News Bureau

A natural small molecule derived from a cypress tree can transport iron in live mice and human cells lacking the protein that normally does the job, easing a buildup of iron in the liver and restoring hemoglobin and red blood cell production, a new study found.

The Illinois Neurodiversity Initiative, a pilot program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will provide autism-specific support to freshmen with autism.

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Andreas C. Cangellaris will leave the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in August to become the Founding President of NEOM University in Saudi Arabia, Chancellor Robert J. Jones announced today.

Things have changed since I was last in Belize in 2018, when I excavated the ancestral Maya pilgrimage site Cara Blanca. Thousands of acres of jungle are gone, replaced by fields of corn and sugarcane. Hundreds of ancestral Maya mounds are now exposed in the treeless landscape, covered by soil that is currently plowed several times a year.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I was awarded a three-year National Science Foundation grant to conduct a salvage archaeology project here in Belize. The goal is to collect as much information as possible before the mounds are plowed away.

The closures of gyms and other facilities to contain COVID-19 negatively affected the mental and physical health of some people with disabilities, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found.

It’s unlikely that the ongoing Jan. 6 committee hearings will resonate with the public as much as the Watergate hearings did 50 years ago, says University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political science professor Brian Gaines.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine directly challenges the security order established by the Western democracies after World War II, said Edward A. Kolodziej, Emeritus Research Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert in international relations and global politics.

The increasing number of bills aimed at limiting transgender rights is part of the rise in authoritarianism in the U.S., said Toby Beauchamp, a professor of gender and women’s studies.

A new study finds that the more a person stares at themself while talking with a partner in an online chat, the more their mood degrades over the course of the conversation. Alcohol use appears to worsen the problem, the researchers found.

Reported in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, the findings point to a potentially problematic role of online meeting platforms in exacerbating psychological problems like anxiety and depression, the researchers said.

Latin dance lessons may boost the working memory of Latino older adults and help prevent age-related cognitive decline, says new research by kinesiology and community health professor Susan Aguiñaga.

Sixteen University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students and recent graduates were offered Fulbright grants to pursue international education, research and teaching experiences around the globe this coming year. Another six Illinois students were named Fulbright alternates.

In the fall of 2020, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign welcomed students back for in-person instruction amid the powerful first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The university successfully maintained operations throughout the semester – with zero COVID-19-related deaths or hospitalizations in the campus community – thanks to its “SHIELD: Target, Test, Tell” program. In a sweeping report, the team behind the campuswide collaboration details the innovations in modeling, saliva testing and results reporting that helped mitigate the spread of the virus, and shares the data collected and lessons learned through the process.

An expiring labor agreement between dockworkers and West Coast port operators could further snarl U.S. supply chains if a strike or lockout occurs. The Biden administration should prepare to act because presidents have unique powers to temporarily halt these types of work stoppages, says Michael LeRoy, an expert in labor law at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Outstanding individual and group outreach efforts were recognized with the 2022 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement. The awards spotlight individuals at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who have consistently applied their knowledge and expertise to issues for the public good.

In the fall of 2017, geology professor Patricia Gregg and her team had just set up a new volcanic forecasting modeling program on the Blue Waters and iForge supercomputers. Simultaneously, another team was monitoring activity at the Sierra Negra volcano in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. One of the scientists on the Ecuador project, Dennis Geist of Colgate University, contacted Gregg, and what happened next was the fortuitous forecast of the June 2018 Sierra Negra eruption five months before it occurred.

Ingrid S. Fulmer will be the next dean of the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. The appointment takes effect July 1.

2020 marked Lake Michigan’s highest water level in 120 years, experts said, and climate variance makes future water levels challenging to predict. Coastal impacts are well-documented, but the effect of lake level rise on the area’s inland waterways is poorly understood. A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study examined how Lake Michigan’s rising levels affect water quality, flood control and invasive species management within the Chicago-area waterway system that connects the lake to Illinois, Indiana and the Mississippi River basin.  

Four University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty members were honored by the Office of the Provost with the 2022 Campus Awards for Excellence in Faculty Leadership. Also listed are the four recipients of the award from 2021.

Two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students received recognition from the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation for their commitment to the environment.

Three University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign undergraduates are among 208 students nationwide awarded David L. Boren Scholarships. The National Security Education Program selects students to add international and language components to their education by studying overseas in world regions critical to U.S. interests.

The grills are already fired up as I approach the Meat Science Laboratory on the U. of I. campus. It’s midmorning on a spring day that’s chillier than it should be.

Well-worn charcoal and gas grills are stationed in a wide arc on a lawn flecked with violets. In front of each grill stand three students for whom eating burgers for breakfast is now commonplace.

Twenty-four University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students have been offered Gilman Scholarships to study abroad, maintaining the university’s ranking among the top producers of award recipients. Recipients are listed by Illinois hometown or nation of residence.

Revenue from promise scholarships may not be used to support student-related programs and services, U. of I. education scholars found when they analyzed the spending patterns of colleges that received the funding.

A team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers led by physics and astronomy professor Charles Gammie is part of a large international collaboration that unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. This result provides evidence that the object is indeed a black hole and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants, which researchers think reside at the center of most galaxies.

New disclosures on quarterly retirement account statements may alarm some workers, says Richard L. Kaplan, the Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law at Illinois and an expert on U.S. tax policy and retirement issues.

History professor Eugene Avrutin explores the history of racism in Russia over the past 150 years, from a society that was relatively free of racial violence to the elevation of whiteness under President Vladimir Putin’s rule.

The Westdahl Peak volcano in Alaska last erupted in 1992, and continued expansion hints at another eruption soon. Experts previously forecasted the next blast to occur by 2010, but the volcano – located under about 1 kilometer of glacial ice – has yet to erupt again. Using the Westdahl Peak volcano as inspiration, a new volcanic modeling study examined how glaciers affect the stability and short-term eruption cycles of high-latitude volcanic systems – some of which exist along major air transportation routes.

Stadium passes and parking passes for news media representatives covering the May 14 commencement at Memorial Stadium may be picked up through Thursday this week at the Office of Public Affairs between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Following a pandemic, workers historically have recognized the value of their labor and become unwilling to accept poor wages and working conditions, said Carol Symes, a history professor who specializes in medieval studies.

The annual exhibition includes work from a variety of disciplines and allows students to highlight their senior projects.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign materials science and engineering professor Nancy Sottos has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest professional honors a scientist can receive. She is among 120 members and 30 international members elected this year to recognize their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Plants release chemical distress signals when under attack from chewing insects. These “911 calls" alert other bugs that dinner or a nice place to lay their eggs is available nearby. If predatory or parasitic insects detect the right signal, they swoop in like saviors to make a meal out of – or lay their eggs in – the bodies of the herbivore insects.

A new study explores the factors that contribute to corn plants’ chemical signaling capacity, comparing how different corn varieties respond to herbivory in the presence or absence of a soil bacterium known to promote plant health.

The U.S. isn’t on the verge of a food crisis but is experiencing rampant food price inflation, says Scott Irwin, professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Every plant, animal or other nucleus-containing cell also harbors an array of miniature “organs” that perform essential functions for the cell. In plants, for example, organelles called chloroplasts photosynthesize to generate energy for the organism. Because some organelles contain their own DNA and resemble single-celled organisms, scientists have long theorized that the evolution of complex life forms got its start when one cell engulfed another and the two learned to live in harmony – eventually forming, and belonging to, a single entity.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign materials science and engineering professor Nancy Sottos and history professor Maria Todorova have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest honor societies in the nation.  They are among 261 new members elected to the academy this year in recognition of their accomplishments and leadership in academia, the arts, industry, public policy and research.

The concerts will show the breadth of the school’s music programs, with performances by jazz ensembles, choirs, orchestras and others.

Latinos view the support of friends and neighbors as so vital to their well-being in later life that they redefine these relationships as family, researchers say in a new study that explored older Latinos’ perspectives on positive aging.

A team led by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tracked the rise and fall of SARS-CoV-2 in the saliva and nasal cavities of people newly infected with the virus. The study was the first to follow acute COVID-19 infections over time through repeated sampling and to compare results from different testing methodologies.

The Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online project aims to preserve digital records when web servers and physical records and objects are at risk of being destroyed by Russian attacks on Ukraine.

Illinois students Caleb Apperson, Dahlia Davis and Aiman Ghani were awarded U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarships to study foreign languages this summer. The program is part of a U.S. government initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign language and cultural skills to enable them to contribute to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security.

Marcy Frerichs, an administrative assistant in the Office of the President, was named  Office Professional of the Year by the Illinois Administrative Professionals organization at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

I-Ready, a virtual summer camp for college-bound high school students on the autism spectrum, is being offered by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Deadline to register has been extended to May 16.

Cultivating a love of math – and inspiring the next generation of numbers-oriented professionals – may start with activities that promote enjoyable parent-child experiences, say U. of I. researchers.

A new study shows that it is possible to use the genetic sequences of a person’s antibodies to predict what pathogens those antibodies will target. Reported in the journal Immunity, the new approach successfully differentiates between antibodies against influenza and those attacking SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Sanctions imposed against Russia and Belarus may only have meaningful consequences in the longer term, says Taisa Markus, an expert in securities law.

A point-of-care COVID-19 test developed by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign can now detect and differentiate the alpha variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from earlier strains in saliva samples.

“Rare Stuff,” the debut novel of comparative and world literature professor Brett Ashely Kaplan, features themes of Jewish identity and loss.

Mariama Mwilambwe, a junior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was awarded a $30,000 Truman Scholarship. Mwilambwe was one of 58 Truman Scholars selected from a pool of 705 nominees from colleges and universities across the country.

The racial health disparities experienced by minority populations in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic ought to be concerning for everyone, said Wendy K. Tam Cho, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political scientist who’s an expert in data-driven social research.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign sophomore Braden Moore was awarded a $15,000 Barry M. Goldwater scholarship for his potential to contribute to the advancement of research in the natural sciences, mathematics or engineering.