History
Historical Timeline
A perfect match
Drs. Frank Prendergast (Mayo Clinic) and Larry Schook (Illinois) 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.
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.
2016
The Grand Challenge Project
The Alliance begins its first "grand challenge" project using high-performance computing for rapid genome sequence analysis.
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
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.
2023
New leadership for the Alliance
The Alliance moves into its 15th year under the leadership of co-chair Kiaran McGee (Mayo Clinic) and co-chair Stephen Boppart (Illinois).
2024
ARPA-H award to advance surgical precision
The Alliance secures an ARPA-H award of up to $33 million for the development of MarginDx, a platform aimed at advancing precision in surgical care and improving patient outcomes.
2024