Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Research news

Expert viewpoints This image shows the researcher featured in this article.

Have newspaper political endorsements outlived their purpose?

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor Melita Garza is a journalism historian who studies news as an agent of democracy. News Bureau editor Lois Yoksoulian discussed the history and future of presidential endorsements with Garza in light of recent nonendorsement decisions within some news organizations.  Why do some newspapers endorse presidential candidates? In the early days […]

Behind the scenes University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign student Nathan Knoll presents his response to a prompt as political science students navigate ways to defuse and open dialogue in a polarized political environment as part of the Richard G. and Carole J. Cline Symposium “Bridging Political Differences in a Polarized World" held on Oct. 24 at the Illini Union Ballroom.

Appealing to our ‘better angels’ with the Braver Angels

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — I’m sitting in the well-appointed Illini Union Ballroom on a sunny, late-October afternoon. My current mood: anxious. Sure, our 20th-ranked Illinois football team is taking on No. 1 Oregon this weekend, but that’s not on my mind right now. (Turns out my pregame butterflies were well founded.) Pre-election jitters are foremost, with […]

Health and medicine Charee Thompson and Junhyung Han standing in a campus building.

Communication with doctor during first visit affects pain patients’ outcomes

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Chronic pain — defined as daily or significant pain that lasts more than three months — can be complicated to diagnose and treat. Because chronic pain conditions are clouded with uncertainties, patients often struggle with anxiety and depression, and they and their doctors often find these conditions challenging to discuss and manage, […]

Expert viewpoints Photo of Taisa Markus

How should the next US president handle sanctions on Russia?

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign adjunct law professor Taisa Markus is an expert in securities law and cross-border capital markets. Markus, also a visiting professor at Kyiv Mohyla Faculty of Law, spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about U.S. sanctions on Russia. Depending on the results of the presidential election, how do you foresee […]

Life sciences Photo of the researcher in his lab. He is standing in front of a device that sends projectiles into test materials.

Thin skin significantly blunts injury from puncture, study finds

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Being thin-skinned offers unexpected advantages against puncture wounds, a new study finds.

Expert viewpoints Education professor Paul Bruno standing in front of an upward staircase.

How are funding reforms such as vouchers — and potentially Project 2025 — affecting public education?

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Paul Bruno, a professor of education policy, organization and leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, spoke with News Bureau education editor Sharita Forrest about recent developments in funding policies for primary and secondary education, including Ohio’s decision to use tax appropriations for building projects at private religious schools and potential reforms […]

Business Bo Zhang, a professor of labor and employment relations and of psychology at Illinois

New research creates better tool to assess personality traits of job seekers

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — New research co-written by two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign experts who study personnel psychology points to a better way of helping researchers and employers identify the differences in how people respond to personality tests. The tool — a hybrid of two existing measurement models called the “Mixture Dominance-Unfolding Model,” or “MixDUM” — could help human resources […]

Health and medicine The image depicts an afflicted liver with mutated DNA and toxic RNA, and its predisposition for fatty liver disease and drug metabolism defects.

Mouse model reveals liver involvement in muscular dystrophy

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois researchers developed a mouse model of muscular dystrophy that reveals the liver’s involvement in the disease, which has rendered many treatments toxic to patients.

Social sciences Amy Leman and Jacinda Dariotis standing in front of a tree outside a campus building.

Study: Youth action research projects need thoughtful design, youths’ input

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Many of the youth participatory action research projects that aim to empower young people to lead change in their schools or communities often fail to fully integrate them into the process, diminishing participants’ learning opportunities and the projects’ potential impact, a recent study found. Two scholars at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign […]

Expert viewpoints A man in a laboratory, viewed between bottles in the foreground.

Why get new COVID-19 and flu shots?

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — New vaccinations against influenza and the virus that causes COVID-19 are available and arriving at physician offices and pharmacies. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign microbiology professor Chris Brooke, a virologist who studies respiratory viruses, discusses what’s in the new vaccines, the best time to get them and why we need them at all.

Business Rosanna K. Smith, a professor of business administration at the Gies College of Business at Illinois

Paper: Ads featuring interracial couples produce mixed results for brands

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new paper co-written by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign business administration professor Rosanna K. Smith provides a more nuanced understanding of how consumers respond to interracial couples in advertisements. Photo by Fred Zwicky

Business Photo of Robert Bruno

How should labor movement handle the challenges of AI, automation at work?

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Robert Bruno is a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the director of the Project for Middle Class Renewal, a research-based initiative tasked with investigating labor policies in today’s economy. Bruno, the author of the book “What Work Is,” spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about how the labor […]

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