Life-changing cures and solutions, discovered right here.
At Northwestern, critical research and scholarship happens every day, much of it fueled by federal funding. Through our cutting-edge work, we experiment together, push boundaries and open new lines of inquiry. The results can be lifesaving — researchers look to cure disease, answer tough questions and help people have better lives. Read on for recent stories that illuminate our impact.
Engineering Human Health
Interdisciplinary research drives innovation at Northwestern. Engineering and medical researchers collaborate to discover new breakthroughs to help us live longer, healthier and safer.
Flexible wireless body sensors can replace the tangle of wire-based sensors that monitor babies in neonatal intensive care units. The FDA-approved sensors developed by an interdisciplinary team at Northwestern provide clinical measurements with as much precision as traditional monitors and allow for parent-baby physical bonding. The dual wireless sensors monitor babies’ vital signs — heart rate, respiration rate and body temperature — from opposite ends of the body. Both sensors weigh as much as a raindrop.
We know that skin-to-skin contact is so important for newborns — especially those who are sick or premature. It’s been shown to decrease the risk of pulmonary complications, liver issues and infections. Yet, when you have wires everywhere and the baby is tethered to a bed, it’s really hard to make skin-to-skin contact.”
Northwestern engineers have developed an implant — only a few millimeters in diameter — to house living engineered cells that synthesize and deliver the therapy when needed. This eliminates the need for daily or weekly injections, trips to the pharmacy and careful storage of expensive medications.
Economic Impact
Northwestern research is a catalyst for job growth and economic development in the Chicago region, nation and world.
$3Btotal economic impact of Northwestern research
$1.9Beconomic impact in the Chicago region alone
14,500 jobs supported nationally
Healthier Brains
From new strategies to reverse aging to an experimental drug that may remove protein buildup, Northwestern discoveries have enormous potential for patients.
Chemist Richard Silverman and neurologist P. Hande Ozdinler collaborated to create an experimental drug that removes protein buildups that, over time, inhibit brain function. Originally developed to treat ALS, the drug now shows promise in treating other neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. It has been approved to begin human trials for ALS treatment, and Northwestern has received funding to test treatment for other diseases as well.
Undergraduate students Izzy Mokotoff and Alexis Chan developed a pen that enables individuals with Parkinson’s to write again. The SteadyScrib pen’s wide, pliable grip makes it easier to hold, and magnets negate the effects of shaking and tremors. The pen, now available to purchase online, has helped many Parkinson’s patients regain some independence.
Northwestern’s Human Longevity Lab is discovering ways to slow or reverse aging, particularly for those at risk for accelerated aging — those with chronic HIV infections, patients with chronic kidney disease and people frequently exposed to toxic substances such as smoke and chemicals.
Advancing Cancer Treatment
Northwestern researchers are developing more effective cancer screening, improving drug delivery and treatment, and fighting to find cures for one of humanity's most vexing diseases.
Northwestern Medicine scientists developed a new device to open the blood-brain barrier and permeate large, critical regions of the human brain. The skull-implantable ultrasound device is the first to deliver the most potent chemotherapy drugs this way. Led by Dr. Adam Sonabend, this research has opened the door to other drug-based therapies for millions who suffer from various brain diseases.
Northwestern Medicine investigators at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a new avenue to reprogram compromised immune cells to act against tumors. The study highlights a potential path forward for treating late-stage tumors that have become resistant to current therapies.
Medical Facts and Figures
At Northwestern, research doesn’t just stay in the lab. Life-saving clinical trials revolutionize patient care, transforming medicine and training the physicians who will deliver it.
6,700+students currently training to become doctors, researchers and healthcare providers
6,902Northwestern Medicine clinical trials and studies, 2023-24
370,000+participants enrolled in clinical trials and studies, 2023-24
Less Pain, More Mobility
Working with doctors at the world-renowned Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, Northwestern researchers help improve lives — easing pain, increasing mobility and speeding up recovery.
Scientists at the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab have designed a manual wheelchair that gives users the ability to be mobile in either a seated or standing position — and the full range of positions in between. The wheelchair has a unique ergonomic hand drive mechanism designed to minimize the risk of shoulder injury associated with propelling a manual wheelchair.
A method developed by Northwestern researchers to treat post-amputation pain could drastically reduce amputees’ dependence on opioids. In a new Northwestern Medicine study, scientists followed 74 Ukrainians who had undergone traumatic limb amputations due to war injuries. They determined that hydrodissection — a simple procedure requiring just an ultrasound and a needle — had potential for treating post-amputation pain, which is notoriously difficult to address.
This research is highly relevant to Americans. Trauma is the leading cause of upper-extremity amputations worldwide, and post-amputation pain affects most amputees, limiting their reintegration into society.”
Dr. Steven Cohen, a professor of anesthesiology and the vice chair of research and pain medicine
Cleaner Water
Northwestern scientists are at the cutting edge of water research. Explore research that detects and removes micropollutants, including “forever chemicals," from water.
Professor Julius Lucks and his team have created a device to test water for 17 different contaminants within minutes. Using a method called cell-free synthetic biology, the device can identify contaminants such as lead, antibiotics, cosmetics and cleaning products. The technology, nicknamed ROSALIND, can assess water safety and quality from just a single drop of water. A multiyear pilot study will distribute and use the water test kits in Chicago-area households.
Northwestern scientist Will Dichtel has developed a low-cost, sustainable water purification method that acts like a magnet to remove pesticides, pharmaceuticals and PFAS (“forever chemicals”). These adsorbents are now used for water treatment and are part of PFAS test kits used by federal and state agencies, research institutions, environmental groups, water treatment providers and households to ensure water is safe to drink.
Inventive Activity
Our innovations maximize societal benefit and promote economic growth.
Northwestern's 2024 inventive activity, by the numbers.
250invention disclosures
639patent applications filed
90+active startups launched from Northwestern research
