College of Applied Health Sciences at Illinois

Teaming up to check Illinois Special Olympics athletes for healthy hearing. 👂🎧

Our audiologists, speech-language pathologists, SHS undergraduates and staff at the University of Illinois Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Clinic joined up with colleagues at Illinois State University to help conduct hearing screenings for 115 athletes last Friday.

Congrats to the Illinois Special Olympics athletes who competed this weekend at the Summer Games in Bloomington-Normal!

Special Olympics Illinois
Department of Speech & Hearing Science at Illinois

U.S. Tennis brought these RST alums back together again. 🎾

More than a decade after meeting as graduate students in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at Illinois, Chelcie Abajian, Eva Schmidt and Christine Stromberg have found themselves reunited in an unexpected place: the U.S. Open.

Now working in roles connected to the U.S. Tennis Association, the trio helps support one of the most prestigious events in sports. But their professional reunion is rooted in something even more enduring — a friendship that began on campus and remained strong through the years.

“It’s incredible to see the three of us together again,” Abajian said. “Even during the years we weren’t working side-by-side, our bond never wavered.”

For more, read the RST newsletter at https://buff.ly/PVHPyc5

Students in RST’s event management courses are behind some of the most memorable events of the semester. 🐶

A pickleball tournament, sports camps for kids, a “yappy hour” at a local brewery with dogs invited, a fairy tale ball at Urbana Free Library: all can thank Event Management and Implementation in Recreation, Sport and Tourism, taught by Sarah Agate.

“I get emails from students even a few months later who have graduated and are working in their grown-up job, saying, ‘I hadn’t planned on doing events, but now that’s part of my job, and I feel so prepared and ready because of what we did.’”

For more, check out the RST spring newsletter at go.ahs.illinois.edu/RSTspring26

Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at Illinois

Where does AI fit into the big picture of public health? 🩻

It's a question that's central to the work of Bruno Nunes, associate professor of Health and KInesiology. In his view, artificial intelligence is a potent tool to predict and prevent public health problems, like chronic disease.

But before AI-powered models are deployed in public health settings, they must be trained on richer data sets so they don’t amplify societal inequalities.

“Machine learning is a data learning process. It’s not just about using the fanciest algorithm—the problem is if you don’t have good data, you won’t have a good model.”

For more, read the story in the Health and Kinesiology newsletter: https://buff.ly/Iv5Tu32

More than 8 million people in the U.S. reported using psilocybin in the past year, according to a nationally representative survey.

Two Health and Kinesiology professors wrote about its prevalence and associated behaviors for the American Journal of Preventive Medicine Focus.

Psilocybin is a potentially hallucinogenic compound found in more than 200 mushroom species. Interest in its use as a potential treatment for depression, anxiety, substance use disorders and other maladies has grown in recent years, as federal authorities have loosened restrictions on its use in clinical trials, and some states are making moves to decriminalize it.

Story from Diana Yates in the Illinois News Bureau: https://buff.ly/wsupM1X

“The purpose of this study was to describe not only the prevalence of psilocybin use but to also look at the associated risk factors,” said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign health and kinesiology professor Andrew Yockey, who led the research with health and kinesiology professor Rachel Hoopsick.

“We’re seeing some loosening restrictions around psilocybin and there’s a lot of public conversation about its potential,” Hoopsick said. “But most of the use is happening outside of clinical trials. Our study is filling a gap by showing who is using this substance in the general population and what other behaviors are associated with that use.”

Read this fun Q&A with Applied Health Sciences alumna Theola Starks Olion (Class of 1973) who turned her favorite pastime into a platform for connection. ⛳

She's the founder of Senior Golf Dating Site, a place where fellow golf enthusiasts can find a golf buddy, a golf date or maybe even something more: "Where love meets the links."

Read the story in the Illinois Alumni Magazine: https://uiaa.org/2026/06/08/par-maker/

At 77, Theola Starks Olion, ’73 AHS, is still finding new ways to shake up the game. ⛳

After earning more than 30 golf trophies, plaques and ribbons, she launched Senior Golf Dating Site, a place where fellow golf enthusiasts can find a golf buddy, a golf date or maybe even something more.

As she puts it: "Where love meets the links."

Tee up the full story: https://uiaa.org/2026/06/08/par-maker/

College of Applied Health Sciences at Illinois

People of all ages: participate in a study at our college! 🏃

We have open studies recruiting young adults and older adults, expectant mothers, elementary-age children and their families, adults with mobility impairments, and much more. Contribute to science and get compensated for your time!

Visit our website and contact the researchers to see if you qualify: https://ahs.illinois.edu/research-and-community/participate-in-a-study/

An RST course is helping the Wintrust Sports Complex prepare for the unexpected.

Over the past three years, the Village of Bedford Park, Wintrust Sports Complex and students and faculty from the Department of Recreation Sport and Tourism have built a model for emergency preparedness that doubles as a proving ground for experiential learning.

Newsletter: go.ahs.illinois.edu/RSTspring26

The engine behind much of that work is RST 441, a course led by Adjunct Instructor Robyn Deterding. In the class, graduate students function less like traditional students and more like consultants embedded in a working sports venue.

“You know you can’t prevent accidents and incidents from occurring,” Deterding said. “But you can plan and train for them. If they don’t happen, excellent. If they do, you have a plan to work from.”

This lab is using virtual reality to study how vocalists can speak, teach and sing without straining their voices. 🗣️

Led by Speech and Hearing Science Associate Professor Pasquale Bottalico, the Speech Accommodation to Acoustics Lab uses a mix of audiovisual techniques to simulate real-world environments, like classrooms and social settings, for experimental studies. 🎧

“In many traditional speech and voice studies, experiments are conducted in quiet laboratory settings that do not fully represent the complex environments people encounter in everyday life,” Bottalico said. “VR provides a powerful way to bridge that gap.”

Read the full Q&A with Professor Bottalico in the SHS Newsletter: go.ahs.illinois.edu/SHSspring26

Summer light on Freer Hall. ☀️