UI and Carle Hospital Collaborate on Research Project

The University of Illinois and Urbana's Carle Foundation Hospital have cooperated on research in the past - but a new agreement is meant to elevate that cooperation by a few notches.

The U of I and Carle have launched a biomedical research alliance, with the university sharing space with Carle researchers in the Mills Breast Cancer Institute. The joint agreement will focus on four research areas: cancer, cardiology, neurosciences and gastrointestinal health.

Carle CEO Dr. James Leonard says the agreement will foster new communication between doctors on both sides.

"That may sound like well, 'didn't that go on all the time before'. and the answer is no", says Leonard. "We're both big institutions and we both focused on what we did. and this allows us to meet not at that interface."

Leonard hopes the research alliance will bring new medical advancements closer to patients and help attract physicians who want to practice and do research at the same time.