About

Combining excellence to revolutionize healthcare

Established in 2010, the Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance for Technology-Based Healthcare drives healthcare innovation with the combined expertise of two world-class institutions. The Alliance works across research, education, and translation to revolutionize patient care and improve human health.

Our vision

The Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance for Technology-Based Healthcare will revolutionize individualized care of patients everywhere via transformative discoveries and technological innovations.

Our mission

Discover and develop ways to make individualized medicine more impactful.

Facilitate collaboration at all levels, from individual investigators to legislators and corporations.

Drive data- and technology-embedded solutions to healthcare challenges.

Create an educational hub of novel training programs for healthcare innovators.

Historical Timeline

A perfect match

Franklyn Prendergast, M.D., Ph.D. Larry Schook, PhD

Drs. Frank Prendergast (Mayo Clinic) and Larry Schook (UIUC) proposed the creation of a technology-based health care alliance, focusing on the areas of genomics (particularly related to cancer and the microbiome), computational medicine, and point-of-care technologies.

2009

Alliance made official

The Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance for Technology-Based Healthcare was publicly announced to promote collaborative efforts in both research and education. Mayo Clinic and Illinois signed their first Collaboration Agreement on June 1, 2010. Prof. Bryan White (lllinois) and Dr. Eric Wieben (Mayo Clinic) are selected to lead the Alliance. 

2010

First Illinois SURF

The University of Illinois sends its first student to participate in the Mayo Clinic Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program.

A SURF student pipetting in a wet lab at Mayo Clinic

2010

First Comp Gen Course

The inaugural Computational Genomics Course, hosted at Illinois' Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), introduced participants to cutting-edge methodologies and technologies for clinical applications in computational genomics. A decade later, this intensive course continues to be held each summer, maintaining its role as a vital training ground for genomics professionals.

2013

mForge forged

Hosted at NCSA, the mForge system would represent a 10+ year commitment to jointly creating and operating a secure, high-performance compute cluster exclusively for Mayo Clinic's clinical research needs.

2014

First Fellows

Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance Graduate Fellowships for Technology-Based Healthcare were established and offered to Arjun Athreya, Yoga Varatharajah, and Faraz Faghri.

Arjun Athreya Yogatheesan (Yoga) Varatharajah Faraz Faghri

2016

The Grand Challenge Project

The Alliance begins its first "grand challenge" project using high-performance computing for rapid genome sequence analysis.

Supercomputer supported by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications or NCSA and the University of Illinois

2017

Largest grant concludes

From 2014 to 2018, the Alliance's largest grant supported the development and utilization of KnowEnG, a comprehensive genomic information management platform that significantly advanced research in disease causation, potential treatments, and the understanding of genomic variations, while also serving as a valuable educational tool. 

2018

Mayo Clinic Heritage Film release

cover for the Mayo Clinic Heritage Films "A World in a Grain of Sand: New Discoveries in Kidney Stones"The Mayo Clinic Heritage Film, “A World in a Grain of Sand: New Discoveries in Kidney Stones,” was released.

2020

Alliance renewed

The Master Research Collaboration Agreement was renewed for an additional five years.

2021

Inaugural HERE cohort

Two Illinois students participated in the inaugural Health Equity Research Experience (HERE) summer program at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville.

Brandon Snipe and Isela Villasenor
Brandon Snipe and Isela Villasenor

2023

ARPA-H award to advance surgical precision

The Mayo Clinic and Illinois Alliance secure an ARPA-H award of up to $33 million for the development of MarginDx, a platform designed to establish a new standard of care for precision in surgical interventions. By leveraging AI technology, the project aims to improve patient outcomes and enhance surgical accuracy, further strengthening the partnership's role in cutting-edge health innovation.

2024