Jeremy Greenlee awarded an NIH K23 grant

Dr. Jeremy Greenlee, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, has been awarded a K23 grant from the NIH for his research the feedback neural network that is engaged when hearing one's own voice adjusts and optimizes speech output. Dysfunction of this network is thought to contribute to certain speech disorders and psychoses. The research involves studies the effects of self-vocalization on neural responses in different auditory areas of the cerebral cortex of humans. Dr. Greenlee collaborates with Charles Larson, Ph.D., and his group at Northwestern University. Professor Larson is an expert in human vocal control, including the effects of feedback perturbations on voicing.

Dr. Greenlee received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Michigan, followed by his M.D. degree from Indiana University. He completed his residency training in the University of Iowa Department of Neurosurgery. During this residency, he completed a 2-year research fellowship in the Human Brain Research Laboratory under the guidance of John Brugge and Matthew Howard. The K23 grant is meant to aid the transition of young clinician-scientist faculty members in becoming independent investigators via a 5 year period of mentored instruction and support.

Matthew Howard appointed to VanGilder Chair in Neurosurgery

Matthew Howard, MD, professor and head of neurosurgery in the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, has been appointed the John C. VanGilder Chair in Neurosurgery. The five-year appointment was effective March 1, 2008. The endowed VanGilder Chairmanship honors the achievements and contributions of the late John VanGilder, MD, UI emeritus professor of neurosurgery, and was created by gifts to the UI Foundation from colleagues, former trainees, friends and the VanGilder family. John VanGilder died in 2007.

Howard, who joined the UI faculty in 1993, has led the UI Department of Neurosurgery since it was created in 2001. He is the first UI faculty member to hold the John C. VanGilder Chair in Neurosurgery, which is the department's first endowed faculty award. Howard is an expert in neurosurgical treatment of epilepsy, and his cutting-edge research explores how the brain processes sounds and emotions. Howard also is active in the development of medical devices. He helped pioneer the invention of the Stereotaxis Magnetic Navigation System, which uses magnets to precisely guide surgical instruments through the human body.