Good morning, Chicago.

Hundreds of Chicago volunteers joined South Side park cleanups over the weekend, with groups from local companies and clubs clearing trash and mulching young trees (tools provided by the Park District).

More cleanup events are set for Saturday, April 25 at Jackson Park.

UIC named professor Amanda Lewis Faculty Mentor of the Year after students sent in nominations to honor her work guiding graduate students and her research on race and education.

She says the award feels like paying it forward to the mentors who shaped her career.

Political scientist Cedric Johnson uses his early church experiences in Louisiana to study Black activism and its impact on leadership.

He is adding fresh insight to his classes by examining black photographers (including Gordon Parks and LeRoy Henderson) to bring new perspectives to his students.

UIC professor Marina Mogilner was named the 2026 Distinguished Scholar in Humanities, Arts, Design and Architecture for her decades+long study that rethinks imperial history using original documents.

She continues to inspire graduate students with fresh perspectives even as limited access to Ukrainian archives challenges her research.

Associate professor Terrell Morton leads research to boost Black students' success in STEM by redesigning biology instruction using Afrofuturism and engaging college faculty and community experts.

His work aims to create holistic learning spaces that support diverse mindsets in higher ed.

UIC materials engineer Matthew Daly was named this year’s Rising Star in Natural Sciences and Engineering and is researching how to use ceramics and metal to create lighter and safer vehicles and airplanes; his lab uses theory, digital modeling, and experiments (including electron microscopes) to study materials.

On April 20, 2026, the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy hosted a hybrid panel discussion to launch the report 'Taking Account: A History of Racial Harm and Injustice Against Black Illinoisans' at Room 301 Student Center East, serving breakfast for in-person attendees.

UIC’s assistant professor Ruixuan Gao uses light-up dye and mass spectrometry to study brain molecules that may help explain mental disorders and Alzheimer’s disease.

He was named Rising Star in Basic Life Sciences and works with UIC’s chemistry (and biology) departments.

Timothy Koh, a UIC professor, studies how inflammation improves wound healing in diabetes by focusing on macrophage function.

His research, funded by NIH and others, could lead to better treatments and reduce complications for Chicago patients.

UIC assistant professor Shannon Halloway leads an ongoing research project testing whether lifestyle physical activity slows cognitive decline in older adults.

Her study (which pools data from more than 10,000 participants in 13 trials) could offer guidance for preserving brain health.

UIC professor Salman Khetani, this year’s Distinguished Researcher in Natural Sciences and Engineering, is using a $15 million NIH grant to develop engineered liver, heart, intestine and lung tissues for testing industrial chemicals and drugs.

He plans to use AI to build a database + improve predictions of compound effects on human health.

UIC professor Robert Motl (Distinguished Researcher in Clinical Sciences) spent 23 years studying how exercise affects neurological diseases such as MS and Parkinson’s.

His home-based program improved walking, cognition, and mood and will be expanded to examine benefits for long COVID and other conditions.

UIC researchers have developed an anti-cancer therapy using a peptide drug called aurB derived from bacteria, which when combined with radiation reduced tumor growth in animal models of hormone therapy-resistant prostate cancer.

The team patented the treatment and will pursue clinical trials to test its potential.