Med School Minute February 2026

Janet Jokela penned a piece titled “A humanitarian crisis,” which was recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. It’s available here with institutional access.

Thirteen CI MED teams have been selected as semi-finalists in the Global Health Innovation Grand Challenge competition. They will compete with student innovators from around the world for a chance at start-up and development funding. From new surgical devices to special glasses for aging eyes to devices like PedalPro (see photo), CI MED innovations will take center stage at the GCIEM Global Summit in Taipei, Taiwan, in April. Read more here.

The 2026 Cozad New Venture Challenge will feature 33 CI MED-led student teams competing with student innovators from across campus to share in more than $550k in start-up funding and support. More than 70 CI MED students have signed up to compete in this year’s event, most in the Healthcare Transformation track. Workshops are underway to prepare student entrepreneurs for pitching their ideas to judges on Demo Day Showcase on April 16, 2026, at the I Hotel and Conference Center. 

Research Innovation Pathway Grant applications are being accepted, providing up to $3,000 in funding. Five or six grants are awarded per cycle. Submit your application and your abstract by April 17, 2026, here.

Clinical Departments:

Several CI MED faculty members are joining colleagues from the University of Birmingham (UK) in leading a workshop aimed at training a network of facilitators prepared to deliver microbiome-supportive, sustainable food systems education and implementation strategies within clinical and community health settings. Scheduled for March 19, 2026, in the UK, “Train the Trainer: Building Sustainable Food Systems and Promoting Microbiome-Friendly Practices in Healthcare,” is spearheaded by Japhia Jayasingh-Ramkumar and Helen Onyeaka (University of Birmingham) with help fromDavendra Ramkumar, Holly Rosencranz, Warren Lavey, and many others.

• Department of Oncology all-faculty meeting - Wednesday, March 11, at 4 pm. 
• Department of Neurology/Neurosurgery all-faculty meeting - Wednesday, April 1, at 4 pm.

Have you ever wished change could feel a little less chaotic? That’s where Quality Planning swoops in — our planning superhero! As part of a quality management process, planning helps turn “We should fix this…” into “Here’s our plan, our metrics, and our impact.” By mapping processes, testing small tweaks, and learning from real data, the process ensures improvements aren’t just hopeful — they’re intentional and meet LCME Element 1.1, Strategic Planning and Continuous Quality Improvement. It’s like giving every new idea a GPS: fewer wrong turns, smoother journeys, and better outcomes for learners. 

Mark your calendars! On March 6, CI MED will launch our first annual Orange & Blue Days White Coat Stethoscope Campaign. Each gift of $250 to the Phyllis M. Wise Center for Student Excellence Fund will purchase one stethoscope for a Class of 2030 Carle Illinois College of Medicine medical student. The goal is to reach 25 donors, and you can help support this goal as an Advocate (sharing your story and the campaign via social media) or as a Champion (encouraging donors via a matching or challenge grant). Please contact Kari Wallace if you would like to help us as either Advocate or Champion! Learn more here.

The 4th Annual Medical Education Experience (MEdX) conference was a great success, with over 300 attendees for a dynamic and engaging exchange of ideas. Building on our theme, “Building Bridges: Connecting Minds and Shaping Futures in Medical Education,” this year’s event included outstanding plenary speakers, forward-looking discussions on leadership, innovation, and artificial intelligence in medicine, and a wide range of staff-focused sessions. MEdX 2026 not only inspired new ideas but reinforced the vital role each individual plays in shaping the future of medical education.

Illinois’ campus-wide Annual Faculty Retreat will be held on Friday, March 6, 2026, from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm at the Illini Union. This year’s faculty retreat theme is Building Resilience Through Community, Connection, and Collaborative Problem-Solving. Registration is due here by February 25, 2026.

Faculty Development Events:

• 2026 Spring Faculty Fusion March 5, 2026: Register Today!
  Geoffrey Lindsay Herman, Provost Fellow for Teaching Evaluation and Severns Teaching Professor in Computer Science in the Grainger College of Engineering, will speak about upcoming changes to faculty promotion requirements related to peer feedback.
• Annual Policy Attestations: Watch your email at the beginning of March.
• Scholar RX Spring 2026 “Office Hours” Webinar: See the OFAD calendar here.
• IAMSE Spring 2026 Series: Please see OFAD calendar here.
• CI MED Faculty Grand Rounds on Zoom: Please find Zoom link here.
• 2026 C.O.M.P.A.S.S. ACGME Program May 1&2, 2026: Register today!

We commonly use CI MED (all caps with a space) as the shorthand name for our college. So how’s our ‘shorthand’ name pronounced? Here’s a simple guide:

CORRECT: ‘see-eye-med’ 
INCORRECT: ‘sigh-med’ 

You can update your professional bio on the CI MED website!  How?
Just point your browser at the Carle Illinois website, log into MyMedicine (upper right corner), access the Administrative Tools tab, and click Biodata to update your professional profile. 

You will be able to:

• Add your bio and contact information
• List the courses you teach
• List our honors and research publications
• List your teaching statement
• And a wide range of other professional activities, including conference presentations, etc.
• Add your preferred professional photo to appear on the Faculty/Staff pages of the college website.

Alternatively, you can click ‘Allow Others to Update Your Profile’ to assign a ‘proxy’ to enter your BioData on your behalf. 

Media mentions:

• The Big Ten Network showcased CI MED’s work with the Butkus Foundation to raise awareness and boost heart screenings to combat heart disease. As part of its coverage of the Butkus Awards on February 16, BTN featured this video, describing the goals of the CI MED/Butkus Foundation partnership and the importance of cardiovascular screening.

Hua Wang earned an Early Career Award from the METAvivor Foundation for his research project, “Next-Generation Exosome Vaccines for Treating Metastatic Breast Cancer.” It was one of 14 projects awarded by Metavivor, which distributed $3.55 million to the research grant awardees to advance metastatic breast cancer (MBC) research. Read more here.

How long have you been at Carle Illinois, and where were you before?
I have been at CI MED for nine months. Before that, I was an associate professor at a French graduate school of engineering, working in a research group focused on cognitive ergonomics, collaborative XR, and team awareness. I have been involved in medical simulation and medical technologies for a long time through research projects, hospital collaborations, and the Hacking Health chapter in Nantes.

Tell me about an interesting project that you’re working on now.
We designed and developed an augmented‑reality simulator for Samar Hegazy’s respiratory course. It was a really interesting project, both as a collective, multidisciplinary effort and because of the technical challenges involved in using AI, eXtended Reality, and multi‑user collaborative virtual environments, with the goal of deploying it in the actual respiratory class.

What do you love most about working at Carle Illinois?
CI MED is certainly a unique place to work. Beyond the JUMP Simulation Center and the engineering components of the curriculum, I enjoy interacting with colleagues who are forward‑thinking in education, assessment, and the use of simulation. I also appreciate the diversity and inclusiveness across the university. It’s great to be part of such a supportive and welcoming community.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work?
I try to keep up with everything happening here through ExperienceUC, Smile Politely, and various UIUC newsletters. I enjoy going to music, shows, and theatre events, especially at the Krannert Center, though Urbana has a few other hidden gems as well. I’m usually a cyclist and team‑sports player, but this year I’ve set the Illinois Half Marathon as my goal for the end of April. I’m not a great runner, so I definitely have some training to do, and fortunately, the flat landscape around here is a big help.

Active searches:

• Teaching Faculty – Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences
• Director of Human Resources – Office of Finance and Administration
• Clinical Course Specialist – Office of Academic Affairs
• Office Administrator – Department of Clinical Sciences
• Office Manager – Office of Advancement and Office of Marketing and Communications

New hires/promotions:

Shaniya Brown is the new office administrator in the Department of Clinical Sciences, where she provides departmental and unit administrative and operational support to the team. She also provides support to assigned department head(s) and is the primary contact between other college units and departments. 

External Events:

• Cozad New Venture Challenge Demo Day – Thursday, April 16, at the I Hotel and Conference Center
• Cozad Finals Event and Awards Ceremony – Friday, April 17, 2026.