Awards and Honors

The School of Molecular & Cellular Biology and its departments of Biochemistry, Cell & Developmental Biology, Microbiology, and Molecular & Integrative Physiology recognize outstanding undergraduate, graduate, faculty, staff, and alumni with several awards and fellowships. In addition to school and departmental honors, MCB is always thrilled to highlight awards from other campus units, and national/international organizations. Some of the most recent news stories spotlighting our community are listed below. 

Headshot of Erik Nelson

Erik Nelson receives $4.5M grant to study prevention and treatment of metastatic breast cancer

Erik Nelson, professor of molecular and integrative physiology, has won a $4.5 million Era of Hope Scholar Award from the United States Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program.This prestigious award supports individuals early in their careers who have demonstrated significant potential...
Water fountain next to Alice Campbell Alumni Center.

Four MCB alumni honored with 2020 LAS alumni awards

The winners are being honored during LAS Impact 2020, a weeklong celebration of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences starting on Oct. 26.
Brian Freeman poses for headshot, smiling, outside.

Brian Freeman named a fellow of Cell Stress Society International

Congratulations to Brian Freeman, professor of cell and developmental biology at the University of Illinois who has been selected as a fellow of the Cell Stress Society International.
Chris Brooke headshot.

Christopher Brooke named Man of the Year by Central Illinois Business Magazine

This announcement was made as part of The News-Gazette’s 13th annual Forty Under 40 Awards. Professor Brooke is an assistant professor of microbiology and is an affiliate of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.
Exterior shot of IGB

Collaborative team awarded $12.5 million for new NSF Biology Integration Institute

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a five-year, $12.5 million grant to integrate biology to a collaborative team based in the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The new institute, Genomics and Eco-evolution of Multi-scale...
Asma Hatoum

Asma Hatoum-Aslan, new microbiology professor, named Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator

Congratulations to University of Illinois professor Asma Hatoum-Aslan, who was recently named a 2020 Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
Benita Katzenellenbogen

MIP Professor Benita Katzenellenbogen named Senior Advisor for the Cancer Center at Illinois

Benita S. Katzenellenbogen, Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been appointed Senior Advisor to the Director of the Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL), Rohit Bhargava.
Liqian Ma

Liqian Ma awarded Mead Graduate Fellowship

The University of Illinois School of Molecular and Cellular Biology is pleased to announce the inaugural recipient of the Julie and David Mead Graduate Fellowship.
Beckman Institute tower framed by blooming trees.

MCB undergraduates receive awards from the Beckman Institute

Three undergraduate students in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology were among the recipients of the 2020 Beckman Institute student awards and fellowships, which provide research experience. The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, as well as other scholarship and memorial funds provided...
Stephen Sligar

Prof. Stephen Sligar receives the Christian B. Anfinsen Award

The Christian B. Anfinsen Award, sponsored by The Protein Society, recognizes technological achievement or significant methodological advances in the field of protein science. The recipient of this award in 2020 is Professor Stephen Sligar, professor of Biochemistry and former director of the...