At the May 2021 SIU commencement, Dr. Rik Constance was noticeably hoarse. As Associate Dean of Students and Admissions, he dutifully read the names of each of the 70 graduates. He also gave a short speech after receiving the belated Distinguished Alumni Award for 2020.

At the May 2021 SIU commencement, Dr. Rik Constance was noticeably hoarse. As Associate Dean of Students and Admissions, he dutifully read the names of each of the 70 graduates. He also gave a short speech after receiving the belated Distinguished Alumni Award for 2020.

At the May 2021 SIU commencement, Dr. Rik Constance was noticeably hoarse. As Associate Dean of Students and Admissions, he dutifully read the names of each of the 70 graduates. He also gave a short speech after receiving the belated Distinguished Alumni Award for 2020.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon in May, seventy physicians and three graduate students from SIU School of Medicine received their diplomas at the school’s 47th annual commencement.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon in May, seventy physicians and three graduate students from SIU School of Medicine received their diplomas at the school’s 47th annual commencement.

Hailing from Divernon, Illinois, Jesse Britz is a pharmacology and neuroscience graduate student in the Department of Pharmacology. He has been the student representative of the Graduate Program Committee and chief coordinator of “Brain Awareness Week.”

Hailing from Divernon, Illinois, Jesse Britz is a pharmacology and neuroscience graduate student in the Department of Pharmacology. He has been the student representative of the Graduate Program Committee and chief coordinator of “Brain Awareness Week.”

Since early 2020, health care systems around the world have been adapting to the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now deep into its second year, its impact cannot be understated.

Since early 2020, health care systems around the world have been adapting to the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now deep into its second year, its impact cannot be understated.

Constantly moving medical care upstream Tucked in the far corner of John Flack’s finished basement is the fish room, a space filled floor to ceiling with aquariums — 135 of them, to be exact. Each provides a home to a breed of fancy guppies, small fish of every hue and variety, serenely checking on the neighbors and the guests who have entered their marine habitat. This is a relaxing space for Flack. What started as a hobby at the age of 10 is now his “other full-time job,” one that requires ongoing care and high organizational skill. Fortunately for the exotic fish moving around the filtered