Biological Sciences

NIH Grant Funds Research into Reducing Inflammation

August 18, 2023

Professor Eva de Alba, Eduardo A. Gaspar-Morales and Ayomide J. Adeoye display a hydrogel.

Bioengineering Professor Eva de Alba has been awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to study a potential process to reduce inflammation. The $405,375 grant will fund de Alba's project through 2025. David Gravano, Technical Director of UC Merced Stem Cell...

Three Students Chosen to Further Carbon Neutrality Efforts

Three UC Merced undergraduates are the recipients of a new fellowship under University of California President Janet Napolitano’s Carbon Neutrality Initiative. Through the President’s Sustainability...

Research Shows Increased Risk of Toxoplasmosis

A third of all humans carry the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis — a disease commonly associated with cats, HIV-AIDS patients and pregnant women — with scientists long believing healthy immune...

Students' Spanish Skills Aid Valley Crisis Center

In the fall semester, UC Merced Senior Lecturer Virginia Adán-Lifante offered extra credit to students who volunteered to translate a portion of the Valley Crisis Center website into Spanish. The...

Unprecedented Melanoma Study Maps Cancer Drivers

Researchers at the University of California, Merced, have completed a comprehensive map of the genetic makeup of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. By comparing the genomes of more than 300...

Researchers Delve into Valley Fever from All Angles

Note: This story originally appeared in the Fall 2014 issue of UC Merced Magazine. Before it infects humans who breathe it in, the fungus that causes valley fever changes shapes in the environment....

NIH Supports Professor’s Work in Inhibiting HIV Infection

Biochemistry Professor Patricia LiWang calls it a stroke of luck that she has become enmeshed in HIV research, but her developments are no accident. The National Institute for Health (NIH) apparently...

Professor’s Research to Examine Whether Copper Plays Role in Alzheimer’s Disease

Professor Masashi Kitazawa wants to figure out if any environmental factors increase the risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease – specifically, whether elevated levels of copper in drinking water...

Professor Discovers Key Elements for Biofilm Spreading

A biology professor at the University of California, Merced, discovered mechanisms that allow a potentially fatal biofilm to spread and resist drugs. The research was published last month in mBio, an...

Professor’s Paper in Nature Communications Indicates Deep Sea Changes

Large, naturally occurring low-oxygen zones in the Pacific appear to be expanding, and there is a sharp change in the number of bacteria that produce and consume different forms of toxic sulfur,...