Cancer Center at Illinois

The Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) began in 2011 as the Cancer Community, led by current CCIL Director and bioengineering professor Rohit Bhargava. The community consisted of over 50 Illinois faculty and several prominent bioengineering researchers, including professors Rashid Bashir, Stephen Boppart, and Michael Insana. This group saw the critical importance of developing a space to focus on cancer research, and worked toward that goal by organizing regular events and promoting interactions between faculty through symposiums, workshops, research groups, and more. 

The Department of Bioengineering contributed significantly to the CCIL’s early development by providing expertise in computational modeling, bioinformatics, genetic engineering, biomedical technology, and more. In addition to contributing to the formation of CCIL, bioengineering faculty and researchers have served as the basis for significant efforts within the Cancer Center, with a long list of fruitful collaborations. The faculty and research overlap between the Department of Bioengineering and CCIL represents a mutual passion for exceptional research and the promotion of human health, with a bright future of shared, boundary-breaking medical innovation.