Migraine headache is one of the most debilitating disorders in the world and treatments are insufficient. The Sowers laboratory studies the neurocircuitry underlying migraine and post-traumatic headache. Our preclinical laboratory focuses heavily on the sensory abnormalities associated with migraine and post-traumatic headache, including photophobia, spontaneous pain and touch hypersensitivity. Our lab’s research uses functional MRI, optogenetic and DREADD approaches to better understand the circuits contributing to those sensory abnormalities. We recently identified the deep cerebellar nuclei as possible sensory integration centers underlying sensory abnormalities in migraine. We are a VA associated lab and part of the VA Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Visual Loss with a special emphasis on Veteran related problems in headache. Post-traumatic headache is similar to migraine and affects about 50% of Veterans who saw combat in war zones. Our hope is to one day identify brain regions that can be manipulated in humans to treat headache. Our promotion of a multi-disciplinary and collaborative approach to tackle these important questions in headache medicine offers trainees room to grow and become wonderful independent scientists.
Dr. Sowers and colleagues Dr. Russo and Dr. Hultman were highlighted in Medicine Iowa for their combined specialties in migraine research using a precision approach to connect individual patients with treatments. Read the article here: https://medicineiowa.org/spring-2026/headache-resilience
Dr. Sowers was featured in Medicine Iowa, a publication of University of Iowa Healthcare featuring stories of research and education at Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. View the article here: https://medicineiowa.org/fall-2025/levi-sowers-shedding-light-migraine-and-post-traumatic-headache
Iowa Neuroscience Institute Events
Kay M. Tye, PhD: Distinguished Biomedical Scholars Lecture
Biology Seminar: "How Neuron Identities and Sources of Energy Control Synapse Stability"
2026 Neuroscience Research Day Keynote Speaker: Constanza J. Cortes, PhD
Keynote Speaker Announcement: Constanza J. Cortes, PhD
2026 Neuroscience Research Day – Monday, November 2, 2026
We are excited to welcome Constanza J. Cortes, PhD, Assistant Professor of Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, to the University of Iowa for this year's Neuroscience Research Day.
Dr. Cortes's research explores the intersection of exercise, brain aging, skeletal muscle, and Alzheimer’s disease, with a particular focus on how...
Carver College of Medicine Events
Biology Seminar: The Innate-to-Adaptive Immune Transition Driving Vision Loss After Blast-mediated Traumatic Brain Injury
Women In Micro & Immuno Coffee Hour
Join us for the Women in Micro & Immuno Coffee Hour. It is the monthly coffee hour on the second Monday of the month from 11 a.m. to noon in 1289 CBRB. Enjoy coffee, pastries and contribute to the discussion!
This is open to ALL — students, staff, postdocs, and faculty interested in promoting women in science.
Speakers change monthly. Contact: jessica-tucker@uiowa.edu for details.
Biochemistry Seminar: "Harnessing Single Cell Long-Read Sequencing and RNA Proximity Labeling to Define Nuclear Speckle-Associated Splicing Programs in Stem Cells"
"Harnessing Single Cell Long-Read Sequencing and RNA Proximity Labeling to Define Nuclear Speckle-Associated Splicing Programs in Stem Cells"
Presented by Steve Guzman, Ph.D., Postdoc Fellow in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan
ACB Seminar Series - Juan Rodriguez & Trevor Jones
Juan Rodriguez, a Cell and Developmental Biology Student in the Yang Lab, will present a seminar titled “Obesity-Associated Nitrosative Stress Disrupts Hepatic IDE Function and Insulin Metabolism."
Trevor Jones, a Cell and Developmental Biology Student in the Frank Lab, will present a seminar titled “Roles for Sialyltransferase in Synapse Development and Function."
Biochemistry Seminar: "Repair of Stalled Replication by DNA Remodeling Enzymes"
"Repair of Stalled Replication by DNA Remodeling Enzymes"
Presented by
Brandt Eichman, Ph.D.
William R. Kenan, Jr. Chair
Professor of Biological Sciences
Professor of Biochemistry
Vanderbilt University