INDUSTRY

Three new endowed chairs at the University of Iowa, established by $7.5 million in gifts, will advance research of blinding eye diseases. On chair marks the first shared appointment between two UI colleges. The Roy J. Carver Jr. Chair in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, funded by $2.5 million from family of the late Roy Carver Sr., is a joint appointment in the UI Carver College of Medicine and College of Engineering. Thomas Casavant, professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering, was awarded the chair. He directs the UI Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Among his research, Casavant studies molecular genetics of macular degeneration and glaucoma.