Volume 2 | Issue 2
DISCOVER UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
WHAT WE DO + WHY IT MATTERS
At its core, research within the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences centers on improving lives. With expertise in agriculture and the environment, family and communities, and health and wellness, our reach is both broad and deep. Uniting us is a reliance on the latest innovations in data and technology, as well as a deep commitment to solving realworld problems affecting Central Illinois, the United States, and the globe. Here, we showcase a fraction of our world-class research in the area of health and wellness, innovating life-saving devices and tracking viral evolution in the context of COVID-19, providing individualized nutrition solutions, and addressing food security in the U.S. and beyond.
QUICK ACTION MAKES EMERGENCY VENTILATORS A REALITY Two days after the state’s first stay-at-home order in March, Illinois researchers convened to discuss a prototype for an inexpensive emergency ventilator to relieve the nation’s shortage due to COVID-19. The team reached out to ACES animal sciences researchers with experience building and testing lifesaving medical devices in animals, and within a week, the first 24-hour test of the ventilator in pigs was complete. The device worked. With a few more tweaks and enhancements, Illinois RapidVent was ready for production. The ventilator has since been licensed by electronics company Belkin, and is now awaiting FDA approval for manufacturing.
Illinois RapidVent, an emergency ventilator tested on pigs by ACES researchers, is awaiting FDA approval for manufacturing
MEASURING FOOD SECURITY IN AMERICA More than 40 million Americans have limited access to adequate food, and that number could grow much higher during the COVID-19 pandemic. Households with children are more likely to be food insecure, and 1 in 4 children could face hunger. ACES researcher Craig Gundersen works with Feeding America, an umbrella organization for a network of 200 food banks nationwide, on estimating food insecurity around the U.S. They have developed Map the Meal Gap (MMG), an interactive web tool that allows users to search food insecurity levels by county, state, or region. Using the tool, Gundersen projects a worst-case scenario in which 24.5% of children could live in food insecure households during the pandemic. These projections can help legislators and aid organizations alleviate the problem.
1 in 6 Americans
1 in 4 children 1 in 6 Americans, and 1 in 4 children, are at risk of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic