2023-07-06
- Clinical testing is underway for a potentially groundbreaking new treatment for cystic fibrosis. Pioneered by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Iowa in partnership with the spin-out biotechnology company cystetic Medicines, this promising inhalable molecular prosthetic is intended to improve lung function in people with CF who cannot...
2023-06-30 - Researchers have detected complex organic molecules in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years away from Earth – the most distant galaxy in which these molecules are now known to exist. Thanks to the capabilities of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope and careful analyses from the research team, a new study lends critical insight into the complex chemical interactions that occur in...
2023-06-30 - Like many ecological scientists, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign plant biology professor James O’Dwyer has spent much of his career searching for ways to measure and predict how specific plant communities will fare over time. Which species in a diverse population will persist and coexist? Which will decline? What factors might contribute to...
2023-06-30 - The seemingly stable regions of the Earth’s continental plates – the so-called stable cratons – have suffered repetitive deformation below their crust since their formation in the remote past, according to new research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This hypothesis defies decades of conventional plate tectonics theory and begs to answer why most cratons have...
2023-06-29 - Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are working with Native American tribes across the country to digitize oral histories and ethnographic materials collected from tribal members and to make them accessible online. Illinois is one of seven universities that are part of the...
2023-06-29 - When individuals share videos about surprise reunions with their intimate partners on the internet, the reaction from viewers may not be the roses and unicorns the posters expected. Viewers’ responses to shared videos have the potential to shape offline relationships, a case study of one such video found. In a paper published in the journal New Media and Society, Emily A. Mendelson, a graduate...
2023-06-29 - Fifteen years of archaeological work in the Tam Pa Ling cave in northeastern Laos has yielded a reliable chronology of early human occupation of the site, scientists report in the journal Nature Communications. The team’s excavations through the layers of sediments and bones that gradually washed into the cave and were left untouched for tens of thousands of years reveals that humans lived in the...
2023-06-28 - “I truly feel like what I am doing is making a difference,” said Olivia Ross, a psychology major, in the midst of a bicycle ride across the country. “Even though I may not be able to cure cancer myself, knowing we are funding scientists who might be able to is so special.” Ross is part of a long bicycle ride that began on May 27 in New York’s...
2023-06-28 - Wildfires emit large amounts of smoke containing harmful pollutants that can drift for hundreds or thousands of miles away from their source, as shown by this summer’s Canadian wildfires, which created air quality problems as far afield as New York City. A new paper co-written by a team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers analyzes how drifting wildfire smoke impacts the U.S....
2023-06-13 - The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences has awarded funding to six teams of faculty and staff to advance innovative ideas that aim to improve student experiences, from incorporating one-on-one mentorship with teaching to offering Illinois undergrads and incarcerated individuals the opportunity to learn together. The college issued a call for LAS Student Success Innovation proposals earlier...
2023-06-09 - Five University of Illinois professors at the Urbana-Champaign campus, including two from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, have been named University Scholars in recognition of their excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. The scholars program recognizes faculty excellence and...
2023-06-08 - Before it was home to Spain and Portugal, much of the Iberian Peninsula was ruled by a succession of Islamic dynasties for almost 800 years during the Middle Ages. Known as al-Andalus, its influence is still reflected in art and politics today – not only in Spain and North Africa, but also in places far from the historical site of al-Andalus. Eric Calderwood, a...
2023-06-08 - Outstanding individual and group outreach efforts were recently recognized with the 2023 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement. The awards honor faculty and staff members, students, and community members who engage the public to address critical societal...
2023-06-08 - Asian colobines, also known as leaf-eating monkeys, have been on the planet for about 10 million years. Their ancestors crossed land bridges, dispersed across continents, survived the expansion and contraction of ice sheets and learned to live in tropical, temperate and colder climes. A new study reported in the journal Science finds parallels between Asian colobines’ social, environmental...
2023-06-08 - Martin D. Burke, a professor of chemistry and of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, has been named the May and Ving Lee Professor for Chemical Innovation. Known for his contributions to pioneering lego-like automated small molecule synthesis, launching the field of molecular prosthetics, and developing...
2023-06-02 - The College of LAS has awarded more than 25 professors with named scholar positions for their contributions to education and research at the University of Illinois. The named positions include the Lincoln Excellence for Assistant Professors (LEAP) Scholars, the Lynn M. Martin Professorial Scholars, the Norman P. Jones Professorial Scholars, the Helen Corley Petit Scholars, the I.C. Gunsalus...
2023-05-31 - Meet Natasha Samreny (MA, ’10, Middle Eastern Studies & Arabic). She is the director of marketing and communications for Trinity Repertory Company, a theater within the League of Resident Theatres. As a storyteller, Samreny taps into her global view to connect with audiences from different backgrounds. Describe a typical workday. Also...
2023-05-31 - Kelvin Droegemeier, a research meteorologist who previously held several national science and policy leadership roles, is joining the faculty of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on Aug. 16. He also will hold a special advisory position in the Office of the Chancellor and will support strategic efforts for the University of Illinois System. “...
2023-05-30 - Maybe it’s because Runhuan Feng works so much in analyzing risk and uncertainty—in finance, insurance, retirement planning, healthcare, and otherwise—that soon after joining the University of Illinois as a professor in mathematics he began to wonder: “How did the study of these things begin at U of I?” The answer turned out to be one of the biggest...
2023-05-30 - Thirteen University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students and recent graduates, including 10 from the College of LAS, were offered Fulbright grants to pursue international education, research, and teaching experiences around the globe this coming year. Another six Illinois students were named Fulbright alternates. Eleven of the students have accepted grants from the ...
2023-05-23 - Economics professor Marcelo Cunha Medeiros was named the Jorge Paulo Lemann Chair in Brazilian Economy in a recent ceremony. While he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois less than a year ago, Medeiros brings a history of research, scholarship, and teaching. He was previously with the Department of Economics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro for 22 years after...
2023-05-19 - Early on a sunny Sunday morning, the chimes tower in Altgeld Hall is filling up with people. Students climb the steep staircase to the tower, several of them carrying snacks. They are all chimes players who will perform for a recording of chimes music. Chimesmaster Michael Broussard, a doctoral student in ethnomusicology, is coordinating the recording session. He’s on his cell phone with sound...
2023-05-19 - Hundreds of millions of years before the evolution of animals with segmented bodies, jointed skeletons or appendages, soft-bodied invertebrates like sea slugs ruled the seas. A new study finds parallels between the brain architecture that drives locomotion in sea slugs and that of more complex segmented creatures with jointed skeletons and appendages. Reported in the Journal of...
2023-05-12 - When you come to a new country to attend college, sometimes the problems you face can be the most basic kind—such as housing. Yuyan Liu, a psychology major, recalled how her friends encountered a problem that many international students have dealt with when they come to school partway around the world: If there’s a period of time between the end of...
2023-05-12 - A team of scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Rice University, and Danville Area Community College has created an affordable laboratory curriculum for teaching advanced data analysis techniques and instrument building to first-year general chemistry students. Students in the course at DACC get a first-hand look at the inside of a spectrometer by building a simple one from...