Public Health

Ripon Student Turning Heart and Heritage into a Path of Healing

March 19, 2026

As a child of the Central Valley and a member of a Native tribe, Grace Grinder developed an early awareness of health care disparities affecting rural regions and underserved communities. While in third grade, Grinder lost her grandmother to what she described as too few physicians nearby to...

Researchers Studying Valley Fever to Help Region

In an effort to combat a debilitating disease commonly found in the region, UC Merced researchers are collaborating with area medical leaders to better understand valley fever. Through the campus’s...

Professor Secures Funding from Major Biotech Company to Advance Diabetes Research

UC Merced biology Professor Rudy Ortiz is furthering his innovative research into diabetes with support from a major pharmaceutical company. Ortiz’ work, developing new applications for medicines...

Professor Working to Stop Melanoma in its Tracks

Professor Fabian Filipp is trying to put up roadblocks. But instead of stopping cars, he’s trying to keep cancers from growing. Filipp, a systems biology professor who started at UC Merced this fall...

UC Merced Faculty Opinion in Journal Science

Professor Mónica Medina started out as the only marine biologist in a National Science Foundation workshop last year, but she ended up with a group of new partners and an opinion piece in the...

Study Sheds Light on Bacterial Cell Division

Staph, e-coli, meningitis, MRSA and botulism are just a few of the thousands of bacterial infections that plague people all over the world. For example, almost 23,300 people in the United States were...

Human Rights Fellow to Explore Midwifery Decisions

Catalina Hernandez, UC Merced’s first Human Rights Center fellow, is spending this summer exploring how women decide to seek help from a midwife for childbirth instead of an obstetrician. A proponent...

UC Merced San Joaquin Valley-PRIME Announces Second Class of Students

Six students, all with ties to the San Joaquin Valley, have been admitted to the UC Merced San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (PRIME). The students have begun their first year of medical...

Professor Studies Alcohol's Neurological Effects

Professor Fred Wolf’s research brings new meaning to the term barfly. In an effort to better understand the neurological effects of alcohol abuse, Wolf gives fruit flies alcohol and studies how their...

Study: Bone Density May Affect Immune System

Researchers at the University of California, Merced, have discovered a new way in which bone health impacts a person’s immune system. The discovery could impact how scientists try to combat bone-...