California is home to a wide variety of wild and domestic animals, and some of them — including endangered sea otters — are at a risk of becoming infected with and dying from the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. This dangerous single-celled organism can infect nearly all...
Break a Sweat for Better Memory
There is plenty of research that demonstrates the health benefits of regular exercise, but a team of researchers, led by Neurobiology and Behavior Professor and Chair Marcelo Wood and Postdoctoral Fellow Ashley Keiser, has made a groundbreaking discovery that shows...
The Human Biology Major: A Prescription for Success
UC Irvine is a popular choice for undergraduates hoping to pursue careers in the medical field. As such, countless students have looked to the School of Biological Sciences to prepare them for medical school. However, around 2013, then-Associate Dean for...
The Diabetes Epidemic: One Professor’s Personal Journey to Find a Solution
As a child, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Assistant Professor Dequina Nicholas didn’t understand why her mother jabbed herself with needles and worried about her diet. Now she is researching a new way to combat diabetes, her mother’s longtime disease and one that...
Troubled Waters: Update on the Salton Sea by Timothy Bradley, PhD
The health of California residents, migratory birds and the Salton Sea ecosystem continue to be pushed to the brink as a result of the fallout from the Quantitative Settlement Agreement (QSA). The QSA, which mandated the transfer of water from the agricultural...
MODEL-AD: Unlocking the Secrets of Late-Onset Alzheimer’s
UCI is at the forefront of the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, and the recent $47 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) is set to further boost their efforts. The UCI team, which is part of the National Institutes of Health-funded Model Organism...
Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Alzheimer’s disease in the State of California by Michael Yassa, PhD
More than 650,000 people aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease in California. This number is projected to more than double by the year 2040. Hispanic/Latine and Black communities will see a disproportionate tripling in prevalence1. Genetic factors do...
Celine Crooks: A Student Leader on the Path to Pediatrics
Meet Celine Crooks, a fourth-year student at the UC Irvine Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences, who is pursuing her passion for medicine. Long before she was in her final year as an undergraduate, however, Crooks admits she did not know about UCI until she...
Reappointment of School of Biological Sciences Dean Frank LaFerla
Frank LaFerla has been reappointed to an additional five-year term as Dean of the School of Biological Sciences, beginning July 1.
New Research Sheds Light on a Protein that Shapes the T Cell Response to Viral Infections
A recent study published in the Journal of Virology by a team from the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry that includes Assistant Professor Roberto Tinoco, graduate student Julia DeRogatis and co-authors from the Tinoco lab, and Assistant Professor...