Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner and Iowa Donor Network
The INRL partners with the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner (IOSME) and Iowa Donor Network (IDN) to expand opportunities for brain donation beyond UI Health Care patients. Through this collaboration, families, guided by their loved one’s documented wishes or their own decision, can choose to donate for science and medical research. This partnership creates meaningful opportunities to advance research that improves health and understanding of brain disorders.
The Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner (IOSME) provides assistance, direction, and training to county medical examiner personnel and law enforcement officials. It is their mission to establish credibility in death investigation in a system that will operate efficiently and serve the needs of the citizens of Iowa.
Iowa Donor Network (IDN) serves as the crucial connection between organ and tissue donors, healthcare professionals, community partners, donor families, and those awaiting transplant. IDN is Iowa’s sole organ procurement organization and is one of only 55 federally certified nonprofit organizations that make up the nation’s organ donation network.
Iowa Infant Brain Consortium
The leading cause of post-neonatal mortality in the U.S. is sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Despite safe sleep practices, the rates remain unchanged. Addressing this health crisis requires understanding the biological vulnerabilities and molecular pathways leading to biomarkers and preventive interventions. Research suggests that serotonergic abnormalities and neuroinflammation may play key roles. The establishment of the Iowa Infant Brain Consortium will allow researchers at the University of Iowa to work in partnership with those at Havard to quantify inflammatory mediators in SIDS brains, map gene expression profiles in brainstem tissue, and assess the interaction of hypoxia and infection on physiological readouts. This research aims to develop life-saving interventions by understanding the mechanistic links between risk factors and postmortem pathology in SIDS cases.
Huntington’s Disease Center of Excellence
The Huntington’s Disease Center of Excellence at the University of Iowa is one of 56 centers supported by the Huntington’s Disease Society of America. The mission of the center is to strengthen the relationship between clinical treatment and research for individuals affected by Huntington’s disease. Our collaboration with the Huntington’s Center is focused on supporting Huntington’s research by providing patient education on brain donation and donated tissue to investigators studying Huntington’s.
