blog posts

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  You're an Expert: Enhance Your Profile

  Apr 29, 2016 9:30 am60 views

  By now, many campus community members have heard of the university's new searchable web portal, intended to showcase Illinois research expertise and connect investigators to potential collaborators: Illinois Research Connections (IRC) BETA. Following an internal-only launch last fall, the online tool just became available to the general public earlier this month.

  So have you checked out what the Elsevier-powered web portal can do? Find your own profile at www.experts.illinois.edu.

• Yoga practice linked to lower stress, better cognitive performance in older adults

  Nov 15, 2016 8:30 am0 views

  Older adults who practiced hatha yoga three times a week for eight weeks were better able to manage stress and performed better on cognitive tests than their peers who engaged in a stretching and weight-training program for the same amount of time, researchers report in the journal Biological Psychology.

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  Wrobel works to improve prostate cancer diagnostics

  Jul 18, 2016 9:45 am7 views

  Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow Tomasz Wrobel examines the chemical changes in tissues in order to predict the recurrence of prostate cancer.

• Would replacing food stamps with food boxes reduce hunger?

  Feb 22, 2018 8:30 am0 views

  The Trump administration’s idea for reducing hunger in the U.S. – a meal-kit procured, packaged and delivered by the government – would be both inefficient and ineffective, said Craig Gundersen, the Soybean Industry Endowed Professor of Agricultural Strategy at the University of Illinois College of ACES.

• Workshop on perinatal depression planned for June 1-2

  May 24, 2018 3:00 pm0 views

  Patients who have perinatal depression and their health care providers are serving as investigators on a research project co-led by University of Illinois social work professor Karen Tabb and Brandon Meline, director of the Maternal and Child Health Division at the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.

• Whole eggs better for muscle building and repair than egg whites, researchers find

  Dec 20, 2017 11:00 am0 views

  Researchers found that eating whole eggs after resistance exercise boosted muscle building and repair significantly more than eating egg whites with an equivalent amount of protein.

• What is driving Congress to potentially change Medicaid?

  Jan 9, 2017 11:30 am0 views

  With all eyes on the potential repeal of President Barack Obama's signature health care law, another fight is brewing in Congress over the future of Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program that was significantly expanded under the Affordable Care Act, says Richard L. Kaplan, the Peer and Sarah Pedersen Professor of Law at Illinois.

• What does a 1960s epidemic tell us about Zika?

  Aug 18, 2016 10:30 am0 views

  Health officials recently reported the first U.S. cases of Zika traced to local mosquitoes, in Miami, and the virus is spreading rapidly in Puerto Rico. Given the link between Zika and microcephaly in some babies born to infected mothers, it renewed questions about how Americans might respond to a potential epidemic. Could it bear any resemblance to a German measles epidemic a half-century ago, which also caused birth defects? Illinois history professor Leslie Reagan wrote about that earlier epidemic in her 2010 book “Dangerous Pregnancies” and discussed the parallels with News Bureau social sciences editor Craig Chamberlain.

• Walnuts impact gut microbiome and improve health

  May 4, 2018 9:00 pm0 views

  Diets rich in nuts, such as walnuts, have been shown to play a role in heart health and in reducing colorectal cancer. According to a new study from the University of Illinois, the way walnuts impact the gut microbiome—the collection of trillions of microbes or bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract—may be behind some of those health benefits.

• Wagoner Johnson aims to improve scaffold design for bone regeneration

  Dec 11, 2017 3:30 pm0 views

  MechSE Associate Professor Amy Wagoner Johnson was recently awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to further her leading-edge research on synthetic bone scaffolds.

• Viruses share genes with organisms across the tree of life

  Dec 6, 2017 3:30 pm0 views

  A new study reveals that viruses share genes across the three superkingdoms of life, from the single-celled microbes known as bacteria and archaea, to eukarya, a group that includes animals, plants, fungi and all other living things. Most of this unusual sharing occurs between eukarya and bacteria and their viruses.

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  U.S. Senator Durbin Calls for Stronger Federal Investment in Biomedical Research

  Aug 11, 2015 2:45 pm1 views

  In his visit to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, Senator Durbin discussed his American Cures Act and American Innovation Act, new legislation that would create a mandatory fund to provide steady, predicable funding for breakthrough research at America’s top research agencies. View video of Durbin's speech here.

• Using an electronic device counteracts benefits of taking a break in nature, researchers find

  Jul 18, 2018 9:00 am0 views

  Using electronic devices substantially counteracts the benefits that nature offers in recovering from mental fatigue and restoring the brain’s capacity to pay attention, according to a new study by William Sullivan, left, the head of the University of Illinois landscape architecture department; Bin Jiang, a professor of landscape architecture at The University of Hong Kong; and Rose Schmillen, not pictured, a former Illinois graduate student.

• U. of I. Program to Help Provide Mental Health Services to High-need Areas in Illinois

  Nov 9, 2017 4:30 pm0 views

  Principal investigator Janet Liechty is leading a $1.9 million initiative in the School of Social Work that provides behavioral health services to underserved areas in Illinois.

• U. of I. nutrition scientist Sharon Donovan elected to National Academy of Medicine

  Oct 16, 2017 1:00 pm0 views

  University of Illinois food science and human nutrition professor Sharon Donovan, center, is among 70 new members elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

• Unusual modifications of neuropeptides play important roles in the central nervous system

  May 29, 2018 4:00 pm0 views

  Understanding how neuropeptides function in cellular communication is important to understanding what happens when cell signaling goes wrong, as is the case in many diseases.

• University of Illinois Receives New Institutional Research Training Grant from the National Institutes of Health

  Jul 7, 2016 8:45 am99 views

  Funding from this T32 award will support the Tissue Microenvironment Training Program for graduate students

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  University of Illinois, Carle and OSF HealthCare attack overwhelming infection using engineering-based medicine

  Sep 14, 2015 11:15 am1 views

  The Resilience Engineering in Sepsis Care program will create new tools in point-of-care diagnostics, precision medicine, data analytics, and medical simulation.

• Underhill working to decipher microenvironments of liver

  Jul 28, 2016 10:15 am0 views

  Since joining the University of Illinois faculty in 2012, Bioengineering Assistant Professor Greg Underhill has been conducting research on the stem cells that develop into the liver, a notoriously difficult organ to study.

• UI med school faculty starting to come together

  May 7, 2017 7:00 am0 views

  The 100-faculty threshold is key, as it allows the college to create faculty committees and a shared governance system.

  Most of the faculty are familiar faces, doctors already working at Carle (41) or professors at the UI's Urbana campus (63) who will hold full or partial appointments at the medical school.

• Tumor-Targeting System Uses Cancer’s Own Mechanisms to Betray its Location

  Feb 15, 2017 2:00 pm0 views

  Illinois researchers developed a way to target tumors using sugars that are metabolized by the cancer cell’s own enzymes.

• Treating withdrawal symptoms could help cannabis users quit, study finds

  Mar 23, 2016 8:00 am0 views

  Heavy users of cannabis who experience withdrawal symptoms such as nervousness and cravings when they quit are likely to use again sooner than their peers, a new study finds.

  Researchers at the University of Illinois found that 85 percent of people who met the criteria for a diagnosis of cannabis withdrawal during their intake assessment for treatment lapsed and used cannabis again within about 16 days, while other individuals stayed abstinent about 24 days before using again, said lead author Jordan P. Davis, a doctoral student in the School of Social Work.

• Town Hall Meetings Catalyze Conversations

  Oct 15, 2015 4:00 pm62 views

  Explaining the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative’s (IHSI) purpose of catalyzing, connecting, supporting, and engaging health sciences research, Director Neal J. Cohen spoke to nearly 100 campus community members at the IHSI town hall meetings on October 13 and 14.

• Too much of a good thing: Developing safe level guidelines for bioactives

  May 30, 2017 4:45 pm0 views

  John Erdman, IHSI Deputy Director and professor emeritus in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois, and his lab have studied bioactives and their health benefits for years. Now, Erdman and a team of other scientists want to see recommended maximum intake levels established by public health officials in order to help educate people about what they should be consuming.

• Tool to map gene's ‘social network’ sheds light on function, interactions and drug efficacy

  Jan 19, 2017 3:45 pm0 views

• Tiny exports signal big shifts in cancer tissue, researchers find

  Jan 25, 2017 4:30 pm0 views

  Microscopic shifts in metabolism and increases in tiny transport vesicles out of tumor cells preface larger changes to the tumor environment and could prepare the way for cancerous cells to spread and metastasize, University of Illinois researchers report.

• Tiny electronic implants monitor brain injury, then melt away

  Jan 18, 2016 10:00 am0 views

  A new class of small, thin electronic sensors can monitor temperature and pressure within the skull – crucial health parameters after a brain injury or surgery – then melt away when they are no longer needed, eliminating the need for additional surgery to remove the monitors and reducing the risk of infection and hemorrhage.

  Similar sensors can be adapted for postoperative monitoring in other body systems as well, the researchers say. Led by John A. Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Wilson Ray, a professor of neurological surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the researchers published their work in the journal Nature.

• Tiny Drug-delivering Capsules Could Sustain Transplanted Insulin-producing Cells for Diabetics

  Feb 12, 2018 2:00 pm0 views

  llinois professor Kyekyoon ”Kevin” Kim, graduate student Benjamin Lew and research scientist Hyungsoo Choi developed a method to make it easier to transplant pancreatic islet cells from pigs to treat type I diabetes.  

• TiMe Training Program announces students for inaugural class

  Sep 7, 2016 4:15 pm17 views

  The inaugural group of TiMe Training students and their programs are: Jee-wei (Emily) Chen (chemical and biomolecular engineering), Kyung Hwa (Iris) Choi (mechanical science and engineering), Jamila Hedhl (bioengineering), Seth Kenkel (mechanical science and engineering), Eunkyung (Clare) Ko (bioengineering), Phuong Le (bioengineering), Joanne Li, (bioengineering), Jan Lumibao (nutritional sciences), and Ruibo Wang (materials science and engineering).

• Time-lapse cell imaging reveals dynamic activity

  Oct 27, 2016 2:30 pm0 views

  Living cells are miniature worlds bustling with activity. A new advanced imaging method can track cells over long periods of time using only light—no dye or chemicals required—to reveal dynamics and provide insight into how cells function, develop and interact.

  Researchers from the University of Illinois and collaborators described the method, phase correlation imaging, in a study published in the journal Scientific Reports. The study also used PCI to look at how elements of the cell’s internal skeleton structure guide transportation within the cell.

  “The cell is a very dynamic system,” said Gabriel Popescu, an electrical and computer engineering professor and the leader of the study. “The cytoskeleton is continuously remodeling, there are vesicles that are continuously transported throughout the cell, cells communicate with one another by moving mass around. Most cell-imaging methods take a snapshot and miss this activity. It’s like looking at one frame of a football game. You get some information, but not the whole story.”

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  The Survivor Games

  Apr 28, 2015 10:15 am70 views

• Theory: Flexibility is at the heart of human intelligence

  Nov 20, 2017 12:00 pm0 views

  University of Illinois psychology professor Aron Barbey proposes that the brain’s dynamic properties drive human intelligence.

• The Autism Program Introduces a New Certification Preparation for Interns

  Feb 16, 2017 8:00 am0 views

  The Autism Program (TAP) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a community-focused program that aids families and professionals by providing support to individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), their families, and other professionals in the community. Each semester, TAP welcomes a team of 10 to 12 diligent and hardworking interns who come from a variety of University of Illinois departments such as Human Development and Family Studies, Special Education, Speech and Hearing Science, Psychology, and the School of Social Work.

• Tech Firm Gives $10M to New Carle-UI Medical School

  Jun 29, 2015 4:15 pm0 views

  The new Carle-University of Illinois College of Medicine has received its first major gift, a $10 million donation from the financial technology firm Jump Trading.

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  Team finds new way to attach lipids to proteins, streamlining drug development

  Nov 21, 2016 2:00 pm0 views

  Protein-based drugs are used in the treatment of every kind of malady, from cancer to heart disease to rheumatoid arthritis. But the proteins are almost always modified with chemical appendages that help them navigate through the body or target specific tissues. A new study reveals an efficient means of attaching lipids (fat molecules) to peptides (the building blocks of proteins). This can improve the molecules’ drug-delivery capabilities.

  The new findings are reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

• Team discovers how bacteria exploit a chink in the body’s armor

  Jan 19, 2017 3:45 pm0 views

• SUTTON AWARDED BECKMAN’S VISION AND SPIRIT AWARD

  Apr 10, 2018 12:00 pm0 views

  Brad Sutton, a professor of bioengineering, the technical director of the Biomedical Imaging Center at the Beckman Institute, and a faculty member of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, was awarded the 2018 Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology Vision and Spirit Award.

• Survey shows broad support for national precision medicine study

  Aug 18, 2016 10:15 am0 views

  In a recent survey designed to measure public attitudes about the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) Cohort Program, a majority of respondents expressed willingness to participate in the nationwide research effort. The findings (link is external) were published online in PLOS ONE by a team of National Institutes of Health researchers.

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  Surgical probe seeks out where cancer ends and healthy tissue begins

  Sep 15, 2015 1:30 pm0 views

  Stephen Boppart, an Illinois engineering professor and a medical doctor, led a team that developed a tool to help surgeons determine the extent of cancerous tissue to remove.

• Study Yields More Than a Million New Cyclic Compounds, Some with Pharmaceutical Potential

  Mar 12, 2018 10:15 am0 views

  Chemistry professor Wilfred van der Donk and his colleagues developed a new method for generating large libraries of unique cyclic compounds.

• Study tallies extra calories Americans consume in their coffee, tea

  Jan 30, 2017 9:15 am0 views
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  Study: Strength of brain connectivity varies with fitness level in older adults

  Nov 5, 2015 11:45 am2 views

  A new study shows that age-related differences in brain health—specifically the strength of connections between different regions of the brain—vary with fitness level in older adults. The findings suggest that greater cardiorespiratory fitness—a measure of aerobic endurance—relates to stronger brain connections and likely improves long-term brain function in aging populations.

  The study results are reported in the journal NeuroImage.

  Michelle Voss led the study while a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois with Beckman Institute director Arthur Kramer and kinesiology and community health professor Edward McAuley. Voss now is an assistant professor at the University of Iowa.

• Study Shows That Americanization May Be Fueling Unhealthy Eating in Jamaica

  Feb 16, 2017 8:00 am0 views

  Previous research has shown that viewing high amounts of media can negatively impact dietary habits, and these unhealthy habits are a driving force behind obesity and its associated health complications. Even though previous research has linked increased TV consumption with unhealthy eating habits, not much research has focused on the impact that media consumption may have on individuals from different cultures. 

  A study published recently in Child Development by University of Illinois researcher Dr. Gail Ferguson, an assistant professor in human development and family studies, explores whether globalization and the spread of U.S. media could be influencing behaviors and eating habits in developing regions.

• Study shows new insight about how our brain and personality provide protection against emotional distress

  Jul 19, 2018 11:30 pm0 views

  Researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology recently examined a sample of 85 healthy college students to see how a number of personality traits can protect an individual’s brain against symptoms of emotional distress, namely depression and anxiety.

• Study: Serving water with school lunches could prevent child, adult obesity

  Nov 7, 2017 12:30 pm0 views

  University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Ruopeng An’s analysis suggests that nationwide expansion of a program in New York City schools that encouraged children to consume water with their lunches could reduce child and adult obesity rates in the U.S. significantly, saving billions in medical costs and other expenses over children’s lifetimes.

• Study: Researchers identify how mental abilities are shaped by individual differences in the brain

  Feb 25, 2016 10:00 am0 views

  Everyone has a different mixture of personality traits: some are outgoing, some are tough and some are anxious. A new study suggests that brains also have different traits that affect both anatomical and cognitive factors, such as intelligence and memory.

  The results are published in the journal NeuroImage.

• Study: Omega-3 fatty Acids Fight Inflammation via Cannabinoids

  Jul 18, 2017 11:00 am0 views

  Graduate student Josephine Watson, professor Aditi Das, graduate student Megan Corbett, professor Kristopher Kilian and their colleagues discovered an enzymatic pathway that converts omega-3-derived endocannabinoids into more potent anti-inflammatory molecules.

• Study of sleep apps finds room for improvement

  Apr 12, 2017 2:45 pm0 views

  Kinesiology and community health professor Diana Grigsby-Toussaint and her colleagues found that many popular sleep apps fail to educate users about the benefits of sleep or risks of not getting enough of it.

• Study: Medicare prescription drug benefit reduced elderly mortality by more than 2 percent

  Mar 9, 2017 2:15 pm0 views

  The implementation of Medicare’s prescription drug benefit program has reduced elderly mortality by 2.2 percent annually since 2006, says a new study by Julian Reif, a professor of finance and of economics at Illinois.

• Study links sulfide-producing bacteria and colon cancer in African-Americans

  Mar 16, 2017 9:15 am0 views

  University of Illinois nutritional sciences professor Rex Gaskins, graduate student Patricia Wolf and their colleagues found differences in the microbes that live in the lining of the colon of African-Americans versus non-Hispanic whites in the U.S. These differences are linked to the risk of colon cancer in African-Americans.