News Archive

June 18, 2015 — According to UC San Diego alumnus J. Craig Venter, a world-renowned biochemist, geneticist and entrepreneur, medical research as we know it is at the dawn of a new era.

June 17, 2015 — Metastatic colorectal cancer patients tend to live longer when they respond to the first line of chemotherapy their doctors recommend. To better predict how patients will respond to chemotherapy drugs before they begin treatment, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine conducted a proof-of-principle study with a small group of metastatic colorectal cancer patients. The results revealed two genes that could help physicians make more informed treatment decisions for patients with this disease.

June 17, 2015 — A team of researchers led by bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego provide new insights on how hearts “stay young” and keep functioning over a lifetime despite the fact that most organisms generate few new heart cells. Identifying key gene expression changes that promote heart function as organisms age could lead to new therapy targets that address age-related heart failure.

June 17, 2015 — Higher consumption of dietary trans fatty acids (dTFA), commonly used in processed foods to improve taste, texture and durability, has been linked to worsened memory function in men 45 years old and younger, according to a University of California, San Diego School of Medicine study published online on June 17 in PLOS ONE.

June 17, 2015 — Curators at the San Diego Natural History Museum have enlisted University of California, San Diego archaeologist Dominique Rissolo as a content expert for a new exhibition offering insight into the ancient Maya.

June 16, 2015 — In Syria during the late Ottoman Empire through the middle of the 20th century, the writing and circulation of petitions was a practice of citizenship used by a diverse range of individuals and groups. Ben Smuin, a doctoral candidate in history at the University of California, San Diego, is researching this practice with the hope that it will contribute to a better understanding of the complex issue of citizenship in today’s Syrian society. This fall, he will travel to the Middle East as one of 10 UC San Diego scholars to receive funding for research abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and Boren Awards for International Study.

June 15, 2015 — Recently, over 50 students – most of them graduate students – showed up for the day-long Big Pixel Hackathon to Discover the Planet in Atkinson Hall’s Calit2 Theater. The May 23 hackathon was organized by the Big Pixel Initiative (BPI) to showcase what can happen when you let students loose on the largest private collection of high-resolution satellite imagery on earth. Co-directors Gordon Hanson, a professor in the School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS), and Qualcomm Institute research scientist Albert Yu-Min Lin oversaw the event, with hands-on management by lead coordinator Jessica Block and postdoctoral researcher (and GIS expert) Ran Goldblatt, both based in the Qualcomm Institute.

June 11, 2015 — The University of California, San Diego was joined by members of the Spanos family at the ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Alex G. Spanos Athletic Performance Center earlier this week. The new center is made possible by a lead gift of $500,000 from Dean Spanos, chairman of the board of the San Diego Chargers, and his family to revamp and expand the existing Alex G. Spanos Training Facility, located on the northwest side of campus.

June 11, 2015 — Results from new geophysical experiments led by a researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego are helping scientists understand the complex forces unfolding tens of miles below the planet’s surface.

June 11, 2015 — Jennifer Lu took four computer science courses with Lecturer Emeritus Paul Kube at the University of California, San Diego. She clearly remembers her first computer science class on campus. It came after a less-than-positive computer science experience in high school, and Kube was her professor. “The subject actually made sense for the first time. Because of that, I ended up switching my major from economics to computer science. I am grateful to have had Paul Kube as my professor, especially during a time when I was still unsure about my major.”