Welcome to the Byrne Lab!
Established in August 2021, the Byrne Lab is driven by our long-term interest: developing transformative technologies to improve patient care. Bridging the disciplines of biomedical engineering and oncology, our lab strives toward innovation. The Byrne Lab actively collaborates with other labs and investigators both at the University of Iowa and outside the campus.
We strive to be the most innovative biomedical engineering group internationally. Achieving that goal requires a daily commitment to learn, improve, and discover.
| May 16th, 2025 |
| We’re excited to welcome Ian Sutton to the lab! Ian is an MSTP student who has chosen to pursue his PhD research in the Byrne Lab. Welcome aboard, Ian! |
May 5th, 2025 |
| Check out this article from the American Medical Association (AMA) about James' 2024 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s New Innovator Award! |
April 28th, 2025 |
| Congratulations to Dr. Byrne for being included on the Wall of Scholarship! The Wall of Scholarship acknowledges current UI Carver College of Medicine faculty who are first or senior authors of published research articles that have made a significant impact on a particular field of science or medicine. Specifically, the research papers have been cited more than 1,000 times in subsequent published research articles, based on at least two of three recognized academic citation indices: Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science. |
April 14th, 2025 |
| Join Our Innovative Research Team! Our lab is seeking two talented postdoctoral research scholars to join our dynamic team. Please read more about the role in the job postings linked below. |
April 1st, 2025 |
| Congrats to Colin for being voted Honor Student of the Month! |
| February 26th, 2025 |
| We are thrilled to announce that our paper, Radioprotection of Healthy Tissue via Nanoparticle-Delivered mRNA Encoding for a Damage-Suppressor Protein Found in Tardigrades, has been published in Nature Biomedical Engineering! Want to know more? Check out the article, A protein from tiny tardigrades may help cancer patients tolerate radiation therapy, from MIT News. Read more about our work here: Tardigrade protein may help protect cancer patients from radiation side effects. |
| January 7th, 2025 |
| Discover our newest findings in our paper, Potentiating the effect of immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer using gas-entrapping materials! |
| January 2nd, 2025 |
| Check out our new paper, Composite Hyaluronic Acid Gas-Entrapping Materials to Promote Wound Healing! |
| October 3rd, 2024 |
| James has been awarded the 2024 NIH Director's New Innovator Award (DP2) for the project, Novel Extremophile-Inspired Radioprotectants. This research explores the development of innovative radioprotective agents inspired by extremophiles, with the potential to advance radiation protection in fields like cancer therapy and space exploration. |
| October 2nd, 2024 |
| James received the award for Outstanding Mentorship in Translational Research. Congratulations! |
| October 2nd, 2024 |
| Ryan was awarded the Larry B. Oberly Award in Radiation Oncology for his podium presentation titled, “Addressing Tumor Hypoxia through Intratumoral Oxygen Injection” at the Medical Student Research Conference! Great job, Ryan! |
| September 18th, 2024 |
| Analy presented her poster, Creating an Implantable Device to Overcome Tumor Hypoxia, at the annual American Cancer Society: Diversity in Cancer Research retreat. Nice work! |
| August 16th, 2024 |
| We are excited to announce that Jianling has been offered a position as Assistant Professor at the Women and Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University! Jianling has been an integral member of our team, and while we will miss her, we are thrilled for this new opportunity and look forward to continuing our collaborations in the future! |
| July 26th, 2024 |
| Kyle was awarded the Iowa Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Research Scholarship -- Congratulations, Kyle! |
| July 26th, 2024 |
| The Byrne Lab had so much fun competing against other labs in the 2024 Lab Olympics! We participated in exciting events like “The Killer Thumb,” where we aimed for the highest number of clicks in one minute with a tally counter. Our team also showcased their speed in “Fill Me In!” by racing to fill a box of 200µl tips. And let’s not forget the thrilling “How Far Can You Shoot?” contest, where we tested our skills in shooting tips with a P200 pipette. It was a fantastic day of friendly competition and team spirit! |
| July 23rd, 2024 |
| Lilly did a great job presenting her research at the CROI presentation! |
| July 23rd, 2024 |
| Kyle and Lilly did a great job presenting their posters at the CROI/FLASH poster session. |
| June 18th, 2024 |
| Analy presented her poster, Creating an Electrolysis Device to Overcome Tumor Hypoxia, at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center summer retreat. |
May 20th, 2024 |
| We’re thrilled to welcome Kyle, a UIowa undergraduate student participating in the FLASH program, Lilly, an undergraduate from Wartburg College participating in the CROI program, and Ryan, a second year medical student here at UIowa, to our lab for the summer. Together, they’ll contribute to various ongoing research projects. Welcome to the lab! |
May 11th, 2024 |
| Congratulations to Ashley, Megan, Swetha, and Lauren on their graduation! We’re immensely grateful for their contributions to the lab and wish them all the best in their future endeavors. |
| April 18th, 2024 |
| The Byrne Lab was recognized with the Excellence in Safety award by the Laboratory Safety Committee at UIowa. |
April 16th, 2024 |
| This week, Ashley showcased her research poster titled ‘Application of Formation and Surface Coating Solutions to Optimize Dissolution Kinetics and Delivery in Gas Entrapping Materials’ at the Iowa Space Grant Consortium Spring Research Symposium. Great work! |
April 1st, 2024 |
| Please join us in celebrating Dr. Byrne’s achievement as the recipient of the 2024 Early Career Scholar of the Year award from OVPR. This prestigious award recognizes assistant professors actively engaged in research, scholarship, and creative endeavors, demonstrating the potential to make substantial contributions to their field. Read more here. |
March 12th, 2024 |
| Check out our paper, Modulation of diabetic wound healing using carbon monoxide gas-entrapping materials! |
| January 17th, 2024 |
| Check out our paper, Impact of formulation on solid oxygen-entrapping materials to overcome tumor hypoxia! |
| December 12th, 2023 |
| Check out our paper, Oral Carbon Monoxide Enhances Autophagy Modulation in Prostate, Pancreatic, and Lung Cancers. Want to know more? Check out this article! |
| November 9th, 2023 |
| Some of our outstanding undergraduates showcased their research prowess at the 2023 Fall Undergraduate Research Festival. Megan delved into the 'Impact of Formulation on Solid Oxygen-Entrapping Materials to Overcome Tumor Hypoxia.' Arielle and Lauren impressed with their poster, 'Tardigrade-Inspired mRNA Delivery for Radiation Protection,' while Ashley unveiled 'A Novel Device to Streamline Treatment of Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer.' Kudos to our talented students for their exceptional contributions! |
| September 15th, 2023 |
| Congratulations to Sam and Ikenna, who both won awards for their posters at the 2023 Medical Student Research Conference! Sam was awarded the Donald D. Heistad Prize for Best Poster Presentation, and Ikenna was awarded the Larry W. Oberley Award in Radiation Oncology! |
| September 14th, 2023 |
| Ikenna and Sam shared their summer research projects at the 2023 Medical Student Research Conference. Great work! |
| September 5th, 2023 |
| Megan was selected as one of the recipients of the Excellence in Undergraduate Research Awards, sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR). This prestigious award, which includes an OUR fellowship and travel scholarship, is granted to five outstanding students each year who have demonstrated exceptional commitment and achievement in university research. Megan was presented with this esteemed award during the Spring 2023 semester, and the recognition ceremony took place on September 5th. Congratulations, Megan! |
| September 1st, 2023 |
| Please join us in congratulating Dr. Byrne on securing a V Scholar Award from the V Foundation for Cancer Research! This grant supports young tenure-track faculty early in their cancer research careers by funding projects that are either laboratory-based fundamental research or translational research. Obtaining these awards is a highly competitive process, and V Foundation grant recipients have excellent reputations within the scientific community. The title of Dr. Byrne’s grant is “Overcoming immunotherapy resistance using oxygen-entrapping materials” - you can read more about the grant here. |
| August 7th, 2023 |
| Analy, the newest member of the Byrne Lab, is an ICARE Fellow here at UIowa. The ICARE (Iowa Cancer Research Experience) Program, hosted by Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, is a post-baccalaureate program that encourages institutions to diversify their student and faculty populations. Click here for more information on the ICARE program. Welcome to the lab, Analy! |
| August 2nd, 2023 |
| At the 2023 MSTP Retreat, Sam received the Scientific Communication Award, better known as "Linda's Choice Award" for effectively communicating his research project and goals to a variety of audience members. Great work, Sam! |
| July 26th, 2023 |
| Arielle presented her poster, Orally Administered Carbon Monoxide Augments Autophagy Inhibition for Cancer Therapy, at the SCURPI poster presentation session here at UIowa, as well! |
| July 25th, 2023 |
| Arielle presented an oral and poster presentation for the SCURPI Summer Program here at UIowa. Great work, Arielle! |
| July 10th, 2023 |
| We are thrilled to share the exciting news that Dr. James Byrne has been named a University of Iowa Rising Research Star! This recognition comes on the heels of James’ achievement of securing a highly competitive $1.2 million K08 grant from the National Cancer Institute. This funding will support our lab’s groundbreaking research focused on the development of biofoams that hold great promise in enhancing the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiation therapy for rectal cancer patients, ultimately improving patients' response to chemotherapy and radiation therapy, thereby reducing the necessity for surgical intervention. We invite you to read the full article to learn more about Dr. Byrne and his lab's accomplishments and the record number of talented young investigators securing prestigious funding in FY23. |
| May 22nd, 2023 |
| Ikenna Nwosu and Sam Hatfield, both medical students here at the University of Iowa, are joining our lab this summer! They are working to create medical devices that bolster anti-cancer therapeutics. Welcome to the lab! |
| March 29th, 2023 |
| Austin and Ashley did a great job presenting their research at the Iowa Space Grant Consortium and Spring Undergraduate Research Festival this week! |
| March 1st, 2023 |
| Vote for our research in the STAT Madness Competition! |
| February 17th, 2023 |
| Ashley and Megan were awarded the 2023 Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award! Congratulations! |
| February 6th, 2023 | We are currently looking for undergraduate researchers! | Want to join our lab? See more information here! |
| February 2nd, 2023 |
| Check out our paper, Low-Cost, High-Pressure-Synthesized Oxygen-Entrapping Materials to Improve Treatment of Solid Tumors. Want to know more? Check out this article! |
| November 2nd, 2022 |
| Megan and Ashley did a great job presenting their research at the University of Iowa Fall Undergraduate Research Festival! |
| September 16th, 2022 |
| Alex was awarded the Larry W. Oberley Award for Best Oral Presentation of his research at the 2022 Medical Student Research Conference here at UIowa! Congratulations, Alex! |
| August 1st, 2022 |
| Ashley was awarded the Iowa Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Research Scholarship -- find out more here. Congratulations, Ashley! |
| July 27th, 2022 |
| Megan concluded her time as a BSURP student researcher by sharing her findings at the UI Summer Undergraduate Research Conference. Great job, Megan! |
| June 29th, 2022 |
| Check out our new paper, Delivery of therapeutic carbon monoxide by gas-entrapping materials, and this brief animation of our work! Want to learn how we applied molecular gastronomy techniques to the lab bench top? Read these articles from STAT News and The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine to find out! Still looking for more information? Additional articles are available here! |
| March 31st, 2022 |
| Congratulations to our undergraduate researchers, Austin Cook, Ashley Rhodes, and Mackenzie Richardson on their fantastic presentations at the Spring Undergraduate Research Festival! |
| March 1st, 2022 | Vote for our lab in the STAT Madness Competition! | |
| January 13th, 2022 | Check out our research position posting on the ICRU website: | https://icru.research.uiowa.edu/news/2022/01/byrne-lab-radiation-oncology |
| November 22nd, 2021 | We are currently looking for new lab members! | Contact us if you're interested! |