Opportunities exist for laboratory and clinical research.  Alternatively, Fellows can enroll in the Masters of Epidemiology Program.  Laboratory research projects are available in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology or in the basic research laboratory of the College of Medicine.  The research work is expected to culminate in the production of a thesis.  Fellows have won national awards for their research from various scientific and professional societies.

The Division has a fully equiped laboratory and houses a tissue and serum repository, connected to a clinical database.

Dr. Anderson’s major research interest is in psychosocial and quality of life issues for gynecologic cancer patients.  Long term prospective studies are in progress in collaboration with Dr. Susan Lutgendorf of the Department of Psychology.  Dr. Anderson also collaborates with Dr. Lutgendorf in studying quality of life in long-term survivors of gynecologic cancer and the effect of alternative medicine practices on immune function.

Dr. De Geest has studied the DNA repair complex involving DNA-PK, the role of the basement membrane molecule entactin, and he has obtained FDA approval for a novel a-galactosyl modified ovarian carcinoma vaccine.  He is currently working on  a research program on the role and the function of stromal cells and inflammation in ovarian and endometrial carcinoma. 

Techniques used in the laboratory include cell culture, DNA and RNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction, quantitative RT-PCR gel electrophoresis, and DNA sequencing.  We are directing our research in the prospective of a broader collaborative effort with NIH-funded basic researchers at the University and outside the Institution. 

Dr. Bender continues to pursue research interests in cervical and ovarian cancer.  He has recently completed a project evaluating x-chromosome inactivation in ovarian cancer and is currently studying the role of human placental growth factor as a tumor marker in ovarian tumors.  Other research interests include immune modulation in gynecologic malignancies. 

All faculty are reviewers and contributing editors for several major journals. 

Dr. Goodheart is currently working on identifying the transcriptional regulation of the lymphoid enhancer factor-1 (Lef-1) promoter, which interacts with the Wnt pathway, and its relevance in the pathogenesis of ovarian and endometrial carcinoma.  The Wnt signaling pathway has previously been shown to be altered in certain ovarian and endometrial carcinomas.  Other investigators at the University of Iowa have shown that Lef-1 expression is an early and required event in epithelial bud formation during the morphogenesis of several organs and that Lef-1 is tightly regulated during embryogenesis.  The Wnt/β-catenin/Lef-1 pathway is important in many types of organogenesis including formation of the gonads.  These pathways are also important regulators of cell proliferation, differentiation, cell adhesion and migration. 

Two University graduate level courses are required during the second year of the program.  This includes one course on Intervention and Clinical Trials and one course on Molecular and Cellular Biology of Cancer.