The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute (IHSI) is pleased to announce the 15 Illinois researchers selected for the 2025-26 Emerging Research Leaders Academy (ERLA).
These mid-career researchers will refine their goals, make connections, and develop skills to strategically lead collaborative, multi-investigator research teams, and pursue center-level or large-scale, collaborative research funding.
ERLA candidates are nominated by a dean, department head, or director, and evaluated by a campus-wide selection committee. Factors such as their commitment to the program, future leadership potential, and how their participation will benefit their career as well as that of the Illinois research enterprise, are all considered before the final selection is made.
When IHSI Senior Research Development Manager and ERLA leader Dr. Maggie Berg sought the perspective of an academy alum to round out the selection committee, Carla D. Hunter, a professor of psychology, immediately came to mind.
“Prof. Hunter seemed particularly enthusiastic about ERLA and has been a longtime supporter and collaborator with IHSI,” said Dr. Berg. “We knew Prof. Hunter would be thoughtful about reviewing the applications. As expected, she was a great addition to the committee.”
Prof. Hunter was happy to join the selection committee. As an IHSI Affiliate, serving on the selection committee was a great way to contribute to the institute’s mission and to the continued success of ERLA.
“I got to see firsthand how competitive ERLA truly is. I had the pleasure to review exceptional applicants and to learn more about my colleagues’ accomplishments and aspirations. I am so impressed by all they have achieved and all they have yet to achieve.
The academy received over 40 nominations for the 2025-26 cohort. Nominees hailed from 27 units across campus, represented 10 colleges and schools as well a couple of the research institutes. The candidates demonstrated research leadership, interdisciplinary collaboration, and independent funding success. Dr. Berg explained that they had to make some tough choices.
“The nominees made the selection process challenging for us - in a good way! It was the most competitive pool we've seen,” Dr. Berg said.
While the selection process was challenging, Dr. Berg is excited to work with the new cohort.
“Many are already leading impactful projects. They are all well-positioned to scale their impact. I hope that ERLA offers some tools to take on these challenges. We have representation from many different disciplines represented this year, including a few new departments, like linguistics and mathematics. That speaks to the strength of the program’s reputation.”
Congratulations to the 2025-26 ERLA Cohort
Representing 15 units in 8 colleges and a research institute, the 2025-26 cohort reflects a shared commitment to innovation, inclusion, and strategic research growth. They also hold affiliations with six of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s ten campuswide interdisciplinary research institutes.
Hannah Holscher | Food Science and Human Nutrition | Nominated by Nicki Engeseth
Bruno Pereira Nunes | Health and Kinesiology | Nominated by Kim Graber
Yuhei Inoue | Recreation, Sport and Tourism | Nominated by Carla Santos
Angela Di Fulvio | Nuclear Plasma and Radiological Engineering | Nominated by Rizwan Uddin
Gregory H. Underhill | Bioengineering | Nominated by Mark Anastasio
Pinshane Huang | Materials Science and Engineering | Nominated by Nancy Sottos
Asma Hatoum-Aslan | Microbiology | Nominated by James Slauch
Deanna Hence | Climate, Meteorology, and Atmospheric Science | Nominated by Stephen Nesbitt
Jonathan Dunn | Linguistics | Nominated by James Yoon
Leona Yi-Fan Su | Advertising | Nominated by Michelle Nelson
Sepideh Sadaghiani | Psychology | Nominated by Cristina Alvarez-Mingote
Wei Wei | Mathematics | Nominated by Feng Liang
Christopher Stone | Prairie Research Institute | Nominated by Michael Dreslik
Rachel Garthe | School of Social Work | Nominated by Ben Lough
Megan Mahoney | Comparative Biosciences | Nominated by Uwe Rudolph
Elements of research leadership
Throughout the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters, academy members will engage in reflection and personal assessment, clarify their vision and goals, and develop five-year action plans that they will present at the ERLA graduation in April 2026.
During the monthly workshops, they will explore the elements of effective research leadership, including the science of team science, intentional mentorship, building inclusive teams, effective research communication, and cultivating leadership identities rooted in their core values. They will hear from subject matter experts and participate in interactive activities with plenty of time for cohort discussion.
Each year, ERLA continues to evolve in response to participant feedback. Cohort members receive a short REDCap survey after each workshop to evaluate its content, delivery, and relevance to their professional development goals. An open-ended question asks them to consider the workshop in the broader context of the program and to comment on what changes they would like to see. The 2023 cohort wanted to see more time for discussion.
“Last year, we made minor adjustments to the workshops to allow for more discussion time,” Dr. Berg explained. “The cohort expressed that while they appreciated the discussions we had during our workshops, they wished they could go deeper into the topics. This year we are adding some prework between workshops to prepare them for the content and encourage these deeper discussions."
Discussion and peer mentorship are foundational to ERLA which also offers monthly “candid conversations,” supplemental discussion sessions to further explore workshop concepts and their applications to research.
“I appreciate how much each cohort has found value in discussion with their peers outside their home units. It demonstrates the strength of the connections they are building with each other,” Dr. Berg said. “Our hope is that they turn to each other as they work toward their vision and goals.”
A network of support
After they present their action plans on April 8, 2026, this year’s cohort will join a growing network of ERLA alumni who want to stay connected with each other and with IHSI staff.
Dr. Berg and IHSI’s senior director of research and innovation, Dr. Gill Snyder, are interested in fostering those connections. In addition to working with Illinois Human Resources to offer opportunities like the 360-degree feedback assessments, they have also introduced social events to bring together ERLA alumni in a less structured setting. Their first social event occurred this summer – an alumni meetup at Riggs Brewery. Professor Naiman Khan attended the recent meetup.
“Attending the ERLA alumni meetup was a rewarding experience. It was great to catch up with familiar faces, meet new faculty, and share ideas about leadership in research,” Prof. Khan shared. “I left feeling inspired and re-energized. I look forward to staying in touch with the ERLA cohorts, both past and future, with the hopes of strengthening my professional network.”
Following participation in ERLA, members of the cohort are invited to become IHSI affiliates, which includes ongoing engagement with and support from IHSI as they continue their leadership journey. Ten ERLA alumni have joined the IHSI affiliate program. Both Prof. Hunter and Prof. Khan are affiliates.
Prof. Hunter echoed Prof. Khan’s sentiments about the meetup, with additional thanks.
“I sincerely appreciate the efforts by Maggie and Gill to stay connected to the cohorts and their openness to our feedback. I look forward to connecting with new cohort members!”
The Emerging Research Leaders Academy is facilitated by IHSI, in partnership with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, College of Applied Health Sciences, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Grainger College of Engineering, and the Office of Proposal Development. Learn more by visiting the ERLA page on the IHSI website.