Health and LAS | College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Male doctoral student supervised by female professor. The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences has long been a campus leader in health-related research and teaching. Our goals are to advance diagnostics, treatments, and prevention techniques and to better train health care professionals. We have research and teaching strengths in many health-related areas.

LAS also has ambitious plans to partner with the Carle Illinois College of Medicine to contribute to medical education and research.

Cutting-edge research

LAS faculty from across the college are making contributions to health and medicine. Researchers are developing anti-cancer drugs, sequencing genomes, exploring new ways to improve communication in health-care facilities, and examining how environmental stress contributes to negative health outcomes. From the natural and life sciences to the social sciences and humanities, we are at the leading edge of discoveries that will transform human health in the 21st century.

Training the best minds

Our faculty members are training the best young minds through classes and student research projects. Our alumni work as doctors, drug developers, global health administrators, psychologists, health educators, and more. With an LAS degree, our alumni tackle current issues in health while anticipating and solving new ones.

Reaching into the world

Work happening in labs and classrooms is important, but it's not the only way those in LAS contribute. Our faculty members are touching the lives of others through clinical trials and bringing drugs to market. They're training the next generation of health communicators to improve public advocacy and assist patients. Our students volunteer for many related organizations. A few examples: contributing to the health of others through Alternative Spring Break, volunteering for non-profits providing low-cost medical and dental care in the local community, and serving as peer listeners while raising awareness about mental health issues.

LAS news stories about health

Chengjian Mao, Xinyi Dai, David Shapiro, Junyao Zhu and Erik Nelson

Team identifies key driver of cancer cell death pathway that activates immune cells

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists have identified a protein that plays a critical role in the action of several emerging cancer therapies. The researchers say the discovery will likely aid efforts to fine-tune the use of immunotherapies against several challenging cancers. They report their findings in...

Catalyst’s ability to mimic liver enzyme could broaden scope of pharmaceutical drug discovery

When a human consumes a pharmaceutical drug, enzymes in the liver break down the substance into metabolites that are water soluble, so the body can more easily excrete them. In some cases, the resulting metabolites may have potent effects that can be good or bad. Medicinal chemists must test drug...

Molecular illustration of cystic fibrosis

Clinical testing launches for potential treatment for cystic fibrosis

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...

Sweet news for the brain

The brains of healthy adults recovered faster from a mild vascular challenge and performed better on complex tests if the participants consumed cocoa flavanols beforehand, researchers report in the journal Scientific Reports. In the study, 14 of 18 participants saw these improvements after...

Postdoctoral researcher Byoungsoo Kim and professor Hyunjoon Kong

Octopus-inspired design advances wound healing and regeneration

Thin tissue grafts and flexible electronics have a host of applications for wound healing, regenerative medicine, and biosensing. A new device inspired by an octopus’s sucker rapidly transfers delicate tissue or electronic sheets to the patient, overcoming a key barrier to clinical application,...

Study: Cholesterol metabolite causes immune system to attack T cells instead of breast cancer

In breast cancer tumors, a molecule produced when the body breaks down cholesterol hijacks the myeloid immune cells that normally arm T cells to fight cancer, a new study in mice found. Instead, the hijacked myeloid cells disarm the T cells and even tell them to self-destruct. By inhibiting the...