Our Story

IHSI's first year

Illinois launches two major Health and Wellness goals of the Visioning Future Excellence initiative: the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative (replacing and growing beyond an earlier effort, the Division of Biomedical Sciences) and the Carle Illinois College of Medicine.

IHSI starts three program areas in Cancer, Clinical & Translational Neuroscience (to later become Brain Health), and Precision Medicine. IHSI manages the university's side of the Carle Illinois Research Affiliation, including the Biomedical Research Center, and the Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance. 

Professor Neal Cohen selected as founding director for IHSI.

Translational research at the BRC

Prof. Rashid Bashir joins Prof. Stephen Boppart (2010) and Prof. Dipanjan Pan (2013) as the third occupant of the Biomedical Research Center (BRC), located in Carle's Mills Breast Cancer Institute. At the BRC, Carle physicians and Illinois investigators work side-by-side on translational science. Illinois oversight of the BRC transitioned from IHSI to the Cancer Center at Illinois in 2019.

NIH Grant Writing Series

IHSI launches its first training program for researchers, the NIH Grant Writing Series.

Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance welcomes its first fellows

The Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance welcomes its first cohort of three Illinois graduate students for the Fellowship for Technology-Based Healthcare program. The fellowship offers two years of support for students conducting research on new technologies and clinical tools aimed at advancing individualized medicine. 

Gnotobiotic and Transgenic Mouse Facilities

A campus subcommittee, chaired by former IHSI Deputy Director John Erdman and supported by IHSI, recommends the establishment of a gnotobiotic and transgenic mouse facility to enhance productivity of preclinical researchers. 

IHSI granted institute status

IHSI is officially designated as an institute and joins six other Interdisciplinary Research Institutes at Illinois. 

Cancer Center is launched

IHSI's Cancer Community is launched as the Cancer Center at Illinois to formalize and build on the interdisciplinary cancer-research activities at Illinois.

Grand Challenge research project begins

The Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance begins its first "grand challenge" project using high-performance computing for rapid genome sequence analysis.

Promoting health equity

Health Disparities (later renamed to Health Equity) becomes IHSI's fourth program area.

A strategic vision for health

The 8-month effort of the Health Sciences Strategy Task Force culminates with a final report to inform The Next 150 Strategic Plan.

Microbiome Initiative launches

The Microbiome Initiative (to later become the Microbial Systems Initiative) launches with support from the OVCRI, IHSI, IGB, the School of MCB, and the Department of Microbiology.

Community collaboration

The Community-Academic Partnerships core launches. The inaugural cohort of Community-Academic Scholars participate in community-based research addressing issues of health equity over the summer. 

Social and Behavioral Science

The Social & Behavioral Sciences Research Initiative (SBSRI) was elevated to the Center for Social & Behavioral Science (CSBS) as part of The Next 150 Strategic Plan. IHSI provides continued support for its launch as an independent center.

Illinois MS Research

IHSI hosts Illinois MS Research Day, the founding event for the Illinois MS Research Collaborative.

IHSI and partners bring REDCap to Illinois

IHSI, Technology Services - Research IT, and the University Library launch Illinois REDCap.

INBAL opens its doors

The Illinois NeuroBehavioral Assessment Laboratory (INBAL), a collaboration of the Department of Psychology, CSBS, and IHSI, offers free academic assessments during its "sneak peak" grand opening.

Biostatistics Core expands

The Biostatistics Core, launched in 2017, expands to include epidemiology and research design. The core is renamed BERD.

Veteran brain health

The Chez Veterans Center partners with the Beckman Institute, Carle, College of AHS, and IHSI to address Traumatic Brain Injury among Veterans. A collaborative event, "Making the Invisible Visible" fostered discussion among Military Service Members, Veterans, caregivers, researchers, and providers.

We CU responds to community needs

The We CU Community Engaged Scholars program launches to meet community needs during COVID-19 with support from the Office of the Chancellor, School of Social Work, IHSI, College of Education, CSBS, and Siebel Center for Design.

IHSI joins SHIELD team

IHSI provides administrative and research support for Illinois' SHIELD inititive.

SHIELD CU launches in partnership with OSF HealthCare

Based on the successful campus SHIELD testing program, SHIELD CU is launched to help reduce the Champaign County community COVID-19 positivity rate, keep it low, and allow schools, businesses, and activities to safely stay open. 

Interim Director and Health Innovation Visioning

Prof. Stephen Boppart is recognized as Interim Director and serves as chair of the Health Innovation Visioning Committee (HIVC), charged by Chancellor Jones to consider a new technology-inspired academic health research and education model at Illinois for global impact on human health.

ARPA-H award to advance surgical precision

The Alliance secures an ARPA-H award of up to $33 million for the development of MarginDx, a platform aimed at advancing precision in surgical care and improving patient outcomes.