The Beckman Institute focuses on three themes: molecular science and engineering, integrative imaging, and intelligent systems.

Its core research facilities include the Biomedical Imaging Center and the Imaging Technology Group (ITG), which also includes Beckman's Microscopy Suite and Visualization Laboratory.

MCB team identifies compound with potent antiseizure effects

Researchers Hee Jung Chung and Jennifer Walters stand together for photo in Chung Lab.
Researchers studying epileptic seizures of the temporal lobe – the most common type of epilepsy – discovered a compound that reduces seizures in the hippocampus, a brain region where many such seizures originate. The compound, known as TC-2153, lessened the severity of seizures in mice. The...

Circadian rhythm and the blood-brain barrier

Wide exterior shot of the Beckman Institute on a summer day.
Beckman faculty members Martha Gillette and Hyunjoon Kong received an NIH/DOD grant to study how circadian rhythm affects the blood-brain barrier’s permeability to small molecules and susceptibility to blood leakage. Their team will design a microfluidics-based chip from human stem cells to model...

'Molecular Velcro' enables tissues to sense, react to mechanical force

Deborah Leckband smiles for camera while sitting at workspace in lab.
The Velcro-like cellular proteins that hold cells and tissues together also perform critical functions when they experience increased tension. A new University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study observed that when tugged upon in a controlled manner, these proteins – called cadherins – communicate...

Beckman Institute Student Researcher Spotlight: Madeleine Subach

Headshot of Madeleine Subach
From attending biology lectures to working in a lab full of researchers, this month's featured student researcher at Beckman Institute, Madeleine Subach, is driven to investigate issues in human tissue cell signaling. Her research contributes to the improvement of recovery methods following muscle...

Gene mutation leads to epileptic encephalopathy symptoms, neuron death in mice

Illinois postdoctoral researcher Eung Chang Kim (seated left) and professor Hee Jung Chung (standing right) in Chung Lab.
Mice with a genetic mutation that’s been observed in patients with epileptic encephalopathy, a severe form of congenital epilepsy, exhibit not only the seizure, developmental and behavioral symptoms of the disorder, but also neural degeneration and inflammation in the brain, University of Illinois...