BIRMINGHAM, England — Prof. Reitumetse Mabokela, associate chancellor and vice provost for global affairs and strategies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, stood outside the Aston Webb building on the University of Birmingham Edgbaston campus holding onto her £5 umbrella.
She was standing next to Prof. Robin Mason, pro-vice-chancellor (international) at Birmingham, talking and laughing about the weather as the rain started to pick back up.
And as I stood there snapping a picture of the moment on my phone, it finally hit me.
I was in England documenting two teams of innovators and trendsetters from two different universities who spent hours, days, months, and years maintaining and perfecting a one-of-a-kind, internationally respected, and globally centered partnership—BRIDGE.
I was awestruck.
In April 2024 delegates representing both institutions celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Birmingham-Illinois Partnership for Discovery, Engagement & Education (BRIDGE). They celebrated with a gala, two ceremonial trees, a few tours, and several rounds of applause and laughter. I had the opportunity and privilege to cover the week-long affair.
Going into this assignment, I assumed the residual effects following the anniversary were going to be what anyone would expect— more research, more grant money for research, more collaboration, more travel, more saving the world one project at a time, and so on and so forth.
Albeit all of that is still valid. This year alone the partnership announced the distribution of the 2024-2025 Seed Fund Grants and on top of that both universities did commit to tripling their investment in the partnership to develop new signature research collaborations.
On a more personal level I assumed the experience would mean a slew of cliches for me like, “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I will never forget.”
That is true too also, but the short time I spent working in Birmingham and the coverage I did leading up to the anniversary celebration did something else for me, something unexpected.
When I started writing about this collaboration, I approached it as a nobody. I figured because it did not affect me in any way, all I had to do was write about how “The Birmingham-Illinois Partnership for Discovery, Engagement & Education” turns into BRIDGE and what that means.
What the experience did for me was something far more valuable than just writing about a bunch of money, a bunch of projects, and a bunch of lives I had the privilege of crossing paths with— in the end I learned that I was a part of something great.
What Even is BRIDGE?
Birmingham and Illinois have been working together under the Birmingham-Illinois Partnership for Discovery, Engagement, and Education (or “BRIDGE”) framework since its establishment in 2014. The formal partnership agreement was renewed in April 2018 for five years, then again in 2023 for an additional five years.
The acronym originates from some of the earliest collaborations between the two institutions that date back to the 90s and centered on research regarding cultural heritage management associated with the Ironbridge Gorge UNESCO World Heritage Site.
BRIDGE has become one of the most robust strategic alliances between Illinois and an international partner because of the consistent investment and ongoing collaboration efforts like the BRIDGE Seed Fund and the BRIDGE Fellowship.
Why Does This Matter?
This partnership matters because it promotes global engagement, which is something that absolutely needs to happen so we can solve some pretty big problems like climate change or the lack of access to healthcare.
It also matters because it funds and supports individuals who are trying to make a difference in the world. Individuals who above all else, have so much hope for this world and are actively seeking solutions to complex problems that affect everyone.
I interviewed three people during this project who are each a direct result of the good that this partnership creates. One of those people was Dr. Valentina Di Pietro, a molecular neuroscientist with a MSc in molecular biology.
I met Dr. Di Pietro in Birmingham and spent over an hour asking her what felt like over a hundred questions while she showed us her lab and her work.
She told me she was conducting research on traumatic brain injury (TBI), particularly concussions because, and I didn’t know this until she told me, there is no actual test to find out whether someone has a concussion (among other reasons why she’s conducting this type of research).
Her research spans well over a decade and she was awarded a BRIDGE fellowship a few years ago to undertake TBI research in collaboration with Illinois.
That fellowship allowed her to combine neuroimaging techniques available in the US with the results of her microRNA study.
She told me that TBI is incorrectly diagnosed in over half the cases of major trauma, which can cause delays in implementing the correct management of healthcare resources.
So, what did she do? She conducted a study and collected blood samples immediately at the sight of accidents and within the first hour from trauma victims. As a result, she identified microRNA changes in plasma in a cohort of 120 patients.
But her research didn’t end there.
She said since blood is not ideal for the diagnosis of TBI in children or in severe environments like getting a concussion from playing a contact sport, she investigated microRNAs in saliva and urine.
To do this she first identified a panel of non-invasive microRNA biomarkers in a cohort of 52 professional athletes, then in 2017 she helped launch the largest study on sport concussions in partnership with England’s Rugby Football Union.
That study recruited over 1,200 players.
I’m just scratching the surface of what she’s doing, and her work isn’t over. After talking with her though, even if it was just for an hour, I can confidently say that her research gave me hope. She gives me hope.
She is actively working to create a test that will identify whether someone has a concussion, and the long-term effects are valuable because this could mean protecting athletes in proactive ways that don’t rely on assumptions.
Another person I interviewed was Dr. Sophie Comer-Warner, the current BRIDGE water sciences fellow. Their research also gives me hope because they are actively working on solutions to find how to measure and research tire-wear, which in turn will help other scientists find solutions to curb tire-wear. And of course, this creates a push to promote a healthier future environment.
Aaron Muñoz, who I interviewed earlier this year after he received a BRIDGE Seed Fund Grant, gives me hope because he’s creating a hybrid theatre system that will make theatre and the arts more accessible to folks and hopefully establish a generation of insightful and empathetic individuals.
The work that these three individuals are doing promotes change and pushes the need to do better and be better so we can have a better future.
And BRIDGE supports this, it supports all of this. That’s why BRIDGE matters.
Helping the World
Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones attended the trip in April as well, and he gave a speech during the gala that stuck with me.
He said the challenges that we face as a society are too large and too complex for any one identity or any one university to solve alone.
And he said it takes these types of partnerships where people are collaborating across oceans and across disciplines to find solutions.
Both universities know that they have a responsibility to help the world, and they follow-through on their responsibility via partnerships like BRIDGE, and the people involved with research and involved with trying to find solutions to some of these unbelievably large problems help hold their institutions accountable.
BRIDGE is a viable partnership that has led to and will continue to lead to positive change in our communities, and I get to be a part of that change by sharing these stories with you.
Covering this collaboration and the people involved with it helped me realize that my role in this partnership and the work I do for it matters because if I can show you what I learned and elicit from you the same amount of excitement and wonder I experienced, then this partnership will gain support beyond the usual crowd.
Ultimately, this partnership means something and although it has been around for over a decade it is still the beginning of something that will transcend borders to create an evolution of thought, research, and perspective that adapts to an ever-changing global landscape.
And the best part is we can all be a part of that.
Analicia Haynes is the storyteller and social media specialist for Illinois International. She can be reached at ahayn2@illinois.edu.ahayn2@illinois.edu.