Public Health

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 “...

Public Health Ph.D. Student Earns Fellowship to Study Health Equity

Fourth-year Public Health doctoral student Tashelle Wright won UC Merced’s first Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) Predoctoral Fellowship to examine tobacco use and oral health...

Participating in research activities through UROC enriches their undergraduate experience and prepares them for graduate study and beyond.

Undergrad Research Fuels Opportunities for Grad School, Careers

The opportunity to participate in cutting-edge scientific research as an undergraduate is one of the most exciting aspects of a UC Merced education. One of the best preparation opportunities for...

Overdose, Suicide Among Leading Reasons for Postpartum Maternal Deaths

Overdoses and suicides were among the most common reasons for mothers dying within a year of giving birth in California, according to a new study published this week. Psychiatric epidemiology...

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...

Everyone is invited to cheer on the campus’s Grad Slam semi-finalists as they present their research talks from 1-4 p.m. April 18 in the California Room.

Grad Students Vie for Spot in UC Grad Slam Finals

UC Merced’s Graduate Division will host its Grad Slam competition on April 18 with graduate scholars presenting on topics ranging from Valley Fever immune response and antibiotic...

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...

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...

Senior Maria Rivas Reyes was part of a small group of UC Merced students who visited Peru during winter break, serving as translators for medical purposes.

UC Merced Students Explore Peru By Volunteering as Translators

The explorer mentality, public health Professor Stephen Wooding said, is what sets the students of UC Merced apart from anywhere else. A willingness to try something new, to go somewhere they’d...