UC Irvine online criminology master’s program again rated No. 1 in nation

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 7, 2024 — The University of California, Irvine Master of Advanced Study in criminology, law and society has been named the nation’s best online criminal justice master’s program by U.S. News & World Report for the fifth year in a row.

UC Irvine-led study links long-term air pollution exposure to postpartum depression in SoCal

Irvine, Calif., Oct. 31, 2023 — Long-term maternal exposure to common air pollutants, both before and after childbirth, has been linked to increased risk of postpartum depression for mothers – with symptoms ranging from anxiety and irritability to suicide – and may lead to cognitive, emotional, psychological and behavioral impairments in their infants, according to research led by the University of California, Irvine.

UC Irvine study exposes risks of direct-to-consumer stem cell, exosome COVID-19 therapy ads

Irvine, Calif., Oct. 26, 2023 — A study from the University of California, Irvine has revealed that in 2022, 38 North American businesses used direct-to-consumer advertising to promote unproven stem cell interventions and exosome products as purported treatments and preventatives for COVID-19. Collectively, these organizations operated or facilitated access to 60 clinics – with 24 in the U.

National Academies report identifies ways to reduce intergenerational poverty in US

Irvine, Calif., Sept. 25, 2023 — A report released Thursday, Sept. 21, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine identifies evidence-based programs and policies, such as increased K-12 spending for school districts serving low-income students, to combat intergenerational poverty in the United States.

UC Irvine-led study links low-dose radiation to higher cancer risk

Long-term exposure to low-dose radiation is linked to an increased risk of cancer, according to a study led by the University of California, Irvine. In the U.S., radiation exposure for the average person doubled between 1985 and 2006, mainly from medical imaging procedures such as CT scans, highlighting the need for its judicious use.

Addressing disparities in Alzheimer’s disease research

Age-related cognitive decline and the escalating prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease are pressing social challenges as the population of those 65 and older continues to expand. Age is the primary risk factor, but research has shown that social and structural determinants of health play significant roles in the higher incidence of Alzheimer’s among marginalized communities.

UC Irvine scientists develop freely available risk model for hurricanes, tropical cyclones

As human-driven climate change amplifies natural disasters, hurricanes and typhoons stand to increase in intensity. Until now, there existed very few freely available computer models designed to estimate the economic costs of such events, but a team of researchers led by Jane W. Baldwin at the University of California, Irvine recently announced the completion of an open-source model that stands to help countries with high tropical cyclone risks better calculate just how much those storms will impact their people and their economies.

UC Irvine-led researchers reveal new molecular mechanism for stimulating hair growth

Irvine, Calif., June 21, 2023 — The process by which aged, or senescent, pigment-making cells in the skin cause significant growth of hair inside skin moles, called nevi, has been identified by a research team led by the University of California, Irvine. The discovery may offer a road map for an entirely new generation of molecular therapies for androgenetic alopecia, a common form of hair loss in both women and men.

UC Irvine receives grant to study lead exposure effects on children’s learning, behavior

The Program in Public Health at the University of California, Irvine has received a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to research the connection between low-level lead exposure during pregnancy and early childhood and children’s school performance and behavior in Santa Ana, California.

UC Irvine scientists create long-lasting, cobalt-free, lithium-ion batteries

Irvine, Calif., June 14, 2023 – In a discovery that could reduce or even eliminate the use of cobalt – which is often mined using child labor – in the batteries that power electric cars and other products, scientists at the University of California, Irvine have developed a long-lasting alternative made with nickel. “Nickel doesn’t have child labor issues,” said Huolin Xin, the UCI professor of physics & astronomy whose team devised the method, which could usher in a new, less controversial generation of lithium-ion batteries.

Bilingual, digital health tool helps reduce alcohol use, UC Irvine-led study finds

An automated, bilingual, computerized alcohol screening and intervention health tool is effective in reducing alcohol use among Latino emergency department patients in the U.S., according to a study led by the University of California, Irvine. “This is the first bilingual, large-scale, emergency department-based, randomized clinical trial of its kind in the country focused on English- and Spanish-speaking Latino participants,” said lead author Dr.

UC Irvine-led study finds Medicaid telemedicine coverage boosted use, healthcare access

Medicaid telemedicine coverage between 2013 and 2019 was associated with significant growth in telemedicine use and improved healthcare access, while private policies did not have such an association, according to a study led by the University of California, Irvine. An analysis of 20,000 records of U.

8 UC Irvine faculty members named Hellman Fellows for 2023-24

Eight assistant professors at the University of California, Irvine will receive Hellman Fellowships, which are bestowed annually to support research by junior faculty. They join an elite group of 77 UCI Hellman Fellows since 2013, when the Hellman Fellows Fund established the awards here. The program began in 1995 at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego and has since expanded organically to all UC universities and four private institutions.

Computational biology superstar Sanju Sinha joins Sanford Burnham Prebys

Sanju Sinha, Ph.D., has joined Sanford Burnham Prebys as an assistant professor in the Cancer Molecular Therapeutics Program to continue his research on cancer development and drug discovery. He comes to Sanford Burnham Prebys from the Cancer Data Science Lab at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he trained to leverage the power of artificial intelligence to discover new drugs to prevent cancer.

UC Irvine study shows traffic-related air pollution in Irvine weakens brain function

Researchers from the University of California, Irvine have found that exposure to traffic-related air pollution in Irvine led to memory loss and cognitive decline and triggered neurological pathways associated with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

UC Irvine’s graduate programs shine in U.S. News & World Report rankings

Highlighted by the program in education, nine fields of advanced study at the University of California, Irvine placed in the nation’s top 20 among public universities in U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-24 graduate school rankings, published online today, marking UCI as one of the leading locations in the country for students to pursue graduate degrees.

UC Irvine biologists discover bees to be brew masters of the insect world

Scientists at the University of California, Irvine have made a remarkable discovery about cellophane bees – their microbiomes are some of the most fermentative known from the insect world. These bees, which are named for their use of cellophane-like materials to line their subterranean nests, are known for their fascinating behaviors and their important ecological roles as pollinators.

UC Irvine’s Leo Chavez elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Acclaimed anthropologist, author and professor Leo Chavez from the University of California, Irvine – best known for his work in international migration, particularly among Latin American immigrants – has been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. The 243rd class of inductees includes nearly 270 people from around the world, recognized for their accomplishments and leadership in academia, the arts, industry, public policy and research.

UC Irvine physicists discover first transformable nano-scale electronic devices

The nano-scale electronic parts in devices like smartphones are solid, static objects that once designed and built cannot transform into anything else. But University of California, Irvine physicists have reported the discovery of nano-scale devices that can transform into many different shapes and sizes even though they exist in solid states.

Hallmarks to improving pancreatic cancer therapy identified by UCI researchers

Scientists from the University of California, Irvine, the University of Michigan and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have made a significant contribution to the field of pancreatic cancer research. Their new study presents several crucial themes in the biology of pancreatic cancer that can serve as hallmarks for pancreatic cancer therapy.

Héctor Tobar and Roland Betancourt are named 2023 Guggenheim Fellows

University of California, Irvine writers and scholars Roland Betancourt and Héctor Tobar have been awarded 2023 Guggenheim Fellowships. They join 169 other American and Canadian scientists and scholars in the social sciences and humanities, as well as writers and artists of all kinds, receiving the prestigious grants this year.

Scientists discover a way Earth’s atmosphere cleans itself

Irvine, Calif., April 7, 2023 — Human activities emit many kinds of pollutants into the air, and without a molecule called hydroxide (OH), many of these pollutants would keep aggregating in the atmosphere. How OH itself forms in the atmosphere was viewed as a complete story, but in new research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a research team that includes Sergey Nizkorodov, a University of California, Irvine professor of chemistry, report that a strong electric field that exists at the surface between airborne water droplets and the surrounding air can create OH by a previously unknown mechanism.

UC Irvine Labor Center opens on campus

The University of California, Irvine has opened a new campus center that will provide timely and policy-relevant labor research, will educate the next generation of labor and community leaders, and will advance labor and workers’ rights initiatives. Modeled after existing centers at UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Merced, the UCI Labor Center builds upon previous campus efforts to investigate low-wage worker sectors in Orange County.

Exposure to green space linked to reduced risk of postpartum depression

In an analysis of more than 415,00 electronic health records of healthy, full-term births in Southern California, a team of researchers led by the University of California, Irvine determined that exposure to green space and tree coverage was associated with a decreased risk of postpartum depression among mothers.

UC Irvine alumni Paul and Jo Butterworth pledge $35.5 million to Donald Bren School

University of California, Irvine alumnus Paul Butterworth, co-founder and chief technology officer of enterprise software developer Vantiq Inc., and his wife, Jo Butterworth, also a UCI graduate, have named UCI as a beneficiary of their estate. The gift, valued at approximately $35.5 million, will support the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences.

UCI to launch pre-health program with support from state of California

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 9, 2023 — Increasing underrepresented students’ access to careers in medicine is the focus of a new interdisciplinary, pre-health professional development program at the University of California, Irvine. A five-year, $3.6 million grant from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information will support UC PRIME Pre-Health Pathways, a resource for undergraduates from underserved communities who are interested in pursuing careers in healthcare.

UC Irvine School of Medicine associate professor awarded 19th Japan Academy Medal

Kei Igarashi, associate professor of anatomy & neurobiology at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, has been named one of six scholars to win the 19th Japan Academy Medal. Widely considered the academy’s most prestigious award for Japanese researchers under the age of 45 in all fields of science and humanities, it was bestowed on Igarashi in recognition of his discoveries on the neural circuit mechanisms of associative memory and how they are affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

UC Irvine Earth system scientists plot pathways for climate-conscious air travel

With its high-carbon footprint, air travel challenges the goal set by many countries of stabilizing global mean temperature by the middle of the 21st century. The aviation sector could achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 through a combination of technology and a change in habits, but it’s not going to be easy, according to Earth system scientists at the University of California, Irvine.

UCI researchers decipher atomic-scale imperfections in lithium-ion batteries

As lithium-ion batteries have become a ubiquitous part of our lives through their use in consumer electronics, automobiles and electricity storage facilities, researchers have been working to improve their power, efficiency and longevity. As detailed in a paper published today in Nature Materials, scientists at the University of California, Irvine and Brookhaven National Laboratory conducted a detailed examination of high-nickel-content layered cathodes, considered to be components of promise in next-generation batteries.

UC Irvine, UCLA researchers identify new therapeutic approach to prevent ARDS

A novel peptide designed by University of California, Irvine researchers has been found to suppress the damaging lung inflammation seen in acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS. Their study, which appears in iScience, describes the first specific treatment designed to prevent the deadly disease, which can appear in patients with severe lung injury from infections with bacteria and viruses, like pneumonia, flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19.

How UCI saved the ozone layer

On Jan. 9, a United Nations-backed panel of experts announced that Earth’s protective ozone layer is on track to recover within four decades, closing an ozone hole over the Antarctic that was first noticed in the 1980s. But it was research conducted at the University of California, Irvine in the 1970s that made this good new possible.

Underrepresented groups remain in neonatal nurse practitioner training programs

Black, Latin American, and other underrepresented groups continue to receive inadequate representation among students and faculty at US neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP) training programs, reports a survey in Advances in Neonatal Care, the official journal of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Climate change could cause “disaster” in the world’s oceans, say UC Irvine scientists

Irvine, Calif., Jan. 4, 2023 — Climate-driven heating of seawater is causing a slowdown of deep circulation patterns in the Atlantic and Southern oceans, according to University of California, Irvine Earth system scientists, and if this process continues, the ocean’s ability to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere will be severely limited, further exacerbating global warming.

Microbial miners could help humans colonize the moon and Mars

The biochemical process by which cyanobacteria acquire nutrients from rocks in Chile’s Atacama Desert has inspired engineers at the University of California, Irvine to think of new ways microbes might help humans build colonies on the moon and Mars.

FAU Receives $1 Million NSF Grant to Empower Women in STEM Faculty

The three-year NSF ADVANCE ADAPTATION grant will help transform faculty diversity and ensure appropriate representation of women in STEM. This grant continues the work of the late Emmanuelle Tognoli, Ph.D., who served as a research professor in FAU’s Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences within the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and a member of the FAU Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute.

UCI researchers discover crucial role of brain’s striatum cilia in time perception

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 30, 2022 — Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have discovered that removal of cilia from the brain’s striatum region impaired time perception and judgment, revealing possible new therapeutic targets for mental and neurological conditions including schizophrenia, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, autism spectrum disorder, and Tourette syndrome.