💻 From Under the El
In Chicago, world-changing research happens inside buildings most people walk past without really noticing. Future scientists, engineers, and doctors ride the Red Line along with everyone else. This is a place where ambitious ideas and practical people collide, and that’s the perfect environment for exciting things to happen. Before the weekend, let’s have some good news.
⏰ tl;dr
Northwestern’s prestigious Nemmers Prize in Medical Science goes to a pioneering infectious disease geneticist
Electric vehicles could travel much farther thanks to discoveries by UChicago researchers
Chicago Wolves Adopt-a-Dog Night returns, helping rescue dogs find forever homes
🌻 What’s Going Right In Chicago Today
🧬 Prestigious Northwestern award goes to pioneer in infectious disease genetics
A world-leading physician-scientist whose discoveries transformed how we understand infectious diseases has been awarded one of Northwestern University’s most prestigious scientific prizes.
Jean-Laurent Casanova, MD, PhD, has been named this year’s Mechthild Esser Nemmers Prize recipient. The award recognizes medical research with lasting global impact. Casanova’s work focuses on a deceptively simple question he calls the “infection enigma”: Why do some people become critically ill from infections while others exposed to the same microbes remain largely unaffected?
Over nearly three decades, Casanova and his research teams in the U.S. and France have uncovered the genetic causes behind more than 20 severe infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, influenza pneumonia, and severe COVID-19. One of his most influential discoveries came during the pandemic, when his team identified autoantibodies that interfere with the body’s antiviral defenses, a finding that helped explain roughly 15% of severe COVID-19 cases and about 20% of deaths.
“Jean-Laurent’s paradigm-shifting discoveries have changed the way we think about immunity and life-threatening infections. We are delighted to honor him with the 2026 Nemmers Prize in Medical Science, which recognizes outstanding achievements in medical science that improve the health of humankind.”
The Nemmers Prize carries a $350,000 award and places Casanova among a small group of scientists whose work has fundamentally changed modern medicine.
Image credit: UChicago
🔋 Chicago researchers crack a major challenge in next-generation batteries
Scientists have developed a breakthrough approach that could help electric vehicles travel significantly longer distances on cheaper batteries.
Electric vehicles are only as good as the batteries that power them, and researchers have been chasing a holy grail: high-capacity batteries that are also affordable at scale. A new study involving scientists from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering has taken a major step toward that goal.
The team focused on sulfur, an abundant and inexpensive material that theoretically holds far more energy than many current battery materials. The problem is that sulfur doesn’t conduct electricity well, making it difficult to unlock that potential. Instead of inventing entirely new materials, the researchers discovered that changing how the materials are mixed and structured dramatically improved battery performance.
Price-wise, sulfur is the ultimate inexpensive material that you want to put in the battery.
The research team is working in partnership with LG to test their batteries in the real world — outside the lab — to see if they can have the impact they seem to promise in experimental settings.
📉 Violence in Chicago is still trending down compared to last year
Despite a short-term uptick last month, Chicago’s overall violence levels remain lower than they were at the same time in 2025.
Chicago saw an increase in shootings and homicides last month compared to the previous month, according to police data. But zoom out a little, and the longer-term trend tells a more encouraging story: Violence remains down compared to this point last year, even though last year had historically low levels of crime overall.
City officials and researchers have been tracking the gradual shift as violence prevention programs, community outreach efforts, and policing strategies continue to evolve. While the month-to-month numbers can fluctuate, the broader comparison to 2025 shows progress.
According to WTTW, month-over-month increases (like we saw this month) have become less common over the last few years. But even though this month saw a slight uptick, 2026 has less violent crime overall than the start of 2025 — and 2025 is when Chicago recorded its fewest homicides in 60 years.
🗓️ Eye On the Chi
Bark For the Park
An evening of cocktails, treats, and tail-wagging fun to support the new Lakeview Dog Park.
When: March 7, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Sit Social
Chicago Wolves Adopt-a-Dog Night
During this special Chicago Wolves game night, rescue dogs from partner shelters meet their future families
When: March 7, 7 p.m.
Where: Allstate Arena
💌 Do you have good news of your own? Reply to this email and share your good news. It could be featured in a future issue of Good News, Chicago!
Till next time,
Good News, Chicago
Know someone who could use some good news? Share this newsletter with them ⬇