A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN AND CARLE HEALTH
Health Make-A-Thon Finalists
March 23, 2021

Twenty finalists chosen to compete in Spring 2021 Health Make-A-Thon

  • By Beth Hart

Twenty teams of innovators ranging from middle-schoolers to college and medical students, to healthcare providers will pitch their health and wellness ideas to a panel of judges on Saturday, April 17, at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine’s third annual Health Make-A-Thon competition. The finalist teams were chosen from a  field of 94 entries from across Illinois, all vying for a chance at the resources to take their ideas from dream to reality. The Health […]

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March 22, 2021

New cutting-edge MRI technology offers Carle Illinois students rare research, learning opportunities

  • By Beth Hart

The most powerful MRI device of its kind approved for patient use is now operational at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, offering Carle Illinois College of Medicine students unique opportunities to contribute to cutting-edge research, aimed at advancing biomedical knowledge and improving patient care. Carle is one of only a few hospitals in the country and the first in Illinois to acquire a Siemens Healthineers MAGNETOM Terra 7 Tesla (7T) MRI scanner for both clinical […]

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March 18, 2021

Health experts address rise in attacks against Asians in the U.S.

  • By Beth Hart

The alarming rise in racism, violence, and harassment against Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), exacerbated this past year by the COVID-19 pandemic, is leaving short- and long-term impacts on public health in its wake. Over 3,000 cases of COVID-19-related hate and violence against individuals of Asian descent have been reported in the United States since March 2020, according to Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Los Angeles. Carle Illinois College of Medicine explores the recent discrimination and attacks, […]

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March 17, 2021

Carle Illinois faculty member receives bioengineering Trailblazer Award

  • By Beth Hart

Pengfei Song, a Carle Illinois assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, has received a National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Trailblazer R21 Award for pursuing the next-generation ultrasound localization microscopy. The award provides an opportunity for early-career investigators to explore highly innovative research projects. Song is the principal investigator for the project, which was awarded more than $565,000. The research will build on technology that provides very high spatial resolution for imaging microvessels […]

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March 12, 2021

‘Hunker down’ stress genes boosted in women who live in violent neighborhoods

  • By Ryann Monahan

The chronic stress of living in neighborhoods with high rates of violence and poverty alters gene activity in immune cells, according to a new study of low-income single Black mothers on the South Side of Chicago. The changes in stress-related gene expression reflect the body’s “hunker down” response to long-term threat, a physiological strategy for lying low and considering new actions rather than launching an immediate “fight-or-flight” response. This has implications for health outcomes in […]

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March 12, 2021

New technique brings the study of molecular configuration into the microscopic domain

  • By Beth Hart

Researchers at the Beckman Institute have developed a new variation of an infrared microscope with analytical capabilities, allowing researchers to image biological samples at the microscopic level more quickly and accurately. The new instrument is based on the discrete frequency infrared spectroscopic imaging technique developed by researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The novel measurement technique is effective for probing the chemical conformations of biomolecules. “This […]

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March 10, 2021

Cheap, nontoxic carbon nanodots poised to be quantum dots of the future

  • By Ryann Monahan

Tiny fluorescent semiconductor dots, called quantum dots, are useful in a variety of health and electronic technologies but are made of toxic, expensive metals. Nontoxic and economic carbon-based dots are easy to produce, but they emit less light. A new study that uses ultrafast nanometric imaging found good and bad emitters among populations of carbon dots. This observation suggests that by selecting only super-emitters, carbon nanodots can be purified to replace toxic metal quantum dots […]

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March 10, 2021

Leading New Directions in Cancer Research: The Unanswered Black Box

  • By Beth Hart

Carle Illinois College of Medicine professor Hyunjoon Kong is leading new research that will interrogate how cell communication influences body, tissue, and pathogen development. The goal is to help other clinicians and researchers better understand cell-to-cell communications. This innovation could change the way that scientists and clinicians administer tests and treatments to cancer patients. Kong, Robert W. Schafer professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, approaches cancer research from a perspective that integrates cell engineering and […]

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March 5, 2021

Carle Illinois professor named AIMBE fellow

  • By Beth Hart

Carle Illinois College of Medicine professor Jennifer Amos has been named a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). Amos, who is also a professor of bioengineering at The Grainger College of Engineering, was honored for her outstanding contributions to the development of curriculum and assessment methods in biomedical engineering and engineering-driven medical education. She has been actively involved in efforts across the biomedical engineering community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The College of […]

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March 2, 2021

U of I System receives FDA authorization for covidSHIELD test process

  • By University of Illinois System

The University of Illinois System has received emergency use authorization (EUA)  from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for covidSHIELD, its innovative saliva-based COVID-19 test that was used on the U of I campuses to hold the virus in check by utilizing widespread testing with rapid results. Under FDA guidelines, the EUA allows the U of I System to broadly expand its covidSHIELD testing beyond its universities. “The University of Illinois has been a […]

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