A student from the Department of Spanish & Portuguese has been named a 2026 Community-Academic Scholar (CAS) by the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute.
Lina Gil—a first-generation college student and a James Scholar who is double majoring in Spanish and psychology with a concentration in clinical psychology—is one of 19 scholars in this year's cohort. Representing 23 majors and minors in seven colleges, this year's scholars encompass a diverse array of fields of study, from kinesiology to computer engineering to urban studies. This cohort of scholars was selected from IHSI's largest and most competitive pool of applicants. Nearly 150 students, representing 54 different majors across eight colleges and schools, applied to be a 2026 scholar.
Researchers from across the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus are working with community partners to support a variety of projects, from sustainable food systems and community-based needs assessment to culturally responsive health tools, immigrant health education, and multilingual learning. Some projects leverage technologies like digital health monitoring, robotics, and extended-reality (XR) to support older adults and people with disabilities, look at how indoor environments affect health, and promote equity-focused, responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in community-based health care and public health settings. One project will even evaluate CAS itself, offering insight into how the program supports community-academic partnerships.
Passionate about mental health and health disparities, Gil is working toward her goal of becoming a therapist so that she can offer Latinx and other minoritized communities the culturally sensitive mental health care they deserve. She is currently serving as an advanced peer educator in the Counseling Center Paraprofessionals Program and has worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Alcohol Research Lab. This summer, Lina will work with Wendy Rogers, a professor of health and kinesiology and Persons Assuming Control of the Environment (PACE) to study the everyday challenges and unmet needs of people aging with long-term disabilities.
Editor's note: A version of this story first appeared on the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute website.