University of Iowa

Anytime there is an opportunity for involvement, Takayla "T.K." Al-Amin answers the bell. The University of Iowa undergraduate has held leadership roles and worked with professional sports teams and local athletic organizations, experiences that will serve her well as she looks forward to a career in the sports industry.

The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Iowa has a permanent home. At a ceremony on Jan. 24, UI President J. Bruce Harreld joined deans, faculty, and donors to celebrate the official opening of a building that will transform teaching and research, and will position the department to better prepare students for learning modern psychology and finding jobs in the field. Harreld said the building, located as a gateway to the east side of campus at Gilbert Steet and Iowa Avenue, will enhance students' academic experience, increase the research capacity and success of faculty and staff, and help recruit more talent to the university. "It's about all of us coming together-to make better science, greater strides for our students, and actually lifting ourselves to what is possible as opposed to being stuck in what is impossible," Harreld said. The building is the first centralized home for the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, which is the seventh-oldest psychology department in the United States and has been a leader in teaching and research for nearly 130 years.

Rajula Elango, a graduate of the University of Iowa who is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School, is a rising star in the field of DNA repair and genomic instability. Her graduate school research contributed to a paradigm shift in the field and she showed that a unique DNA repair pathway, called break-induced replication, has a mode of DNA synthesis that contradicts the accepted understanding that all DNA replication leads to a semi-conservative inheritance of DNA. This important discovery by Elango and her colleagues was published in a leading research journal Nature.

Three University of Iowa were students recognized at the inaugural First-Generation Student Awards and Recognition Ceremony staged earlier this month as part of the 2019 National First-Generation College Celebration. The UI First-Generation Task Force established the awards to recognize first-generation student achievements as well as the outstanding advocacy and support efforts of faculty and staff. Each recipient received a plaque and $250.

Eight students who demonstrated a dedication to scholarship, research, service, leadership, and activism were among the faculty, staff, and students recognized at the University of Iowa's annual Celebration of Excellence and Achievement Among Women.