Biological Sciences

NIH Grant Enables Outstanding Investigator to Advance Knowledge of Microbial Infections

June 30, 2025

Professor Clarissa Nobile investigates the mechanisms of biofilm infections that affect human health.

The National Institutes of Health are backing Professor Clarissa Nobile ’s mission to understand the mechanisms by which microbes form biofilms, specifically those that can be hazardous to human health. Biofilms are communities of microorganisms encased in protective matrices and are...

A man holds a bright purple instrument in his hands while talking into a microphone headset.

‘Genius’ Award Winner and TED Lecturer to Speak at UC Merced

On Sept. 22, MacArthur "Genius" Award winner and Stanford University bioengineering Professor Manu Prakash will deliver the keynote lecture at the first annual open house for UC Merced...

Annual 5K Run Raises $6,000 for Scholarships

The third annual UC Merced Journey 5K Fund Run drew a record 475 participants Saturday and raised more than $6,000, exceeding the event’s stated goal. Proceeds and donations from this...

Students and teachers are seated on the floor and bleachers in a high school gymnasium while attending a pep rally in Merced.

Genetic Diversity in High Schools a Predictor of Economic Success

Does diversity have a positive effect on economic outcomes? According to a new study co-authored by UC Merced economics Professor Justin Cook, the answer is yes, even when the diversity is...

Four female middle school students in summer robotics academy are gathered around a desk. All four students are sitting in front of laptops and writing code for their robots.

Summer STEM Academy Aims to Prepare Valley Students for College

The leap from high school to college is an enormous intellectual hurdle. But UC Merced engineering Professor Yanbao Ma wants to ease the transition by better preparing Central Valley students for the...

Biologists Attend Prestigious Summer Teaching Institutes

UC Merced Professor Marcos Garcia-Ojeda and lecturer Kamal Dulai have received Macmillan Travel Awards to learn how to bring more effective teaching into the STEM classroom. The $500 awards cover...

Researcher Continues Progress Toward Effective HIV Inhibitor

Patricia LiWang was at an impasse. It was 2011 and the UC Merced professor’s research group had figured out how to make some of the most potent HIV inhibitors even more powerful. LiWang was thrilled...

NSF Grant Brings Powerful New Microscope to Campus

UC Merced added a powerful new tool to the campus’s Imaging and Microscopy Facility. The newly acquired Zeiss LSM 880 is a state-of-the-art laser scanning confocal microscope that represents a huge...

Class of 2017 Shows Anything is Possible at UC Merced

The newest campus in the University of California system, UC Merced is a campus that attracts leaders — individuals who enjoy the challenge of paving the way for others to follow — and...

Community Members Aid Cutting-Edge Research in ‘BioBlitz’ Project

When scientists at UC Merced seek to better understand California’s biodiversity, they turn to cutting-edge genomics. They also turn to their neighbors. On a sunny Saturday in April, scientists...