Leading the charge against COVID-19

Work-refusal safety laws serve employees poorly during pandemic

May 4, 2021 1:45 pm

A new paper from a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign expert in labor law shows that current work-refusal laws are out-of-step with modern workplaces and provided meager benefits to employees who have refused to work when risks involved chemicals, radiation and other microscopic or invisible hazards such as COVID-19.

illustration of COVID graphene detection process

'Wonder material' can be used to detect COVID-19 quickly, accurately

Jun 16, 2021 8:30 am

Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have successfully used graphene — one of the strongest, thinnest known materials — to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus in laboratory experiments.

Professor Christopher Brooke posed in lab

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.

Webinar: animals' ability to transmit infections to humans

Sep 17, 2021 9:00 am

The University of Illinois Springfield Innovation Hub, UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Community Health Roundtable will host a free virtual public webinar titled “Bats, monkeys and dogs, oh my!” at Noon Friday, Sept. 17 via Zoom.

Angela Mitchell on computer in UI Health pharmacy

Wearable sensors catch worsening COVID-19 symptoms early

Mar 1, 2021 11:00 am

UI Health employees that have had COVID-19 are part of a clinical trial of a new remote monitoring system designed to catch worsening symptoms before it is too late.

Ways to reduce COVID-19 risks in dental offices

Nov 29, 2021 12:15 pm

According to a UIC study, adding a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to the water in ultrasonic scalers used to clean teeth can help mitigate the risk of spreading airborne diseases, including COVID-19, in clinical dental environments.

Wall Street Journal: COVID-19 testing could be a viable long-term business bet

Jun 7, 2021 8:00 am

The University of Illinois System, SHIELD Illinois and Shield T3 are featured in a Wall Street Journal Story about how COVID-19 testing could remain a key component for resuming normal life in the U.S.

Anna Lopez works on laptop and mobile phone at desk

Volunteers help Chicago residents without internet connect to COVID-19 vaccines

Mar 23, 2021 10:30 am

A UIC computer science student created a volunteer group on Facebook aimed at helping individuals from Chicago's Black and brown communities book vaccine appointments online.

Masked student gives thumbs up as he receives the vaccine

Vaccine study now open for student enrollment

Mar 23, 2021 10:30 am

UIUC students may now enroll in a study to help understand the effectiveness of vaccines in reducing the spread of the coronavirus.

Vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers

Dec 6, 2021 3:30 pm

According to a new study by UIC researchers, approximately 3 in 20 health care workers surveyed reported being hesitant about getting their COVID-19 vaccinations.

U.S. Covid-19 supercomputing group evaluates year-long effort

Mar 24, 2021 5:30 pm

Members of the Covid-19 High-Performance Computing Consortium on Tuesday spoke on the progress of their initiative and advocated for a formal organization that would be in charge of making computing resources available in the event of future pandemics, hurricanes, oil spills, wildfires and other natural disasters.

U of I System receives FDA authorization for covidSHIELD test process

Mar 1, 2021 12:45 pm

The University of Illinois System received emergency use authorization (EUA) today from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for covidSHIELD, its innovative saliva-based COVID-19 test that was used on the U of I campuses to hold the virus in check by utilizing widespread testing with rapid results.

four researchers standing, facing the camera

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.

Masked Black male with orange SHIELD t-shirt h gloves handing test tube to man

UIUC receives APLU award for COVID-19 testing program

Jul 6, 2021 8:00 am

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has received the inaugural Research Response to Community Crisis Award from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities for its COVID-19 testing program.

UIUC prof fighting language barrier in pandemic

Sep 14, 2021 8:30 am

Korinta Maldano and the Maya Interpreters Collective have been working to create public health messaging in one of the primary Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala.

UIS to co-host webinar on overcoming misinformation during the pandemic

Nov 18, 2021 2:15 pm

The UIS Springfield Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Community Health Roundtable are partnering to host a free virtual public webinar, “Overcoming Misinformation during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mainstream and Social Media, Public Health, and Outreach to the General Public and Disadvantaged Populations.”

man in shirt and tie working at a desk on computer

UIS to co-host webinar on COVID and returning to work

May 18, 2021 2:30 pm

The University of Illinois Springfield Innovation Hub, UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Community Health Roundtable will host a free public webinar titled “COVID-19 and Returning to Work: Implications for the Workforce, Women and Work Sectors” at Noon Friday, May 21 via Zoom.

UIS now offering testing to public

May 17, 2021 2:45 pm

The University of Illinois Springfield, in partnership with SHIELD Illinois, is now offering free COVID-19 saliva testing to the public.

UIS hosts webinar on returning to school during pandemic

Aug 24, 2021 9:30 am

The University of Illinois Springfield hosted a Community Health webinar: "Back to School During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Delta Variant, the Policy Response, and Our School Nurses on the Front LInes."

UIS hosts webinar on impact of COVID-19 on youth

Feb 18, 2021 8:45 am

The UIS Innovation Hub, UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Community Health Roundtable will host a free public webinar titled “Impact of COVID-19 on our Youth: Learning, Playing & Socializing” at Noon Friday, Feb. 19 via Zoom.

UIS hosts webinar on "Getting our Lives Back"

Mar 10, 2021 10:15 am

The University of Illinois Springfield Innovation Hub and UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership will host a free public COVID-19 webinar titled “Getting our Lives Back: The Opportunities that Lie Ahead” at Noon Friday, March 12 via Zoom.

COVID-19 molecule red and white rendering

UIS hosts webinar on COVID-19 & marginalized populations

Mar 18, 2021 9:00 am

UIS and the Community Health Roundtable will host a free public webinar titled “Implications of COVID-19 for Historically Marginalized Populations and the Aging Population” at Noon Friday, March 16 via Zoom.

UIS, Community Health Roundtable to host webinar on lasting effects of COVID-19

Jun 18, 2021 12:00 pm

The University of Illinois Springfield Innovation Hub, the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Community Health Roundtable will host a free public webinar titled “The Lasting Effects of COVID-19 on Patients, the Health Care System and the World."

audience viewing a UIS presentation on screen

UIS and Sangamon County working to document pandemic

May 19, 2022 3:00 pm

The Sangamon County historical society teamed up with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the University of Illinois Springfield, and the Illinois State Museum to document the history of the pandemic.

UI Health offering vaccines to people in Phase 1B

Feb 1, 2021 10:15 am

UI Health is administering vaccinations to patients and some members of the public on the UIC campus by appointment.

UI Health now operating 4 COVID-19 testing & triage clinics

Dec 10, 2020 10:45 am

UI Health teams have worked together to plan, develop, and launch four COVID-19 triage and testing sites at various locations to help manage the flow and influx of patients with COVID-19 symptoms and exposure.

UI Health leads Chicago in providing vaccines for phase 1B

Feb 12, 2021 12:30 pm

On the first day it opened a community COVID-19 vaccination site, UIC and UI Health administered more than 1,600 shots to phase 1A and phase 1B eligible people, representing nearly a quarter of all vaccine doses (23%) distributed in Chicago on that day.

UI Health establishes Post-COVID Clinic

Sep 1, 2021 8:00 am

A clinic at UI Health is now supporting patients who experience ongoing symptoms weeks and months after having COVID-19, a condition often referred to as “Long COVID.”

Lorraine Brown with arms in air and mask on celebrating vaccination

UIC working to deliver vaccinations to city's most vulnerable

Mar 16, 2021 10:15 am

The University of Illinois Chicago along with Protect Chicago Plus have partnered to provide 1,000 COVID-19 vaccines to residents in the Englewood neighborhood, with plans to expand to other city areas with vulnerable populations.

woman giving COVID-vaccination to resident

UIC vaccinating thousands at mass site, students pitch in

Feb 19, 2021 8:30 am

An expansive stadium at the UIC campus is serving a new purpose during the pandemic: The Credit Union 1 Arena now operates as a mass COVID-19 vaccination site, offering about 1,000 coveted doses to eligible residents every day. (Chicago Tribune)

UIC Urban Forum to focus on inclusive post-pandemic recovery

Apr 7, 2022 9:30 am

The University of Illinois Chicago’s 2022 Urban Forum will bring together civic leaders, public health professionals and economic development experts to discuss new ideas to create an inclusive and enduring pandemic recovery.

helathcare worker swabbing nose of patient

UIC to research long COVID-19 with $22 million from the NIH

Apr 7, 2022 9:30 am

A team of University of Illinois Chicago researchers is projected to receive approximately $22 million from the National Institutes of Health over four years to research long COVID-19.

scientist in white coat and mask processing blood samples in lab

UIC to participate in NIH phase two clinical trial on additional boosters

Apr 18, 2022 3:30 pm

The University of Illinois Chicago will participate in a National Institutes of Health phase two clinical trial evaluating additional COVID-19 booster shots for adults.

UIC tests Cook County Jail wastewater to catch early outbreaks

Mar 5, 2021 8:00 am

On a recent morning, a UIC team, accompanied by doctors from the jail's Cermak Health Services and the Chicago Department of Health, showed NBC5 how they take samples from sewers at six different sites inside the jail complex.

UIC selected to lead Illinois-based team for U.S. RECOVER consortium

Jul 16, 2021 2:45 pm

UIC has been selected to lead an Illinois-based team for the U.S. RECOVER consortium. Dr. Jerrry Krishnan is a part of the team spearheading the efforts to bring health centers, community-based organizations and faith-based organizations in Chicago, Peoria, Rockford and Urbana together to form a network of state resources for a directory that can be available to people with long COVID-19.

UIC report details failures of public policy responses to pandemic in Chicago

Mar 8, 2022 9:00 am

A new UIC report finds that despite efforts to address racial inequities during the pandemic in Chicago, vulnerable communities’ needs remained unmet.

Jason Brooks administers COVID-19 vaccine

UIC nursing students help with vaccine effort in Urbana

Feb 9, 2021 8:00 am

UIC Nursing students in Urbana are gaining valuable clinical skills and providing a critical service to the community by helping local public health departments administer the COVID-19 vaccine.

patient in hat and mask getting vaccination in arm

UIC leads new collaborative to reduce COVID-19 disparities

May 24, 2021 8:15 am

The University of Illinois Chicago has been selected by the National Institutes of Health as the principal site of a multi-center collaborative in the Chicago area that will bolster research and outreach to help communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

Stephanie Crawford, Wayne Giles, Phoenix Matthews

UIC experts part of vaccine work group

Jan 15, 2021 1:45 pm

Several UIC faculty are members of the Chicago Scientific COVID-19 Vaccine Work Group. This group, convened by the Chicago Department of Public Health, is tasked with independently evaluating whether or not the proper scientific and regulatory review has taken place for authorizing emergency use for COVID-19 vaccines.

UIC epidemiologist uses TikTok to inform about COVID-19

Aug 25, 2021 9:15 am

Katrine Wallace, known as "Dr. Kat," is a UIC epidemiologist who is also a TikTok influencer. She has been using her platform to dispell myths and provide facts about COVID-19 and vaccines.

several masked, white coat lab workers gathered around a laptop in lab

UIC conducting community research on emerging variants

Jun 28, 2021 2:15 pm

Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago are offering free rapid diagnostic testing for COVID-19 in vulnerable Chicago communities and performing genomic sequencing on the samples to identify variants as part of a National Institutes of Health-funded initiative called RADx-UP.

UIC awarded $6 million to develop potential COVID-19 treatment

Jul 28, 2021 2:30 pm

Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago are developing a potential treatment for COVID-19, thanks to a $6 million technology and therapeutic development award from the U.S. Department of Defense.

This is the safest place in Illinois

Feb 4, 2021 8:15 am

How the U of I developed its own COVID-19 test and deployed it more than a million times (and counting).

overhead view of factory in neighborhood emitting smoke from smokestacks

The environmental lessons of COVID-19

Jul 23, 2021 3:15 pm

Atmospheric scientists at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign emphasize that the drop in carbon dioxide emissions during the pandemic needs more effort to be sustained.

Team creates new portable COVID-19 test

May 18, 2021 2:30 pm

A new coronavirus test can get accurate results from a saliva sample in less than 30 minutes, researchers report in the journal Nature Communications. Many of the components of the hand-held device used in this technology can be 3D-printed, and the test can detect as little as one viral particle per 1-microliter drop of fluid.

red spiky ball rendering of COVID molecule

Survey measures health care delays during pandemic’s beginning

May 20, 2021 8:15 am

At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, a University of Illinois Chicago researcher conducted a survey asking respondents if they experienced health care delays because of the pandemic. The study also presented a unique opportunity to capture a historic moment at the pandemic’s beginning.

Pamela Martinez, Christopher Brook and Rebecca Smith pose in lab

Study tracks COVID-19 infection dynamics in adults

May 2, 2022 1:30 pm

A team led by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tracked the rise and fall of SARS-CoV-2 in the saliva and nasal cavities of people newly infected with the virus. The study was the first to follow acute COVID-19 infections over time through repeated sampling and to compare results from different testing methodologies.

headshots for Ujjal Kumar Mukherjee and Sridhar Seshadri

Study: Rapid bulk-testing for COVID-19 key to reopening universities

Mar 29, 2021 12:00 pm

A new paper co-written by business professors Gies College of Business professors shows that rapid bulk-testing for COVID-19 along with other standard mitigation measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing were the keys to successfully reopening college campuses during the pandemic.

Study maps COVID-19 health disparities in Greater Santiago

Apr 27, 2021 1:00 pm

People up to age 40 living in economically depressed municipalities in the Greater Santiago, Chile, metropolitan area were three times more likely to die as a result of the infection than their counterparts in wealthier areas, researchers report in the journal Science.

Study launched to study vaccine relationship to menstrual cycle

Apr 13, 2021 10:15 am

Kate Clancy from UIUC and a colleague are launching a study on the COVID vaccine and the relationship to the menstrual cycle after experiencing unusual side effects.

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