UNMC Department of Pathology & Microbiology

05/22/2026

Dr. Peter Iwen and Emily McCutchen from the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory talk to Scientific American about their race to develop a hantavirus PCR test:

Researchers at the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory worked round the clock to develop a test for the Andes virus at the center of the deadly cruise ship outbreak

05/13/2026

The Grand Prize winner of UNMC Office of Global Engagement's sixth annual International Photo Contest, left, was taken by Ridhi Bhola, a PhD student in the IPID program hosted by our department. Learn more about the photo contest: https://go.unmc.edu/9874

Bhola also was among a number of IPID award recipients on Tuesday. Learn more about the graduate program awards: https://go.unmc.edu/by7c

05/12/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Peter Iwen, a professor in our department and director of the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory, who received an APHL Lifetime Achievement Award at the group's 2026 meeting in Baltimore. Dr. Sharon Massingale, left, APHL's president-elect and director of the Alabama Public Health Laboratory, presented the award to Dr. Iwen.

APHL said Dr. Iwen was honored "for advancing public health laboratories through leadership, standards development, workforce training, and emergency response innovation. His leadership during high-consequence events such as Ebola and COVID-19 exemplified the critical role of public health laboratories in translating science into actionable public health protection."

Dr. Iwen said: "I am honored to receive this award from APHL, and although I recognize this as an individual award, I accepted this on behalf of the current and prior staff at the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory."

04/27/2026

04/27/2026

Our Lab Week celebration closed out with a pizza party, basket raffle and Golden Beaker Award presentation on Friday and bowling on Sunday.

04/23/2026

Francis Fontanilla (shown with Dr. Rey Carabeo, advisor, and Dr. Amanda Brinkworth, co-advisor) has successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, "Chlamydia trachomatis modulation of epithelial innate immunity." Congratulations, Dr. Fontanilla!

04/23/2026

Catching up on some Lab Week fun from earlier in the week: At top, the Blood Bank won the escape room competition, finishing in 20 minutes and 19 seconds, while a BMC/LIS/Lab Admin team swept the Toy Story trivia contest with a perfect score.

04/21/2026

Tuesday of Lab Week featured doughnuts and therapy dogs. Can't get much better than that.

04/20/2026

It's Lab Week, a time to recognize the vital health care role played by our incredible laboratory colleagues. Lots of treats, games and other fun are planned all week. Monday, it was ice cream.