blog posts

• New Cancer Center at Illinois Unites Powerhouse Programs, Facilities, and Researchers

  Jul 5, 2017 2:00 pm4628 views

  Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have a long history of innovation and discovery in the life sciences, engineering, supercomputing, and imaging. Now, they are launching a new center of interdisciplinary collaboration—the Cancer Center at Illinois—to make a greater impact in the fight against the second leading cause of death in Illinois and the United States.

• IHSI, Beckman Institute Launch New Center for Brain Plasticity

  Apr 18, 2018 11:45 am1106 views

  A new center is taking shape, championed and supported by both the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Led by co-directors Aron Barbey and Neal Cohen, the Center for Brain Plasticity brings together researchers, university-wide, with the aims of advancing understanding of the brain and the power of the brain to be changed by experience and other external influences.

• Shaping the future of healthcare: A celebration of the Mayo Clinic and Illinois Alliance

  Sep 20, 2018 9:30 pm915 views

  A celebration of the Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance, hosted by IHSI, was held September 11, 2018. The Alliance has supported more than 50 collaborative research projects, 70 undergraduate student fellows, and 20 graduate interns and fellows.

• Mayo Clinic and Illinois Seeking Interns in Information Technology and Biomedical Informatics

  Mar 9, 2016 11:00 am814 views

  Are you interested in learning about the human microbiome and metabolic models, big data technologies, bioinformatics algorithm development, natural language processing methods or developing tools/applications for complex data visualization and analytics? Mayo Clinic and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have a long standing partnership, and we are now offering internships to give you a unique opportunity with some of the most talented and experienced Research, Biomedical Informatics and IT specialists at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

• An Introduction to Jesus N. Sarol, Jr., PhD

  Nov 1, 2019 1:00 pm783 views

• Carle and Illinois Launch New Seed Funding Program

  Feb 19, 2016 12:00 pm444 views

  A new, jointly funded-seed funding program has been developed between Carle and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The program provides a funding infusion to support and encourage new lines of research and collaboration among Carle physicians and Illinois investigators.

• Carle and U of I Developing the Next Generation of Brain Imaging

  Jun 23, 2015 2:00 pm401 views

  MRE research looks to improve brain tumor surgery, epilepsy treatment and outcomes, and more.

• New Crop Awarded: Carle Illinois Collaborative Research Seed Funding Program

  Jul 6, 2017 3:00 pm365 views

  Jointly funded projects address the partnerships’ priorities in clinical and translational research.

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  New student group spreads the love

  Nov 30, 2015 9:00 am309 views

  Love Your Melon (LYM), an apparel brand founded in 2012 and run by college students across the United States, has been active on the University of Illinois campus since 2014. Love Your Melon’s mission is to give a hat to every child in America who is battling cancer. To reach this goal, LYM recruits “College Campus Ambassadors” from over 300 educational institutions, including the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to help with the marketing and sales of their products.

  Sophie Lanser, an Illinois engineering student and Crew Captain of LYM on campus, became interested in Love Your Melon when she was searching online for a winter hat to purchase. The rest is history. Since the chapter’s start in December 2014, Lanser said she has been surprised by the success of LYM and the support it has received.

• Carle and Illinois seed funding fosters innovation to move research from the bench to bedside

  Jun 14, 2016 11:00 am279 views

  Carle and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently held an open call for proposals for jointly funded collaborative research among Carle physicians and Illinois investigators. This inaugural round of entries brought forth many new ideas and Carle and Illinois are pleased to announce that six proposals have been selected to receive support.

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  Bhargava Named Director of the Cancer Community @ Illinois

  May 16, 2016 1:00 pm275 views

  The Cancer Community @ Illinois (CC@IL) is pleased to announce it has named its long-time faculty coordinator, Rohit Bhargava, as director for a three-year term.

  Bhargava, who has served as the CC@IL faculty coordinator for the past four years, will begin this role immediately. With his exceptional research productivity and experience in leading the CC@IL, he will spearhead efforts to unite researchers in the effort to find better ways to prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat cancer. The CC@IL provides resources for cancer-related activities across the campus, nucleates new programs related to cancer research, and fosters connections with clinical partners.

• Research Data Center Branch Coming to Illinois in 2017

  Sep 28, 2016 11:15 am265 views

  Great news out of the UI Department of Economics: the U.S. Census Bureau has approved the university’s application for a branch Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC) on the Urbana-Champaign campus.

• Illinois-Carle Collaboration Opens Stellar Opportunities for Graduate Students

  May 11, 2015 4:30 pm220 views

  Carle Health System, through its Cancer Center, and the University of Illinois, through the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative (IHSI), are debuting the Cancer Scholars for Translational and Applied Research (C*STAR) Program, thanks to cross-campus funding and matching support from Carle.

• Seed Funding Blossoms Into NIH R01 Award for Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance Collaborators

  Mar 30, 2016 11:00 am184 views

  Congratulations to Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance researchers Professor Brendan Harley (Illinois), Ian Parney (Mayo), Jann Sarkaria (Mayo), and Steven George, a collaborator from Washington University in St. Louis, who have been awarded R01 funding from the National Institutes of Health for their project titled, "Biomimetic hydrogel niches to study the malignant phenotype of glioblastoma multiforme."

• Illinois-Carle Digestive Health Research Group Takes Shape

  May 8, 2015 1:30 pm140 views

  More than 40 health-focused researchers, physicians, and advanced practice providers met this week to take the first steps in organizing the newest UI-Carle health research group. The Illinois-Carle Digestive Health Research Group is forming to combine Carle’s expertise in gastroenterology and digestive health with Illinois research strengths in nutrition, obesity, the human microbiome, and more.

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  Health Innovations Lecture Series Launches February 9

  Feb 9, 2016 3:15 pm122 views

  The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative (IHSI), the uniting force for research at the intersection of health sciences and technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Carle, the community’s nationally-recognized healthcare system, have joined forces to create the Health Innovations Lecture Series.

• Health Sciences at Illinois

  Apr 6, 2015 10:00 pm121 views
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  Brainhack Coming to Illinois, March 2-4, 2017

  Feb 20, 2017 2:00 pm113 views

  Faculty from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have joined together to bring a mega-brainhack event to campus, March 2-4, 2017 at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Billed as a “community-organized hackathon and unconference” the event will bring together researchers from a variety of fields to connect, collaborate, and solve neuroimaging problems involving large datasets.

  The Brainhack is described as an “unconference” because the weekend is meant to be adaptive with the shape and focus of the event flowing with the problems the registrants bring to the table. Brad Sutton, one of three co-organizers and associate professor in bioengineering, said the ability for the attendees to come together and solve problems as a team is a critical element of any Brainhack event.

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  Magical Organization Gives Kids a Summer to Remember

  Feb 3, 2016 12:00 pm108 views

  Since 2007, Camp Kesem student volunteers have created a fun escape for children in central and western Illinois dealing with their parents’ cancer, in the form of a week-long summer camp.

• New Academic-Industry Center Established for Molecular Imaging of Drugs

  Feb 10, 2016 11:30 am99 views

  A new industry-supported center located at the Beckman Institute plans to image molecules, live cells, and tissues in the body before, during, and after drug treatment in order to understand the efficacy of the drugs and the response of the body to treatments.

• 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

• "SfN Night" Foreshadows Success in Chicago

  Oct 19, 2015 10:00 am96 views

  The Neuroscience Program at Illinois held an event on October 6 for faculty and students attending the annual Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Meeting. The event included a buffet dinner and a "SfN Pre-Poster" session which allowed those presenting at the meeting to show early versions of their posters for practice and feedback.

• C*STAR Fall 2015 Awardees Announced

  Aug 6, 2015 2:15 pm89 views

  The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative, the Cancer Community at Illinois, and Carle Health Systems are pleased to announce the inaugural group of C*STAR awardees: Elizabeth Awick, Mahdieh Jadaliha, and Evijola Llabani.

  C*STAR, the Cancer Scholars for Translational and Applied Research program, is a graduate education program that fosters translational research and near-term benefits to the patients served in the community. 

• Carle Illinois College of Medicine to receive preliminary accreditation survey visit from Liaison Committee on Medical Education

  Mar 27, 2017 1:45 pm87 views

  The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) will conduct an on-site preliminary accreditation survey visit with the Carle Illinois College of Medicine on June 20-23, 2017. This important milestone in the accreditation process for the college marks its advancement from “applicant school” to “candidate school” status following favorable review of its data collection instrument and self-study submitted in November 2016.

• Illinois Researchers: Submit Your Thoughts On a 10,000 Genome Grand Challenge Project

  Jan 10, 2017 4:15 pm82 views

  The Mayo Clinic and Illinois Alliance is gathering feedback from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers in regard to a grand challenge proposed by the Mayo Clinic. The challenge is to develop a pipeline from genomic sequencing to clinically relevant interpretation of the data for 10,000 patient genomes per year. Information gathered through this request will inform the Illinois working group on how to proceed, by highlighting significant areas of interest from the Urbana campus.

• REDCap Research Story: The Medical Cannabis Patient Program

  May 15, 2020 1:00 pm77 views
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  The Survivor Games

  Apr 28, 2015 10:15 am76 views

• IHSI to Host Town Hall Meetings

  Sep 8, 2015 4:30 pm65 views

  The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative (IHSI) will host two town hall meetings this fall. IHSI Director Neal Cohen will introduce the initiative, explaining how it catalyzes health research, connects investigators and labs with clinical partners, provides research support, and engages the communities in participatory health sciences research and outreach.

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  IHSI offers webinar for early career faculty

  Aug 23, 2016 2:00 pm62 views

  IHSI has organized a webinar for early career faculty regarding engaging with federal funding agencies. This is an excellent opportunity for faculty to learn how to build and maximize their relationships with the funding agencies and program managers. The webinar will  be hosted and facilitated by Lewis-Burke Associates.

• 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.

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  Application Finalized for Federal Health Data Center at Illinois

  Jan 25, 2016 11:45 am61 views

  Campus-wide interest proved strong at informational sessions about the application for a Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC) on the Illinois campus. Hosted by IHSI on December 7 and 8, researchers in areas ranging from physics and bioengineering to landscape architecture turned out to get a better sense of what this new data center could mean for their research.

• BERD team shares knowledge in statistical practice

  Mar 19, 2021 8:00 am60 views

  The Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) team shares insights from attending the Conference on Statistical Practice virtually in February 2021.

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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.

• Faculty Nominations Now Being Accepted for the NIH Grant Writing Series

  May 12, 2015 11:15 am57 views

  The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative (IHSI) is presenting a NIH Grant Writing Series at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The series is designed to help junior faculty prepare to write and submit strong R01 or other individual investigator proposals to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This intensive series will consist of 10 sessions, scheduled over 12 weeks, during the fall 2015 semester.

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  BioE Students Get Inside Look at Clinical Imaging

  Dec 13, 2016 10:00 am56 views

  Wawrzyniec Dobrucki, professor in the Department of Bioengineering, and his Fall 2016 BioE 498/598 (Preclinical Molecular Imaging) students recently took tours of the imaging facilities at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, IL. The students were given an inside look at the different imaging modalities that are used in the clinical setting.

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  IHSI and Carle: Partnering in Pre-clinical and Clinical Research

  Oct 20, 2015 2:45 pm54 views

  The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative (IHSI) and Carle have built a partnership that is fostering and supporting pre-clinical and clinical research via the Biomedical Research Center. The BRC, which is located on the 3rd floor of the Mills Breast Cancer Institute at Carle, unites the clinical resources of Carle with the scientific resources of the University of Illinois to create a laboratory setting where cutting edge medical research is being conducted.

• Computational Genomics Course Now Underway

  Jul 22, 2015 9:45 am40 views

  The Computational Genomics Course, organized by the Mayo-Illinois Alliance and sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative (IHSI) at Illinois, continues to grow.

• Round Two of the Carle Illinois Collaborative Research Funding Program Announced

  Mar 15, 2017 11:15 am30 views

  The jointly funded-seed funding program has been developed between Carle and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has just announced a call for proposals for its second round of funding. The program provides a funding infusion to support and encourage new lines of research and collaboration among Carle physicians and Illinois investigators.

• Cancer Community at Illinois Holds 2016 Annual Meeting

  Nov 4, 2016 9:45 am26 views

  On October 19, 2016, the Cancer Community at Illinois held its annual meeting at the Beckman Institute for Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Around 60 faculty researchers, staff, clinicians, postdocs, and graduate students from across campus came together for the important event.

• Applications and Nominations Invited for OVCR Faculty Fellow

  Mar 29, 2017 11:45 am24 views
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  Futuristic Brain Probe Allows for Wireless Control of Neurons

  Jul 16, 2015 3:45 pm23 views

  A study showed that scientists can wirelessly determine the path a mouse walks with a press of a button. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, and University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, created a remote controlled, next-generation tissue implant that allows neuroscientists to inject drugs and shine lights on neurons deep inside the brains of mice. The revolutionary device is described online in the journal Cell. Its development was partially funded by the National Institutes of Health.

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  Director's Message | August 2020

  Aug 28, 2020 8:00 am20 views

  IHSI Director, Dr. Neal J. Cohen, shares reflections, updates, and highlights for August 2020.

• 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).

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  New $750K NSF Brain Grant awarded to Dan Llano

  Oct 28, 2015 9:30 am17 views

  Congratulations to Assistant Professor in neuroscience at the College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign, Dan Llano (PI), on a new 3-year NSF grant with co-PIs from the UIC Department of Computer Science, Associate Professor Tanya Berger-Wolf and Professor Robert Kenyon, entitled “CRCNS: Community Dynamic Imaging of Corticothalamic Projections.” The total award amount is $750,000, with $375,039 going to UIC; the official start date is October 1, 2015.

• A Healthy Prescription: Beckman Researchers Examine How Comprehension and Memory Impact Self-Care

  Apr 25, 2017 11:30 am16 views

  Electronic health record portals should make it easy and convenient for patients to view the important information in their medical records. But having access to the information and understanding how to use it are two different things. That’s especially true for older adults, whose increased health care needs can coincide with age-related declines in cognitive abilities, such as working memory and attention. It’s a reality that motivates Daniel Morrow in his work on health literacy.

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  Director's Message | July 2020

  Jul 21, 2020 8:00 am16 views

  IHSI Director, Dr. Neal J. Cohen, shares reflections, updates, and highlights for July 2020.

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  Director's Message | October 2020

  Oct 6, 2020 10:30 am16 views

  IHSI Director, Dr. Neal J. Cohen, shares reflections, updates, and highlights for October 2020.

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  IHSI to sponsor local Brain Bee for high school students

  Dec 16, 2016 2:45 pm16 views

  IHSI is sponsoring a Brain Bee, a neuroscience competition for high school students. The event will be held on Saturday, February 4, 2017 from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at the Champaign Public Library. The event is open to students between the ages of 14 and 18 years old. Registration is required by January 20, 2017.

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  Health Innovations Lecture Series Kicks Off for 2017

  Feb 7, 2017 9:00 am12 views

  On January 27, Mayo Clinic surgeon Dr. Heidi Nelson discussed emerging technologies, trends, and the future of surgery, as part of Health Innovations Lecture Series sponsored by IHSI and Carle.

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  Beckman Institute Vision and Spirit Award Recognizes Bhargava

  Apr 11, 2017 10:45 am12 views

  In honor of the sesquicentennial of the University of Illinois, the award, in the amount of $150,000, recognizes a researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology who exemplifies founder Arnold Beckman’s vision in establishing the Beckman Institute, and who, like Beckman and other Institute faculty members, has fostered collaboration in order to mount a bold and risky experiment that meets not only short-term research goals, but inspires future long-term work, contributing significantly to the mission of the Beckman Institute.