Previous Featured Students

Jennifer Kroeger , MS Student

Jennifer’s interest in epidemiology was piqued when she worked as a student technician in a molecular epidemiology and fungus testing laboratory during her undergraduate years at Iowa as a microbiology student 

She began her graduate student career as an MPH student in fall of 2005, but soon realized that the MS program in Epidemiology, with its emphasis on research, is a better fit for her interests.  Her goal is to pursue a PhD degree in epidemiology with an emphasis on hospital and infectious disease epidemiology.

During her master’s studies, Jennifer has had a staff position in the research lab of Dr. Dan Diekema, an Internal Medicine faculty member at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.  In his lab she performs molecular typing on bacterial and fungal species and is involved with yeast and mold identification and antifungal susceptibility testing. 

While Jennifer thinks selecting an area of epidemiology that interests you is important, it’s also valuable to select a project that provides you with a great mentor who will give you time, guidance and opportunities.

Jennifer’s hometown is Hinton, Iowa, in northwest Iowa.

Dan Gregory, PhD Student

Dan Gregory’s ultimate goal is to become a physician-scientist.  To this end, he joined our PhD program after completing his MS degree with us in 2003.  He’s now working on dissertation research that incorporates his undergraduate study in psychology and his interest in cancer epidemiology and prevention by examining how men decide to get screening for prostate cancer with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. 

Dan plans to begin medical school next fall, a decision he says “may seem masochistic to many… I consider this extra time and effort a small cost for the rewards of pursuing a career that I love and can perform with passion.”

Dan’s advice to students is not to be discouraged if you do not yet have a defined area of interest; it will come to you.  Follow your heart. 

Dan’s dissertation adviser is Dr. Betsy Chrischilles.