Take another look at these top stories from UIC in 2025
Between changes in the federal government to advancements in quantum computing, 2025 was marked by significant moments that changed our nation, city and our daily lives.
From research labs to the soccer pitch, a lot of news reached UIC’s campus. Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda sat down with Hall of Fame basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski in her continuing Chair Chats series, 1,500 first-year students continued the Circle Mark tradition on campus and UIC launched its first campuswide podcast.
In sports, the UIC women’s soccer team and women’s tennis team reached their respective NCAA tournaments for the first time in school history. Meanwhile, the graduation rate for Flames athletes exceeded 90% for the fifth straight year.
As we welcome 2026, we remember these stories that were among the most read on UIC today in 2025.
UIC enrollment hits all-time high
In the fall, the University of Illinois Chicago achieved the largest enrollment in its history — 35,869 students, an increase of nearly 2,000 from 2024. The previous peak was 34,199 students in 2021.
UIC’s new computer science building signifies enrollment, program growth
The Computer Design Research and Learning Center opened July 16. The 135,000-square-foot building set around a five-story, light-filled atrium now provides much-needed research and learning spaces for the College of Engineering’s growing UIC Department of Computer Science. The state-of-the-art facility is expected to expand collaborative research and teaching capacity, uniting a growing group of researchers and students in computer science, data science and engineering under one roof.
Affordable certification program paves the way for dentistry careers
Mile Square Health Center continued its Dental Assistant Certification Program at its Primary and Immediate Care Center located in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on the city’s South Side. The program connects people to jobs and improves access to oral health care.
UIC filled with brutalist architecture
With “The Brutalist” filling Hollywood’s awards season in the winter, campus architect David Taeyaerts explained the bold architectural style called “brutalism” that’s seen in buildings across campus.
Thanks to the work of UIC researchers, five Vietnam War MIAs come home
UIC’s Center for the Recovery and Identification of the Missing helped identify and bring home the remains of five service members reported missing during the Vietnam War. The program in the UIC Department of Anthropology and the Office of Social Science Research partners with the U.S. military’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to search for service members missing in action from past conflicts. Their work brought answers to families 57 years after the conflict.
Anatomy lab? There’s an app for that, created by UIC faculty and students
A team of UIC faculty, instructors and students built a modern tool for the long-standing practice of studying human anatomy. DOCTOR, a free web application, uses three-dimensional scans of real cadavers and medical models to bring the anatomy lab to laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Keeping the Third Coast safe, ‘one beach at a time’
Every morning from Memorial Day to Labor Day, undergraduate and graduate student researchers from UIC retrieved and tested water samples from local beaches and reported the results to the Chicago Park District. No other U.S. cities test water daily. The project helped swimmers and beachgoers know when the water was safe, and it paved the way for the first organized swim event in the Chicago River in nearly 100 years.
Lasso-shaped antibiotic co-developed by UIC evades standard drug resistance
UIC researchers released a study about lariocidin, a lasso-shaped peptide made by bacteria living in soil, which was effective against several microbes responsible for deadly infections. The research determined how the new antibiotic works and why the drug evades bacterial resistance.
15 UIC researchers earn National Science Foundation early career award
Fifteen UIC faculty members received prestigious National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development awards over the 2024-25 academic year. These grants are given to early-career faculty who demonstrate exceptional potential to serve as role models in research and education.
UI Health performs first islet cell transplant with Lantidra
Doctors at UI Health performed the first islet transplant with Lantidra, the only therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat brittle type 1 diabetes. A 69-year-old man from Illinois received the therapy on Aug. 26 and subsequently was able to stop taking daily insulin injections.
UIC in the news
Media coverage in 2025 underscored UIC’s role as a leading public research university and a trusted source of expertise on issues shaping society. Here’s a sampling of the year’s top news stories that highlight faculty research and expertise, along with the university’s impact.
Nurses are heroes, but they’re not professionals, according to the Department of Education — WBEZ-FM
Eileen Collins, dean of the UIC College of Nursing, joined “In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons” and several other local outlets to discuss the Department of Education adding nursing to a list of professions no longer considered a professional degree and the potential challenges that may cause for getting financial aid.
Cannabis Users Are Scromiting Uncontrollably, and It’s as Gross as It Sounds — Vice
As legal recreational cannabis use expands nationwide, a study from UIC researchers James Swartz, professor of social work, and Dana Franceschini, a doctoral student in social work, revealed that emergency room visits for cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome — severe vomiting tied to chronic cannabis use — is growing, especially among young adults.
A Wetter, Greener Sahara Could Reshape Global Weather — Especially Hurricane Season — The Weather Channel
By the second half of the 21st century, rising global temperatures could make much of Africa, including the Sahara Desert, much wetter, according to climate researchers in the UIC College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
UIC helps ID missing Vietnam veterans — FOX 32 Chicago
John Monaghan, professor of anthropology and director of the Center for the Recovery and Identification of the Missing at UIC, discussed the center’s mission and work, which helped lead to the recovery and identification of servicemen missing in Laos.
Inside the UIC medical simulation preparing students for health care realities — Crain’s Chicago Business
Bob Kiser, interim director of the Simulation and Integrative Learning Institute in the College of Medicine’s Department of Medical Education, explained how the institute uses actors and technology to simulate moments of conflict resolution and patient advocacy that could arise in a hospital.
UIC sets record enrollment in Fall 2025 – FOX 32 Chicago
Kiely Fletcher, vice provost for enrollment management, framed UIC’s record-breaking enrollment as evidence of the university’s commitment to access, affordability and student success, underscored by initiatives such as the new UIC Aspire grant program.
Vaccines hold tantalizing promise in the fight against dementia — The Conversation
UIC’s Dr. Anand Kumar, professor and head of psychiatry, and Dr. Jalees Rehman, professor and head of biochemistry and molecular genetics, explained how emerging evidence — including a study showing the shingles vaccine may reduce dementia risk — suggests vaccines could help prevent or slow neurodegenerative diseases.
UIC Students Helping NASA Prepare for Human Return to Moon — WTTW-TV (PBS)
Three UIC students who interned at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to support the Artemis mission and future lunar and Mars exploration joined WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” to share their experiences.
UIC team measures impact of extreme heat — CBS 2 Chicago
Miquel Gonzalez-Meler, deputy director of UIC’s Center for Climate and Health Equity and professor of biological sciences, led student researchers in using thermal imaging to track heat, study its health impacts and develop solutions as climate change drives more extreme weather and hotter days.
CPS ‘roadmap’ to college program expands to University of Illinois Chicago — Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ.org
Leaders from Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago and UIC announced “Chicago Roadmap 2.0,” a new partnership designed to ensure students have a seamless transition from high school to community college to four-year institutions, while retaining earned credits, reducing barriers to transfer and keeping them on track for bachelor’s degree completion.
