blog posts Project helps East St. Louis residents overcome barriers to COVID-19 testing, vaccination Mar 23, 2022 9:30 am A project co-led by UIUC that is underway in East St. Louis, Illinois, is investigating strategies for overcoming barriers to COVID-19 testing and vaccination among more than 548 medically and socially vulnerable residents of St. Clair County. Better outcomes for Black and Latinx asthma patients Mar 23, 2022 9:30 am UIC was part of a study which found that when Black or Latinx asthma patients were instructed to use inhaled corticosteroids, their risk of severe exacerbation was reduced by 15%. Saliva test being expanded in Champaign-Urbana community Mar 24, 2021 10:15 am OSF HealthCare announced a new partnership with the University of Illinois Tuesday that will expand the U of I’s saliva-based COVID-19 test into the broader Champaign-Urbana community. Community colleges in Illinois now have option to provide free covidSHIELD tests to state residents Apr 19, 2021 1:00 pm Community colleges across the state now have the ability to provide the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s (UIUC) innovative, saliva-based COVID-19 test at no cost to any state resident who wants one. Child Development Laboratory cares for children of essential, critical personnel May 5, 2020 10:00 am Since mid-March, the staff at the CDL has stepped up to provide emergency childcare for a limited number of essential and critical personnel during the pandemic, under the state’s emergency childcare license. South Shore clinic expands COVID-19 testing May 5, 2020 10:15 am UI Health Mile Square Health Center — a network of federally qualified health centers, or FQHCs, in Chicago — is now providing COVID-19 testing to community members on the South Side who meet testing criteria at its South Shore clinic, located at 7037 S. Stony Island Ave. UIS helping private and community colleges and state agencies transition to remote learning May 5, 2020 9:45 am The University of Illinois Springfield Center For Online Learning, Research and Service (COLRS) is helping Illinois private and community colleges and state agencies transition to remote learning as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. State invests big in COVID tests for schools May 12, 2021 6:00 pm In an effort to ensure in-person learning can fully resume as quickly and safely as possible, the Illinois Department of Public Health today announced a $225 million investment to expand access to covidSHIELD saliva-based testing, developed by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, to middle and high schools across the state at low or no cost. DPI launches new education and workforce research center May 31, 2020 8:30 am The Discovery Partners Institute has launched a new education and workforce research center, IWERC, with $3.9 million from some of the city’s most influential philanthropists and foundations. SHIELD CU helping raise vaccination rates among people of color Jun 16, 2021 9:00 am The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's SHIELD CU team is partnering with local organizations to help boost COVID-19 vaccine rates in Champaign County's community of color. UIS offers free public webinar series on community health Jun 17, 2020 8:45 am As part of the Springfield Innovation Hub, UIS and the Community Health Roundtable have launched a new webinar series on community health with immediate focus on the impact of COVID-19. U of I to expand COVID saliva testing nationally Aug 10, 2020 3:15 pm The U of I System has embarked on a broad effort to expand the reach of saliva-based testing pioneered by U of I researchers that supports widespread testing with rapid results to limit spread of the COVID-19 virus. Impact on the state economy Aug 14, 2019 1:00 pm The U of I System contributes $17.5 billion annually to the state’s economy through its research, hospital, and entrepreneurial activities, along with the universities' students and visitors, according to a recent study. More... Assisting military-dependent communities Aug 19, 2019 2:30 pm UIC has received a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment to support economic research and resiliency in Illinois’ military-connected communities. More... Study from UIC: COVID virus evolves more rapidly in central nervous system Sep 10, 2024 3:15 pm The coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic evolves more rapidly in the brain than in the lungs, according to new research from University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University. New variants created in the brain and other parts of the nervous system could also travel back to the lungs, where they could become transmissible and spread new, dangerous variants of the virus. Women with hypertension, obesity show benefits from UIC cooking class Sep 11, 2023 10:30 am Women who participated in a 12-week program called “Food is Medicine: Healing Together” say the cooking classes and nutrition seminars helped turn their health around. Collaboration to better serve pediatric patients Nov 3, 2021 8:30 am Cook County Health and UI Health — the leading public health care providers in Cook County and Illinois — will collaborate on specialty pediatric services under the Partnership for Pediatric Care, a new clinical affiliation for shared services. New molecule targets, images and treats lung cancer tumors in mice Nov 3, 2021 8:30 am University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a finely tuned molecular agent that can target lung and other cancer cells for imaging and treatment. Researchers to combat systemic racism in access to nature Nov 19, 2021 10:00 am Researchers from the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism in the College of Applied Health Sciences at UIUC plan to give a formal evaluation of efforts by the Urbana Park District to increase acceess to nature and recreation opportunites among diverse residents. Preparing youth with disabilities for adulthood Nov 30, 2021 12:15 pm The UIC Division of Specialized Care for Children sponsors an annual conference to help prepare Illinois families for the transition of their children with special health needs to adulthood. Pop-up testing clinics for Rantoul ag workers Dec 2, 2020 1:30 pm An interdisciplinary team of scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is working with clinicians and community researchers to expand access to COVID-19 testing by providing pop-up testing clinics for agricultural workers and others at various locations in Rantoul, Illinois. UIUC, Carle partner to launch brain study Dec 9, 2021 8:00 am Thanks to a collaboration between Carle and the University of Illinois, the first-of-its-kind Champaign-Urbana Population Study will be conducted to collect information about the brain’s structure and function across a diverse group of volunteers. UIC researchers, health care providers partner with communities to address health disparities Apr 10, 2025 12:30 pm The life expectancy for Black people is nearly five years shorter than for white people, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago and UI Health, the university’s academic health enterprise, want to better understand the correlations and to intervene with services that can bridge the divide.