New University of Iowa Initiative Studies State's High Cancer Rates
Research from the University of Iowa-based Iowa Cancer Registry has revealed the state has the second-highest cancer rates in the nation, leading scientists to investigate what factors may be at play.
Iowa’s high cancer rate is alarming to Des Moines philanthropists Kyle Krause (85BBA) and Sharon Krause (94MBA). “Kyle and I have spent a great deal of time thinking about Iowa’s future, the people that live here, and the responsibility all of us share in protecting both our communities and the environment,” says Sharon Krause.
That is why the Kyle J. and Sharon Krause Family Foundation donated $5 million to create Iowa Integrated Network for Science, Information, and Geospatial Health Tracking, or Iowa INSIGHT.
Created this past summer in partnership with the University of Iowa’s Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination (CHEEC) and IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering, Iowa INSIGHT gathers data to better understand how environmental factors influence Iowans’ health. The first-of-its-kind initiative prioritizes research on cancer, maternal and newborn health, and neurodevelopmental diseases. By expanding Iowa’s environmental monitoring of air and water and analyzing environmental chemicals in human tissues and fluids, Iowa INSIGHT plans to share data that raises awareness of the issues and motivates action across the state.
CHEEC Director David Cwiertny and IIHR Director Larry Weber (89BSE, 90MS, 93PhD) spearhead the project, leading a team of experts in environmental science, engineering, public health, medicine, and data analytics. “We are academics at a state-funded, public institution,” says Weber, the Edwin B. Green Chair in Hydraulics. “It’s our responsibility to serve our state, and we take that responsibility very seriously.”
The initiative came together after Weber met Krause on the Nature Conservatory in Iowa board of trustees, where they bonded over their interest in water quality. With an extensive background in agriculture, conservation, and healthy food systems in Iowa, Krause was committed to exploring how various environmental challenges are interconnected. The two then brought in Cwiertny for his knowledge on watershed, water treatment, and forever chemicals. Krause says, “One of the things that gives me the greatest hope about this initiative is that it is rooted in science and focused on people.”
Krause, Weber, and Cwiertny stress that they cannot do the job alone. UI faculty, staff, students, and donors are all bringing Iowa INSIGHT’s vision to life. A $1 million gift from the Roy J. Carver Trust, as well as additional support from Walter Lauridsen, also funds the initiative. Other state partners and national experts will help guide the program.
While current funding allows Iowa INSIGHT to gather data for the next five years, the initiative aims to continue its mission as long as it has the financial resources. That is why the program hopes to reach $10 million in funding.
“There’s an opportunity here to make sure we can contribute to help Iowa, the place that we came to and never wanted to leave,” says Cwiertny, the William D. Ashton Professor of Civil Engineering who moved to Iowa from California 15 years ago. “It’s very fulfilling.”