William Nauseef, M.D.
Independent Record (Montana)

Nauseef, a professor of internal medicine and an expert on inflammation, was quoted in an article focusing on the work of Frank De Leo, a scientist at Rocky Mountain Laboratories. De Leo headed a team of scientists who published a breakthrough study about what happens when flesh-eating bacteria invade the body. Essentially, the bacteria--caused by the same streptococcus pyogenes that causes strep throat--tells the body's front-line immune system cells to kill themselves. According to Nauseef, it's not just the unexpected activities of strep that caught the attention of the science world. De Leo's work turns on its head the traditional view of the immune system as a troop of disease-killing soldiers. According to Nauseef, the study shows that the immune system actually relies on the uncanny ability of its most common cells to invent totally new defenses in the thick of battle to literally transform each cell to match the abilities of the invaders. ''We didn't really appreciate that before,'' Nauseef said.

Jean Robillard, M.D.
Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald

Iowa's ban on using human embryos to create therapeutic stem cells has had a chilling effect on efforts to recruit researchers at the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and could scare away certain high-tech businesses, according to Robillard, dean of the College. "Clearly this law is restrictive and could really prevent companies from coming to Iowa that want to invest in biotechnology and partner with the University," Robillard said. "I would like to see this law modified and made less restrictive." The 2002 law stops short of banning all stem-cell research in Iowa, but makes it a crime to generate stem cells through a process that involves replacing the genetic material of a human embryo with the nucleus of another cell to grow new cells.

Patricia Winokur, M.D.
Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette

An article indicates Iowans under age 18 are being treated with broad spectrum antibiotics at a rate well above the national average. This trend, shown in a study conducted by Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Iowa, occurs at a time when growing resistance to antibiotics has physicians concerned about their ability to treat even the most common forms of bacterial infections. Winokur was quoted from remarks she had made during a lecture on antibiotics and agriculture. "This is one of the growing and biggest problems in medicine today," Winokur said. "I'm seeing infections in the hospital and community setting where I either have no antibiotic left or very few." Winokur added said she was concerned that giving antibiotics to pigs, cows, and other livestock being fattened for market might contribute to the problem.