Iowa scientist stabs self?

University of Iowa researcher and physician Gary Hunninghake, who oversees millions of dollars in federal grants, is under investigation -- and also facing felony charges after allegedly stabbing himself, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Image: Wikimedia commons, Jim KuhnHis injuries, which he claimed were a result of a robbing as he jogged along the Chicago Riverwalk on April 24, left him in critical condition, linkurl:according to The Daily Iowan.;http://www.dailyiowan.com/2010/05/12

Written byJef Akst

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Image: Wikimedia commons,
Jim Kuhn

His injuries, which he claimed were a result of a robbing as he jogged along the Chicago Riverwalk on April 24, left him in critical condition, linkurl:according to The Daily Iowan.;http://www.dailyiowan.com/2010/05/12/Metro/17291.html Two days earlier, UI police had launched an investigation of linkurl:Hunninghake;http://www.int-med.uiowa.edu/divisions/pulmonary/Directory/GaryHunninghake.html for undisclosed reasons, and on April 23 Hunninghake was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the inquiry. As director of the UI Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, Hunninghake oversees millions of dollars in federal grants from the National Institutes of Health, and is currently listed as the principal investigator on 25 NIH grants worth some $18 million in the 2009 fiscal year. Hunninghake studies the molecular and cellular biology of lung disease. The NIH declined to comment to the linkurl:Press-Citizen,;http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20100514/NEWS01/5140307/1079/news01/NIH-looking-in-UI-doctor-investigations and instead pointed to their policy regarding the transfer of grants should something happen to the listed principal investigator. UI officials also declined to speak about Hunninghake's case, and Hunninghake himself could not be reached for comment by the publication. As of April 27, linkurl:Gary Rosenthal,;http://www.int-med.uiowa.edu/divisions/GMed/Directory/GaryRosenthal.html the director of UI's division of general internal medicine, is acting as interim director of the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science.
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[14th November 2008]

Meet the Author

Jef Akst

Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.

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