Health Sciences Research Institute

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...

Study Finds That Gene Transcription Can Serve as Brain’s Timekeeper

Neurons keep time. These brain cells – which are responsible for the brain’s “heavy lifting,” from information processing to memory formation – seem to "know"...

Multi-well dish with pink liquid inside.

Study: Drug-Resistant Cancer Cleverer Than Imagined

Precision medicine offers hope after a life-changing cancer diagnosis. But some cancers that initially respond to targeted chemotherapy become treatment-resistant — and the tumor itself is the...

Study: Kitchen and Culture Clash When Promoting Healthy Eating to Latinos

Latinos suffer from some of the highest obesity rates in the nation. Health officials have tried to intervene with messaging that encourages healthy eating and healthy behavior, but these campaigns...

A Fruit Fly Walks Into a Bar ...

Editor’s note: Every year UC Merced shines a spotlight on the cutting-edge research underway at the university. Research Week is an opportunity for the public to explore the...

Professor Susana Ramirez in a red jacket and black-rimmed glasses stands in front of bookshelves filled with books.

Public Health Professor Honored for Early-Career Research

The American Public Health Association (APHA) presented public health Professor Susana Ramirez with the 2017 Early Career Award at its annual meeting last month. The award is handed out every year...

AAAS Fellow Brings Groundbreaking Genetics Research to Campus

Professor Chris Amemiya is new to UC Merced, but he’s a veteran scientist with a long list of breakthroughs to his name. Amemiya’s discoveries have changed the way scientists understand...

Process That Kills Damaged Cells Hints at New Cancer Therapies

Scientists have long known that cells originating from an animal’s anterior — the body’s upper half — tend to grow, divide and survive better than those from the posterior....

A man in a blue button-down shirt stands on a balcony in front of a concrete wall.

Prestigious Fellowship Furthers Grad Student’s Asthma Research

Very few people will admit to an abiding love of statistics. But Emanuel Alcala, a second-year public health doctoral student, believes statistics are key to solving many of the San Joaquin Valley...

Campus Efforts Improve Community’s Access to Healthy Foods

Hunger is a critical issue facing most of the nation and the world, but it’s even closer to home than some might think. At UC Merced, it's an issue that many students face, and one that...