Highlighting Indiana’s Next Generation of Scholars at the Statehouse
On February 18, 2026, the Office of the Vice President of Regional Campuses and Online Education will host Regionals at the Rotunda for the second year. This event is designed to spotlight the remarkable undergraduate research unfolding across Indiana University’s regional campuses – IU Kokomo, IU East, IU Northwest, IU South Bend, and IU Southeast.
Across these campuses, students are tackling issues that matter deeply to the communities they represent. Guided by dedicated faculty mentors, students are exploring solutions in areas such as workforce development, health and well-being, economic resilience, education access, sustainability, and quality of place. Regionals at the Rotunda brings these projects directly to the Statehouse, offering a closer look at how IU students are emerging as scholars whose work contributes to the needs and priorities of their regions – and, ultimately, to the strength of Indiana and the nation.
“IU’s regional campuses collectively contribute over $1 billion of economic impact to the state and to our communities,” said Vice President of Regional Campuses and Online Education Ken Iwama. “The scope and the work of our regional campuses in terms of elevation of value and how important we are to both IU and to the state is clear at the Regionals at the Rotunda.”
Legislators can meet the students behind the research, learn what sparked their inquiries, and see firsthand how hands-on academic experiences at IU’s regional campuses are preparing the next generation of leaders, innovators, and community problem solvers.
Watch an overview of the IU Regionals at the Rotunda event
Learn more about Regionals at the Rotunda
Senate Honors Indiana Hoosiers Football’s historic season
On Tuesday, Feb. 10, Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray (R-Martinsville) introduced and presented Senate Resolution 37 congratulating the Indiana University Hoosiers football team on their 2025-2026 College Football Playoff National Championship title and historic 16-0 undefeated season. Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder (D-Bloomington), who represents the campus, was the second author of the resolution and spoke in favor of passage.
IU President Pamela Whitten was present on the Senate floor, along with Scott Dolson, Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, to receive the recognition. The resolution passed on a voice vote with unanimous consent.
State Update
This State Update provides a summary of bills the IU State Relations team is tracking and that moved during the eighth week of session. We are now seeing a flurry of activity as the time for bills from the opposite chambers to be heard in committee remains short. Bills must move out of the opposite chamber’s committees by the Thursday, Feb. 19 deadline to remain eligible to still become law.
Read the State Update
Federal Update
This week’s Federal Update covers Congressional, Executive, and Judicial Branch activities of interest in Washington, D.C.
Read the Federal Update
Economic Engagement Update
Save the Date: 2026 IU Economic Development Summit
Please mark your calendar for the 2026 IU Economic Development Summit, happening on August 3, 2026 at the Indiana Memorial Union in Bloomington.
The Summit will bring together campus and community partners, practitioners, and leaders from across Indiana to explore ideas, partnerships, and strategies that support economic development statewide.
Additional information — including registration link and the event schedule — will be shared on our website as planning continues.
Learn more about the 2026 Summit
Add the 2026 Summit to your calendar
IU Kokomo launches three-year direct admit nursing degree
Future health care providers can now earn a nursing degree in three years with Indiana University Kokomo’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Direct Admission pathway — allowing the campus to help fill the critical need for nurses in north central Indiana.
Launching in January 2027, the pathway allows high-achieving incoming undergraduate students to be admitted directly into the School of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, rather than completing prerequisites during the first year before applying for admission.
Learn more about IUK’s BSN Direct Admission pathway
Richard DiMarchi, pioneering IU peptide chemist behind many GLP-1 drugs, re-shapes obesity treatment
Approximately 700,000 adults in Indiana struggle with diabetes. Obesity affects about a third of adult Hoosiers. Indiana University’s Richard DiMarchi has dedicated his career to developing cutting-edge pharmaceutical treatments to treat both conditions.
While working at Eli Lilly and Company, DiMarchi discovered the first chemically optimized human insulin. But it was at IU that he enjoyed the freedom to explore the use of GLP-1 and other peptide hormones for weight management, leading to the transformation of treatment for obesity worldwide.
As group vice president at Lilly, DiMarchi generated rDNA-derived medicines that dramatically advanced the treatment of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. In studying these chemically optimized peptides for diabetes treatment, DiMarchi and colleagues realized that in addition to regulating blood sugar, these drug candidates also helped patients lose weight. At the time, the scientific consensus was that obesity was an issue of individual willpower, not a disease to be medicinally treated.
Learn more about Dr. DiMarchi's groundbreaking GLP-1 and obesity research
IU in the News
Researchers identify promising Alzheimer’s disease drug target
Indiana University School of Medicine scientists have identified a promising drug target for Alzheimer's disease. The team found that removing an enzyme from neurons in the brain substantially reduces amyloid plaques — a hallmark characteristic of the disease — and may provide further resilience against disease progression.
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Pandemic-era gains in childhood obesity persist; young children most affected
The Indiana University Fairbanks School of Public Health at IU Indianapolis has released updated findings on childhood obesity trends through 2024. The new report shows that while the sharp pandemic-era increase in obesity rates has stabilized, overall prevalence remains significantly higher than before COVID-19.
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‘Good solutions require good data’: Engineer tackles the challenge of microplastics
An electrical engineer who joined the Indiana University Indianapolis campus last semester is bringing his microplastics research to a new lab in the Hoosier State. Mark Cheng, professor of biomedical engineering and informatics in the IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering in Indianapolis, is an expert on sensing technologies and instrumentation. This includes developing new methods to identify the concentration and composition of microplastics found in water.
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Grant to IU’s Media School will fund learning lab that expands local news coverage
The Indiana Newsroom, a new learning lab in The Media School at Indiana University Bloomington, will expand local coverage on underreported issues affecting communities across southern Indiana, while providing paid experiential learning opportunities for IU student journalists.
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