News Archive

October 12, 2017 — As the high school students hiked along the nature trail at Scripps Coastal Reserve, José Waterton, a doctoral student in plant ecology at UC San Diego, pointed out native species like telegraph weed, California sagebrush and California buckwheat along the way and explained the ecological disturbances caused by invasive plants, such as ice plant and wild mustard.

October 12, 2017 — An international team of researchers, including UC San Diego psychologist Gail Heyman, suggests that one way to reduce implicit racial bias in young children is by teaching them to distinguish among faces of a different race. A touch-screen app developed by the team shows promising results.

October 11, 2017 — Stefan Savage, a renowned cybersecurity expert and professor of computer science at the University of California San Diego, has been awarded a fellowship by the MacArthur Foundation. Perhaps better known as the MacArthur “genius” award, the prestigious no-strings attached five-year fellowship awards a total of $625,000 to each recipient.

October 10, 2017 — How many robots does it take to screw in a light bulb? The answer: just one, assuming you’re talking about a new robotic gripper developed by engineers at the University of California San Diego. The engineering team has designed and built a gripper that can pick up and manipulate objects without needing to see them and needing to be trained. The gripper is unique because it brings together three different capabilities. It can twist objects; it can sense objects; and it can build models of the objects it’s manipulating. This allows the gripper to operate in low light and low visibility conditions, for example.

October 10, 2017 — Despite a diagnosis of stage IV pancreatic cancer and ongoing chemotherapy, Mike Levine boarded a plane this past weekend destined for Kona, Hawaii, where he will compete in one of the most grueling of physical competitions: the Ironman World Championship. Cheering him on will be his wife Jan, friends and Paul Fanta, MD, a pancreatic cancer expert with Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health who has been treating Levine since 2016.

October 10, 2017 — Approximately 10 percent of Americans take a proton pump inhibitor drug to relieve symptoms of frequent heartburn and acid reflux. That percentage can be much higher for people with chronic liver disease. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have discovered evidence in mice and humans that these medications alter gut bacteria in a way that promotes three types of chronic liver disease. The study is published October 10 in Nature Communications.

October 9, 2017 — Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with national collaborators, have identified a series of molecular clues to understanding the formation of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs). The study offers the first genome-wide analysis of the transcriptome of brain microvascular endothelial cells after KRIT1 inactivation.

October 9, 2017 — CIPRES, for CyberInfrastructure for Phylogenetic RESearch, is a web-based portal or “gateway” launched by the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego that allows researchers to explore evolutionary connections among species. Over 20,000 users from 86 countries have run one or more jobs using CIPRES, generating about 3,500 peer-reviewed publications in journals.

October 9, 2017 — An international team of researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center, with colleagues at Sun Yet-sun University Cancer Center and other collaborating institutions, have developed a new diagnostic and prognosis method for early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), based on a simple blood sample containing circulating tumor DNA.

October 5, 2017 — The Qualcomm Institute at the University of California, San Diego, will save more than $486,650 per year in energy costs thanks to a series of energy-efficiency improvements to Atkinson Hall, where QI is headquartered.