blog posts

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  In survey, COVID-19 vaccine recipients report changes in menstrual bleeding

  Jul 22, 2022 9:45 am

  In a survey of more than 35,000 people, UIUC anthropology professor Kathryn Clancy and her colleagues collected evidence that many individuals experience menstrual changes after COVID-19 vaccination.

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  Developing antivirals for pandemic-level viruses

  Aug 11, 2022 10:00 am

  Researchers at UIC are working with the National Institutes of Health and researchers from across the country to establish a center for antiviral drug development for pandemic-level viruses, including Ebola and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. 

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  Food-buying behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic

  Aug 11, 2022 10:00 am

  A new study examines how Americans acquired food at various points during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how those activities changed over time as case numbers fluctuated and vaccines became available.

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  Who should get an omicron COVID-19 booster?

  Sep 16, 2022 10:15 am

  Although the omicron variants seem less deadly, COVID-19 vaccine boosters are needed to keep up with the virus as it evolves, says UIUC microbiology professor Christopher Brooke.

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  Shield T3 launches a vending machine for COVID-19 tests

  Sep 16, 2022 10:15 am

  Shield T3, a spin out of the U of I System’s Discovery Partners Institute, is now providing vending machines stocked with more than 300 of its saliva-based, PCR tests for COVID-19. 

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  DNA nets capture COVID-19 virus in low-cost rapid-testing platform

  Sep 29, 2022 3:45 pm

  Tiny nets woven from DNA strands can ensnare the spike protein of the virus that causes COVID-19, lighting up the virus for a fast-yet-sensitive diagnostic test – and also impeding the virus from infecting cells, opening a new possible route to antiviral treatment, according to a new study.

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  Boosters plus interventions could cut deaths

  Sep 29, 2022 3:45 pm

  Combining the widespread use of booster shots with a couple of protective measures more commonly used earlier in the pandemic could help reduce COVID-19 deaths in upcoming months, new research from UIUC suggests.

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  IDPH, DPI, Shield T3 to expand wastewater monitoring to schools

  Sep 29, 2022 3:45 pm

  The state of Illinois announced it is launching an innovative pilot program to protect school children from COVID-19 and reduce its spread through classrooms by analyzing school wastewater for the coronavirus, an expansion of the partnership between IDPH, the Discovery Partners Institute and Shield T3.

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  Media faculty to study public attitudes of COVID-19 testing

  Oct 25, 2022 12:30 pm

  Three UIUC College of Media faculty have received a $25,000 research grant from SHIELD Illinois for a project that will examine public attitudes, news framing, and online engagement about SHIELD COVID-19 testing. 

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  COVID-19 research on wastewater systems to track pandemics

  Oct 25, 2022 12:45 pm

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $1,000,000 in research grant funding to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to improve wastewater monitoring to rapidly detect the emergence and spread of infectious disease in the current COVID-19 pandemic, and to detect other pathogens that could cause future pandemics.

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  Study: COVID-19 policies harmed minority women's perinatal experiences, magnified inequities

  Nov 17, 2022 8:30 am

  Black, Indigenous and other women of color who were pregnant or gave birth during the pandemic said these experiences were overshadowed by isolation, confusion and fear, much of it caused by unclear or frequently changing institutional policies, according to a new UIUC study.

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  Student-run contract tracing effective in curbing COVID-19 transmission

  Nov 21, 2022 1:00 pm

  The UIC COVID-19 Contact Tracing and Epidemiology Program helped reduce COVID-19 exposures and infections on campus during the 2020-21 academic year, according to results published in the American Journal of Infection Control.

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  Second year of pandemic deadlier for middle aged than the first

  Nov 21, 2022 2:00 pm

  The first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic saw an increase in mortality rates, both from COVID-19 and other causes, but the groups hardest hit shifted between the first and second years, according to an analysis of publicly available data.

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  DPI & IDPH launch online COVID-19 tracker

  Jan 10, 2023 1:30 pm

  The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced today a new website that tracks the levels of COVID-19 in wastewater samples in Chicago and other cities across Illinois.

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  UIUC researchers look to duck antibodies to help fight next pandemic

  Feb 13, 2023 11:00 am

  Could an analysis of ducks’ antibodies help engineer new therapeutics for humans, and potentially develop tools to fight the next pandemic? A team including many UIUC scientists has been tasked with finding out.

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  Discovery Partners Institute receives $2.36M disease-control contract from CDPH

  Feb 21, 2023 10:30 am

  The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) is expanding its wastewater surveillance in Chicago beyond the virus that causes COVID-19 under a Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) agreement that extends their disease-control efforts into mid-2024. The DPI-led scientific team is now also analyzing wastewater for evidence of influenza A and B. The new agreement permits this search to grow to include other pathogens, such as the polio or monkeypox viruses, should they emerge as public health concerns.

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  Social media messaging was effective in mitigating COVID-19, researchers say

  Apr 12, 2023 11:30 am

  Researchers discovered that employing social media posts as a means of visual nudging to encourage safe behaviors significantly impacts COVID-19 positivity rates. This effect remains evident even after accounting for various organizational characteristics and disease dynamics at multiple levels.