A new University of Iowa research initiative is launching July 1, 2026, to study environmental risk factors and improve health outcomes for Iowans. The Iowa Integrated Network for Science, Information, and Geospatial Health Tracking (INSIGHT) program will produce scientific evidence needed to understand how environmental exposures affect human health, from the air we breathe to the water we drink. A generous $5 million founding gift from Sharon and Kyle Krause supports Iowa INSIGHT, which is a collaboration between the UI Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination (CHEEC) and IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering (IIHR).
David Cwiertny, the Rose and Joseph Summers Chair in Water Resources Engineering, co-leader of the EHSRC Water Quality Thematic Area, and CHEEC Director, will lead the initiative. His research focuses on watersheds, water treatment, and the movement and fate of pollutants such as pesticides and “forever chemicals” in the environment.
Iowa is one of only a few states where cancer rates continue to rise; currently, Iowa has the second highest cancer rate in the country. Data gathered through Iowa INSIGHT will support epidemiological studies to establish associations between environmental exposures and adverse health outcomes, especially cancer, to potentially power future solutions and innovations.
“There’s an opportunity here to make sure we can contribute to help Iowa, the place that we came to and never wanted to leave,” says Cwiertny, who moved his family to Iowa from California in 2011. “It’s very fulfilling.”
To learn more, read the news release from IIHR.