This summer, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a comprehensive program, called SHIELD, to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.  One key to the program is a new, highly-specific test for SARS-CoV-2. Now, with a game-changing new testing procedure available, the University of Illinois System has created a team called SHIELD Illinois to deploy the program across the state. Join University of Illinois leaders to learn how SHIELD works, how it makes testing more effective, and ultimately how the program will be rolled out beyond the University’s campus.

Martin Burke

May and Ving Lee Professor for Chemical Innovation

Associate Dean for Research, Carle Illinois College of Medicine

Dr. Marty Burke is the May and Ving Lee Professor for Chemical Innovation, and Associate Dean for Research, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Burke’s group has pioneered the field of molecular prosthetics, including the development of an automated Lego-like platform for democratizing small molecule synthesis. Dr. Burke has received a number of honors and awards, including the Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education in Chemistry from the American Chemical Society and has garnered praise for excellence in teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Burke, is an Academic Founder/Co-Founder of Revolution Medicines, Ambys Medicines, Sfunga Therapeutics, and cystetic Medicines, and is currently leading a team in deploying scalable COVID-19 testing on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus.

Jay Walsh

Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation

Jay Walsh became the University of Illinois’ Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation on May 16, 2020, after spending more than 30 years as a faculty member and administrator at Northwestern University. Most recently, he was Northwestern’s Senior Advisor to the President for Research and Science. Dr. Walsh was Northwestern University's Vice President for Research from 2007 until 2019. During his tenure, NU’s external sponsored awards grew 91 percent from $417M in 2007 to $798M in 2019, one of the largest increases of any university in the U.S. during that time period, while also seeing an increase of 134 percent in industry funding for research. Under Walsh’s leadership, the Office for Research made significant contributions to the development and support of Northwestern's core research facilities, becoming a national model for core facilities. Dr. Walsh also grew the number of institutes and centers from less than 20 to more than 50 during his dozen years as VP for Research – each with significant external funding.

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