Rachel Fitzjerrells, a Bioinformatics and Computational Biology PhD student in the Mangalam Lab, won the prestigious Max Smith Oral Presentation Award at the 71st Iowa Section AADOCR on February 13th, 2024.

Dr. Ashutosh Mangalam received a four-year VA Merit Award entitled “Role of HLA Class-II Polymorphism in the Regulation of Host-Microbiota Symbiosis”.

Stephanie Peterson successfully defended her PhD thesis in early October and completed the Immunology PhD program.

Dr. Ashutosh Mangalam was interviewed on the significance of the microbiome in health and disease for “Health You” a quarterly health publication of the Cedar Rapids Gazette newspaper.

Peter Lehman successfully defended his M.S. thesis this past June and completed the Pathology M.S. program. Peter’s thesis is entitled Effect of Gut Microbiota Modulation During Early-life and Adulthood on Host Immunity. He performed his thesis work in the laboratory of Dr. Ashutosh Mangalam where he examined the effects of gut microbiome disruption on immune function.

Autoimmune diseases affect millions of people in the United States. According to estimates from the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, there are over 50 million Americans living with autoimmune diseases, which translates to 1 in 5 people.

Diet and the gut microbiome have emerged as important factors in regulating the pathobiology of multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system.

Drs. Ashutosh Mangalam, Hans-Joachim Lehmler and Christina Camell were awarded a Collaborative Iowa-Minnesota Pilot and Feasibility Grant from the UI Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center.