Post-event follow-up: Watch a video of the Oct 16 event and View slides from the event

Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) counselors Gary Schwartz and Kevin Ward will clarify the distinction between traditional Medicare with Medigap and prescription drug supplements, in contrast to the all-inclusive Medicare Advantage plans. Gary has been a SHIIP counselor since 2006. Kevin is beginning his third year as a SHIIP counselor. They are trained to clearly present enrollment...

Welcome, everyone! We are happy to have a group of people signed up to participate in the Explorers special interest group.

Our first outing is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 10 a.m. at Kent Park (located 3 miles west of Tiffin on Highway 6). The walk around the lake is 1.4 miles. It's a circular path and easy to only walk part way and return to the parking area. Bring water to drink.

We will meet at the boat ramp/fishing area. Directions: There is a Y in the road just past the...

What happens when a mother and daughter with different political concerns discuss issues of race in America?

In 2015 on a visit home to Alabama, Patricia Foster and her mother argue over the riots in Ferguson, Missouri. This encounter becomes the catalyst for Foster’s visit to Africatown in Plateau, Alabama (40 miles from her hometown), where the last American slave ship, the Clotilda, arrived in 1860 after the U.S. had abolished the international slave trade in 1808. 

What Foster discovers...

Post-event follow-up: Watch a video of the Sept. 21 event

Our next program will be a TRAIL of Johnson County: Helping Older Adults Age in Place on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. via Zoom. Our speaker will be Bob Untiedt. Johnson County, like many places, is aging. In the next seven years, over 20% of the population will be over 65. For older adults who want to age in place, TRAIL (Tools and Resources for Active, Independent Living) may be the answer. Learn how this important resource for seniors...

Post-event follow-up: Watch a video of the Sep 6 event. 

Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague will discuss the state of Iowa City, what’s new and what has changed during his time as mayor.

Bruce Teague is serving his second two-year term as mayor. He moved to Iowa City from Chicago when he was 17 years old and graduated from West High. He graduated in 2002 from Kirkwood Community College with an associate’s degree in applied science in nursing. Mayor Teague is also a 2001 graduate of the University of...

The annual meeting of the UI Retirees Association will be Thursday, June 15, 2023, 2–4 p.m. in 2520-D University Capitol Center (located within the UCC Conference Room Suite toward the south end of the building’s second floor). The event will also be available via Zoom (link to come). Refreshments and social time will begin the meeting, followed by the annual business meeting.

City parking (for a fee) is available in the parking ramp attached to the south of the building. Entrances accessed on...

Our Medical System Is Frayed:
Why Did Humpty Dumpty Fall Off The Wall?

Victoria Sharp, M.D., M.B.A.

Professor Emeritus, Department of Urology
Acting Chief of Staff, Iowa City VA Healthcare System

Living in the United States, great health care is something we all expect to be available and reliable. Busy in our lives focusing on what is important to us and what we are good at, in general, you wouldn’t think we would need to do much more than eat healthy, exercise, drink alcohol in...

Upcoming Outing
Phebe Timber Spring Hike
Monday, May 15, 10 a.m. (Reservations NOT required.)

(Reservations required. RSVP by April 19 to Ellie Herman, ellen-herman@uiowa.edu.)

All multicellular organisms use “innate immune” receptors to detect and mobilize defensive responses to invading microbes. This includes proteins recognizing lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of Gram-negative bacteria. LPS-recognizing defense systems have been characterized in both humans and horseshoe crabs that have inhabited the Earth for 300+ million years.

The ability of horseshoe crab LPS-binding protein to detect minuscule amounts of LPS has prompted pharmaceutical development of the horseshoe...