Health Sciences Research Institute

UC Merced Project Aims to Strengthen Heat Relief in Kern County

May 21, 2025

In California’s Kern County, nearly 925,000 people live in oppressive heat 125 days per year. Several types of relief are offered. Residents can get breaks on energy bills bloated by air conditioning costs. Triple-digit temperatures trigger the opening of public buildings labeled “...

Professor Li and his student research team

Bioengineers Work on New Technology to Look Deep Inside Living Tissue and Tumors

Bioengineering Professor Changqing Li is building a high-resolution CT imaging scanner that will allow scientists to study and understand how oxygen plays a role in cancer therapy and stem cells...

Baby Formula Shortages and COVID-19 Led to Risky Feeding Practices, Study Suggests

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the majority of parents struggling to find baby formula have resorted to dangerous feeding practices for their infants, which could negatively impact the health of...

Bioengineer Invited to Join NIH Review Board

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have invited bioengineering Professor Eva De Alba Bastarrechea to serve as a member of the Macromolecular Structure and Function C Study Section within the...

Professor Zoghbi, seated, and some of the students in her lab.

Lab Aims to Understand Transporter Protein that Protects Cells from Damage

Professor Maria-Elena Zoghbi and her lab are taking a closer look at a human transporter protein that acts as a cellular protector by relocating a molecule that has important antioxidant properties...

Pack of Natural American Spirit cigarettes

Study on Cigarette Packs' Native American Imagery Raises Questions About Safety, Cultural Misappropriation

Most people are familiar with the adage "a picture is worth a thousand words." However, the message conveyed by an image may not always be factual. Authors of a study recently...

UC Merced, Stanislaus State Awarded $1.4 Million to Help Snuff Out Tobacco Use

UC Merced's Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC) and California State University, Stanislaus, are partnering on a large project as part of California Endgame's goal to end...

Research Week Offers Both Virtual and In-person Events This Year

Research Week, the annual showcase of UC Merced’s important explorations into some of the world's most pressing challenges, kicks off Monday with the Sierra Nevada Research Institute’...

McCloskey Earns a Place Among Fellows in Prestigious Bioengineering Organization

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has elected founding faculty member Professor Kara McCloskey into its College of Fellows for outstanding contributions to...

B Cell Study Indicates Promising Direction for Anti-parasitic Vaccines

Creating vaccines to train the immune system against parasites is particularly challenging. They are also highly specialized masters of immune evasion. Some parasites can secrete proteins that...