an oral presentation at the International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology in Denver June 29th. The title of her talk is Lesion localization in Posterior Fossa Syndrome.
February 12th: IOWANow highlights the neuroscience community at the University of Iowa in an article titled Breaking Barriers in Brain Research.
Breaking barriers in brain research (uiowa.edu)
January 8th: Dr. Aaron Boes was featured in a video introducing the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. Here he speaks about TMS as a treatment method!! Check it out!
January 3rd: Dr. Aaron Boes was featured in Iowa Alumni Magazine in an article titled Investigating the Brain!
Investigating the Brain | University of Iowa (foriowa.org)
XXXX: Benjamin Rangel presented research findings from his first-year rotation project at Neuroscience Research Day. The title of the poster was Using Lesion Network Mapping to Localize Brain Lesions Causing Dream Cessation.
XXXX: Dr. Aaron Boes and co-investigator Dr. Daniel Tranel were awarded an Iowa Neuroscience Institute Accelerator Grant for their proposal titled Predicting Stroke Outcomes from Lesion Location. Using the University of Iowa’s comprehensive registry of brain lesions, this project seeks to develop a tool that can use information about the location of a stroke to generate a personalized quantitative prediction of stroke-related deficits and prognosis for long-term recovery.
XXXX: Joseph Hindman presented research findings from his summer fellowship in the lab at the Medical Student Oral Presentations in MERF. The title of the poster was 'Thalamic Coma? The Neuroanatomical Correlates of Impaired Arousal following Diencephalic Lesions in Humans.'
2017
September 13th: Local News Channel 2 did a feature on the Noninvasive Brain Stimulation Clinic's TMS treatment for depression. Watch the story here:
New non-invasive treatment for depression has patients "feeling normal again" | KGAN (cbs2iowa.com)
November 28th: We will be receiving generous support from the Iowa Neuroscience Institute and the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust on two major initiatives over the next 5 years. We will work with Kumar Narayanan and colleagues to establish a Research Program of Excellence in Neuromodulation, which will involve collaboration with engineers to develop new technology to deliver brain stimulation in sync with ongoing brain activity for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia. We will also work with John Wemmie and colleagues to develop a Bipolar Disorder Research Program of Excellence. Our project will help to develop a novel treatment strategy for bipoloar disorder using TMS.
April 7th: Collaborator Krystal Parker’s research was featured in the Daily Iowan. Check it out! UI research works on cerebellum - The Daily Iowan
March 6th: Congratulations to UI medical students Teneme Konne and Joseph Hindman for being awarded the 2017 UI Carver College of Medicine Research Fellowship Award! Both will join the lab summer 2017. Teneme will be studying how lesions of the cerebellum can disrupt cognition in children and Joseph will perform a lesion mapping experiment of focal lesions that cause coma.
February 24th: The Department of Psychiatry at Iowa wrote an article about the lab and the use of TMS!
2016
December 5th: Collaborator, Mike Kelly, had his paper covered by APA Psychiatric News: Psych News Alert: Response to Initial rTMS for Depression Found to Predict Subsequent Response
November 16th: Congratulations to Dr. Boes! He was awarded the Biological Psychiatry Travel Fellowship Award for his study of cortical thickness as a function of treatment response in treating depression with TMS.
November 5th: Psychology Today covers coma study co-written by David Fischer and Aaron Boes. Harvard Study Decrypts the Ancient Mystery of Consciousness | Psychology Today
April 14th: Dr. Aaron Boes was featured on LabTV where he discusses research on noninvasive brain stimulation.
Are you into science? Watch Aaron! - YouTube
April 10th: Dr. Aaron Boes wins S. Weir Mitchell Award for most impactful research in neurology by a young investigator in 2016!! How exciting!
Aaron Boes, MD, PhD receives S. Weir Mitchell award from AAN | Department of Neurology (uiowa.edu)
2015
September 15th: Nature.com highlights new technique developed by Dr. Boes for investigating the network effects of brain lesions. From lesion mapping to network mapping | Nature Reviews Neurology
Dr. Aaron Boes was interviewed on AAN podcast to discuss lesion network mapping technique!