Health

Researchers Rebuild Microscopic Circadian Clock That Can Control Genes

February 10, 2026

Blue-green algae in flasks are used by researchers at UC Merced and UC San Diego to further the understanding of circadian clocks. Image courtesy of UC San Diego.

Our circadian clocks play a crucial role in our health and well-being, keeping our 24-hour biological cycles in sync with light and dark exposure. Disruptions in the rhythms of these clocks, as with jet lag and daylight saving time, can throw our daily rhythms out of whack. But a group of...

Faculty member and NCPC community research lead, Nancy Burke, listens to a presentation at the NCPC's workshop titled “Hook, Line & Sinker: Crafting Compelling Policy Messages.”

NCPC Workshop Empowers Stakeholders to Craft Compelling Anti-Smoking Policy Messages

The rate of smoking in the San Joaquin Valley is the highest in California — on par with tobacco-producing regions in Georgia and South Carolina — and UC Merced’s Nicotine and...

UC Merced Undergrad Alumna Wins Fulbright, Will Study Health Disparities Among Indian Women

Akhila Yechuri is taking what she learned as an undergrad at UC Merced to Hyderabad, India, researching health disparities as the campus’s first undergrad to earn a Fulbright...

Ennis Receives Prestigious NIH Fellowship for Research of Biofilms

The National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) awarded Quantitative and Systems Biology graduate student Craig Ennis the Ruth L. Kirschstein...

Anh Diep is UC Merced's winner of this year's Grad Slam and go on to the UC finals May 10.

Anh Diep Wins Grad Slam at UC Merced, Heads to UC Finals

Quantitative and Systems Biology (QSB) graduate student Anh Diep will represent UC Merced at the University of California Grad Slam finals in San Francisco on May 10. At UC Merced’s Grad...

A child is surrounded by air pollution from traffic.

Air Pollution Impacts Childhood Development, New Study Shows

Children who live near major roads are at higher risk for developmental delays because of traffic-related pollutants. That’s the major finding of a new study authored by UC Merced...

Ph.D. students Craig Ennis and Vicky Espinoza visited Sacramento with Vice Provost and Graduate Dean Marjorie Zatz to speak with lawmakers about the contribution of graduate research to California's development.

Graduate Students Make a Case for Research at Capitol

Two UC Merced Ph.D. students took to the State Capitol yesterday with representatives from the other UC campuses to advocate for the importance of the research being done across California. Craig...

Two professors are researching how to predict those who is most likely to use firearms to commit suicide.

New Project Aims to Predict People Likely to use Firearms in Suicides

The majority of people who die by suicide do so with firearms, and there were more firearm suicides in America in 2017 than there were homicides committed by any method. Combined. Those shocking...

I Am a UC Engineer: Alumni Jeffrey Aceves

Jeffrey Aceves is an excellent student. Always has been. He graduated high school with a 4.3 GPA and an Eagle Scout ranking. He graduated from UC Merced in 3 ½ years, having come to the campus...

Graduate student Warren Nanney was awarded a three-year NASA fellowship to continue his research engineering portable biosensors for health monitoring in space.

NASA Fellowship Lifts Grad Student’s Cardiac Biosensor Research

Warren Nanney, who’s pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemistry and Chemical Biology, received a three-year NASA fellowship that’s creating a unique opportunity for him to develop biosensors that...