Written By Taylor Zhao   Adapted from UCLA Newsroom article Efforts to combat the symptoms of aging and diseases such as cancer have been underway for almost a century. However, researchers have been unable to target the sources of these complex human health issues on a deep, molecular level. Dr. Juli Feigon, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry…
Read More

Adapted from UCLA Health Newsroom article A UCLA-led team, that includes IDRE Executive Committee member Douglas Bell, has received a five-year, $8.4 million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to develop effective approaches to improve advance care planning for seriously ill patients treated in primary care clinics. The award, one of seven granted nationally…
Read More

Adapted from a UCLA Samueli Newsroom article IDRE Executive Committee member Dr. Andrea Bertozzi, a distinguished professor of mathematics in the UCLA College and of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, was one of two UCLA faculty members elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2018. The honor recognizes their “distinguished and…
Read More

Adapted from UCLA Health Newsroom article Dr. Antoni Ribas, director of the tumor immunology program at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and IDRE Hoffman2 sponsor, has been awarded the sixth American Association of Cancer Research-Cancer Research Institute Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology. The award recognizes scientists for their research in cancer immunology that…
Read More

Adapted from UCLA Health Newsroom article More than 700,000 Americans were hospitalized due to illnesses associated with the seasonal flu during the 2014–15 flu season, according to federal estimates. A radical new approach to vaccine development at UCLA may help lower that figure for future flu seasons. The scientists, including Dr. Ren Sun, a professor…
Read More

“My college roommate was a philosopher,” so goes the story of Dr. Mark Cohen. Cohen’s isn’t one that involves an early onset of an existential crisis nor is it the typical hellish-roommate tale. On the contrary, engaging in philosophical discussions as an undergraduate helped spark Cohen’s interest in the human brain. A professor-in-residence at UCLA’s…
Read More

In the animated Disney film Big Hero 6, the character Baymax is a loveable, squishy robot that resembles the Michelin Man and is programmed to be a sidekick and protector of the main character Hiro Hamada, a teen robotics engineer. Baymax is filled with air, which makes him exceptionally huggable and a hit with kids…
Read More

In show business, it’s all about who you know. But for UCLA Mathematics Professor and IDRE-related faculty Joseph Teran, it’s all about snow. His research into the mechanics of ice crystals that fall from the atmosphere aided the Walt Disney Company in the creation of animated snow sequences in its Oscar-winning film “Frozen.” Teran has…
Read More

Dr. Anastassia Alexandrova is living in a materials world; she is concerned with the study of new chemical materials through the use of computational design and multi-scale modeling. To Alexandrova, associate professor at UCLA’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the most interesting questions in science are related to the electronic structure and chemical bonding of…
Read More

Getting inside a person’s head is no longer just the stuff of telekinetic comic book characters—the recently announced National Science Foundation’s Next Generation Networks for Neuroscience (NeuroNex) awards help to fund real scientists and their research into the interworkings of the brain. Through NSF funding, one of nine NeuroNex Technology Hubs will be established at…
Read More