Stories at The College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Study reveals deaths from nitrous oxide misuse are steeply increasing (7.31.2025)
Health study involves adults with Down syndrome ‘every step of the way’ (10.15.2025)
Teaching the next ‘champions for change’ in sport (10.24.2025)
Where does AI fit into the big picture of public health? (5.13.2026)
Words that bind: A new weekly aphasia communication group (4.23.2025)
Wheelchair basketball alums band together for worthy cause (7.20.2023)
Understanding the trauma coping of Ukrainian refugees (10.21.2025)
Stories at The News-Gazette
Arcola mayor has his finger firmly on community’s pulse (8.7.2022)
In Lincoln, the loss of a college rocks its community (4.10.2022)
A team of their own: Champaign’s upstart youth wheelchair basketball team (4.16.2023)
‘We adapted’: Holocaust survivor recounts his family’s escape for Unity eighth graders (2.24.2022)
U. of I. police co-responder team seeks more staff after first year (8.5.2022)
Farewell to ‘Pinto Bean,’ the U. of I.’s precious piebald squirrel (10.13.2022)
About Ethan
I am a writer, reporter and photographer born and raised in Champaign, Illinois. I reported news for three-and-a-half years—as an intern for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, as news editor for The Daily Illini and as a general assignment reporter for The News-Gazette—covering the University of Illinois, local businesses, our cities’ responses to rising gun violence, the COVID-19 pandemic and a wide array of human interest stories.
In 2023, I began working in marketing and communications for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, explaining and promoting cutting-edge research into human health and well-being for the College of Applied Health Sciences at Illinois. I’ve cut my teeth here as a social media manager and grown my skills as a science writer and feature photographer—here you’ll find some of my favorite stories and photos on the job.
I love listening to people’s stories and sharing them with the world. I’m also a basketball fanatic and competitive Smash Bros. Melee player, and I’m the fourth of seven brothers.
I live with my partner and our dog, Mia, and our cat, Chewy.
Photos
Children gathered at Douglass Park for the Housing Authority of Champaign County's end-of-schoolyear celebration. (Housing Authority of Champaign County)
Jean Driscoll, director of advancement at the College of Applied Health Sciences and multi-time Paralympic champion wheelchair racer, shows off the wall of Distinguished Alumni Award winners to alums of the University of Illinois' vaunted sports psychology program. (College of Applied Health Sciences at Illinois)
Kamryn Riley accepts superhero-themed gifts from members of the Champaign Police Department’s honor guard on May 21, 2022—his sixth birthday—outside his home near Church and Fourth streets. Kamryn was hurt in a shooting two days earlier near his home. (Ethan Simmons | News-Gazette)
Rep. Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) visits the basement of Disability Resources and Educational Services at the University of Illinois. Coaches and athletes from its world-renowned wheelchair athletics program gave Rep. Budzinski a guided tour on April 6, 2026. (Ethan Simmons | College of Applied Health Sciences at Illinois)
AGB downtown patrol officers Travis Bowers (left) and Ernest Willis survey the downtown Champaign streets on Friday night. (News-Gazette)
Sarah DeMaris, great granddaughter of former University of Illinois athletics administrator George Huff, holds up a perfectly preserved 100-year old photo of Harold "Red" Grange, legendary Illinois football star. Illinois athletics and academic administrators opened up a copper time capsule in the cornerstone of Huff Hall, which opened in 1925. (College of Applied Health Sciences)
University of Illinois speech and hearing science faculty celebrate World Voice Day, after it was recognized by both city governments in Champaign and Urbana. (College of Applied Health Sciences)
Jesús Garza is the first Latino mayor of Arcola, an Illinois town of 3,000 people with a growing plurality of Hispanic residents. (News-Gazette)
Children gathered at Douglass Park for the Housing Authority of Champaign County's end-of-schoolyear celebration, joined by community organizations and first responders. (Housing Authority of Champaign County)
Bruno Nunes researches the potential uses and pitfalls of artificial intelligence in public health. (College of Applied Health Sciences)
Grimace made a surprise appearance at the Sapora Symposium, a career development event for students in recreation, sport and tourism at the University of Illinois. (College of Applied Health Sciences)
A new weekly aphasia communication group is helping budding Illinois speech-language pathologists to understand the condition and provide community for participants living with aphasia. (College of Applied Health Sciences)