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Irvine, Calif., June 12, 2019 – “Would you like cake or broccoli?” If you ask a child under the age of 3, the answer – eight times out of 10 – will be broccoli. But this has less to do with parents successfully instilling healthy food preferences than the order in which the choices are presented. A study led by the University of California, Irvine and published in the online journal PLOS One has found that toddlers are highly subject to “recency bias” when faced with “or” questions: They tend to pick the last option, even if it’s not what they actually want.

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Computer scientists from the University of California, Irvine are making a splash in the art world this year through their participation in Italy’s Venice Biennale, one of the oldest and most prestigious cultural festivals. The team – led by Alexandru Nicolau, UCI Distinguished Professor and chair of computer science, and Alexander Veidenbaum, UCI professor of computer science – collaborated with Israeli-Romanian artist Belu-Simion Fainaru to create three art installations for the event.

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Irvine, Calif., June 6, 2019 — After completing a national search, Chancellor Howard Gillman has appointed Paula Smith as director of intercollegiate athletics at the University of California, Irvine. Smith has nearly 30 years of experience in college athletic administration, 14 of those at UCI. Twice UCI’s interim athletic director – first in 2007-08 and, most recently, since July 2018 – she has served as deputy director of intercollegiate athletics since 2012.

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Irvine, Calif., June 6, 2019 – In a paper published this week in Nature, materials science researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions unveil a new process for producing oxide perovskite crystals in exquisitely flexible, free-standing layers. A two-dimensional rendition of this substance is intriguing to scientists and engineers, because 2D materials have been shown to possess remarkable electronic properties, including high-temperature superconductivity.

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Irvine, Calif., June 5, 2019 — A nanotechnology treatment derived from bone marrow stem cells has reversed multiple sclerosis symptoms in mice and could eventually be used to help humans, according to a new study led by University of California, Irvine researchers.  “Until now, stem cell therapies for autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases have produced mixed results in clinical trials, partly because we don’t know how the treatments work,” said corresponding author Weian Zhao, an associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences and biomedical engineering who is affiliated with the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center.

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Irvine, Calif., June 3, 2019 – After conducting a comprehensive, seven-year survey of Patagonia, glaciologists from the University of California, Irvine and partner institutions in Argentina and Chile have concluded that the ice sheets in this vast region of South America are considerably more massive than expected. Through a combination of ground observations and airborne gravity and radar sounding methods, the scientists created the most complete ice density map of the area to date and found that some glaciers are as much as a mile (1,600 meters) thick.

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Irvine, Calif., June 3, 2019 – Nearly one-fifth of the world’s population lives in a stressed water basin where the next climate change-driven incident could threaten access to an essential resource for agriculture, industry and life itself, according to a paper by University of California, Irvine researchers and others, published today in Nature Sustainability.

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Irvine, Calif., May 30, 2019 – Can your liver sense when you’re staring at a television screen or cellphone late at night? Apparently so, and when such activity is detected, the organ can throw your circadian rhythms out of whack, leaving you more susceptible to health problems. That’s one of the takeaways from two new studies by University of California, Irvine scientists working in collaboration with the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona, Spain.

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A new UCI-led pilot study finds, on average, Waze "crash alerts" occur two minutes and 41 seconds prior to their corresponding California Highway Patrol (CHP)-reported crash. These minutes could mean the difference between life and death.

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Irvine, Calif., May 13, 2019 — In hopeful news for brain cancer patients, researchers from the University of California, Irvine and the University of Lausanne in Switzerland have discovered how an experimental technology called FLASH radiotherapy dramatically reduces the adverse cognitive side effects unleashed by traditional radiation treatments.

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Irvine, Calif., May 2, 2019 — Disparities in young children’s experiences at the dentist are linked to income, ethnicity and language, according to a new study from the University of California, Irvine. Published in Academic Pediatrics, it found that families with lower incomes or from ethnic or linguistic minority groups were more likely to report negative incidents, such as the child being physically restrained, separated from a caregiver or sedated without consent.

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Irvine, Calif., May 2, 2019 – Water polo athletes take note: A new study by University of California, Irvine researchers maps out the frequency of head injuries in the sport and reveals which positions are the most vulnerable. The first-of-its-kind report, which tracked several dozen male collegiate water polo players over three seasons, was published today in PLOS One, a peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journal.

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Irvine, Calif., April 29, 2019 – Drawing design inspiration from the skin of stealthy sea creatures, engineers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a next-generation, adaptive space blanket that gives users the ability to control their temperature. The innovation is detailed in a study published today in Nature Communications.

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Irvine, Calif., April 25, 2019 — Willie L. Banks Jr. has been named vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of California, Irvine, effective July 15. He comes to UCI from Indiana State University, where he has served as vice president for student affairs for the past four years. At UCI, Banks will oversee the Student Affairs division and its mission of enriching the student experience for the campus’s nearly 30,000 undergraduates.

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Words can hurt or help a person’s psychological well-being, according to a new study from the University of California, Irvine. Researchers found that the effects of negative and positive political rhetoric about immigration – particularly by people from Mexico – elicited a range of corresponding emotions associated with lower or higher levels of stress and overall health in Mexican Americans.

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Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine John Christian “Chris” Fox, MD, has been appointed chair of the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, effective immediately. He served as interim chair since 2017.

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Irvine, Calif., April 22, 2019 — With nearly $4 million in funding from the National Institute of Arthritis & Musculoskeletal & Skin Diseases, the University of California, Irvine will establish the UCI Skin Biology Resource-based Center. One of only six such sites in the nation, it will provide critical research infrastructure, shared facilities, services and resources to groups of investigators studying skin biology and diseases.

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A new study led by researchers from the University of California, Irvine finds exercising in the morning, rather than at night, may yield better results.

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Irvine, Calif., April 17, 2019 — Repeated exposure to media coverage of collective traumas, such as mass shootings or natural disasters, can fuel a cycle of distress, according to a University of California, Irvine study. Researchers found that individuals can become more emotionally responsive to news reports of subsequent incidents, resulting in heightened anxiety and worry about future occurrences.

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Tarana Burke, founder of the #metoo movement, will speak at UCI on April 22. EVENT: Tarana Burke, a civil rights activist who founded the #MeToo movement to raise awareness of sexual harassment and assault, will speak at UCI on the campaign’s history and future plans. Currently the senior director of programs at Girls for Gender Equity in Brooklyn, New York, she has dedicated more than 25 years to social justice.

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Orange, Calif., April 11, 2019 — The UCI Anti-Cancer Challenge is coming home to the University of California, Irvine campus on Saturday, June 8. Registration is now open for this third annual ride, run and walk to benefit cancer research at the UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. “We’re grateful to the Orange County community for embracing the Anti-Cancer Challenge, raising more than $1 million for cancer research in the early years of the event,” said Dr.

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In a recent University of California, Irvine-led study published in Nucleic Acids Research, a team of scientists described a catalog of 4489 putative mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions, including their frequency and relative read rate. This catalog comprises the first comprehensive database of mitochondrial deletions derived from human brain.

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Researchers have identified for the first time an imbalance in a key neural pathway that explains how some people reactivate negative emotional memories. The finding could help scientists unlock new ways to treat psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Irvine, Calif., April 8, 2019 — Both genetic codes and postal codes influence children’s physical and mental health and behavioral and social outcomes, according to a new study led by Candice Odgers, University of California, Irvine professor of psychological science, and Dan Belsky, assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

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High-resolution images capture previously unseen features of PDE6. Included among them were some very promising regions that resemble fish-hooks. These regions are responsible for controlling PDE activity. By targeting the fish-hook-like region with a new class of PDE inhibitors, drug development companies may be able to eliminate unwanted side effects of certain PDE targeting drugs.

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Irvine, Calif., April 3, 2019 – By focusing light down to the size of an atom, scientists at the University of California, Irvine have produced the first images of a molecule’s normal modes of vibration – the internal motions that drive the chemistry of all things, including the function of living cells. In a study in Nature, researchers at UCI’s Center for Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit describe how they positioned the atomically terminated silver tip of a scanning tunneling microscope mere ängstroms from its target: a cobalt-based porphyrin molecule affixed to a copper platform.

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Irvine, Calif., March 20, 2019 – Here’s something to chew on: One in four people are impacted by defects of the temporomandibular – or jaw – joint. Despite the pervasiveness of this affliction, treatments are lacking, and many sufferers resort to palliative measures to cope with the pain and debilitation it causes. “The TMJ is central to chewing, talking and so many other daily activities, so when this crucial joint is impaired, there are significant negative effects on quality of life,” said Kyriacos A.

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Irvine, Calif., March 19, 2019 — Bernadette Boden-Albala, Dr.P.H. – a renowned researcher and administrator whose efforts to reduce health disparities for America’s disadvantaged became a blueprint for community-based stroke and heart disease prevention – has been named director and founding dean of the University of California, Irvine’s planned School of Population Health, effective July 1.

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Irvine, Calif., March 19, 2019 — Blending the power of big data and history, an expanded and redesigned version of Slave Voyages – one of the most utilized resources in the digital humanities – is now available. Housing both trans-Atlantic and intra-American slave trade databases, the Slave Voyages website illuminates the ubiquity of the slave trade from the 16th century to the 19th century.

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UCI cognitive scientist studies how hormone cycles impact sleep and memory

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Irvine, Calif., Feb. 28, 2019 — Child poverty in America could be decreased by 50 percent in a decade through a combination of work-oriented and income support programs, according to a national panel chaired by Greg Duncan, Distinguished Professor of education at the University of California, Irvine. The Committee on Building an Agenda to Reduce the Number of Children Living in Poverty by Half in 10 Years today announced its recommendations, based on a two-year evaluation of 20 program and policy ideas.

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University of California, Irvine School of Medicine researcher Geoff Abbott, PhD, has been awarded a $2 million Outstanding Investigator Award/Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) R35 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and a $1.7 million R01 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

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About one in five adults in a representative sample of Americans had watched at least part of a beheading video created and posted online by the Islamic State group (formerly known as ISIS), according to a new study by the University of California, Irvine. Researchers also found that fear of terrorism and having a history of violent victimization appear to draw individuals to this highly graphic coverage – and that watching such videos was associated with global distress and fear of the future about two years after they went viral.

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Irvine, Calif., Feb. 22, 2019 – During the DNA synthesis process in a laboratory, recordings can be made of the subtle, telltale noises made by synthesis machines. And those captured sounds can be used to reverse-engineer valuable, custom-designed genetic materials used in pharmaceuticals, agriculture and other bioengineering fields.

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Project CLEAR clinical trial finds that the application of antiseptic soap, mouthwash, and nose ointments prevent post-discharge MRSA infections and hospitalizations. Patients

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Irvine, Calif., Feb. 13, 2019 – Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a wearable, disposable respiration monitor that provides high-fidelity readings on a continuous basis. It’s designed to help children with asthma and cystic fibrosis and others with chronic pulmonary conditions. The inexpensively produced sensors were created by UCI biomedical engineers using the popular children’s toy Shrinky Dinks, thin sheets of plastic that are painted or drawn on and then shrunk with heat.

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Irvine, Calif., Feb. 12, 2019 — The University of California, Irvine has received a five-year, $5 million Institute of Education Sciences grant from the U.S. Department of Education to establish the first national research and development center focused on improving the writing skills of middle and high school students. The Writing Research to Improve Teaching and Evaluation Center for Secondary Students will conduct a study on academic writing in English language arts, science and history – in collaboration with researchers and subjects from the nearby Tustin Unified School District – and then create a professional development intervention program for teachers.

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New insights on circumventing a key obstacle on the road to anti-scarring treatment have been published by Maksim Plikus, an associate professor in development and cell biology at the UCI School of Biological Sciences and colleagues in Nature Communications. The research team discovered that the natural scar-free skin repair process relies partially on assistance from circulating blood cells. The results point the way toward possible treatments for scar-free wound healing that target the body’s own blood cells.

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Following a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) Independent Citizens Oversight Committee meeting held last week, University of California, Irvine (UCI) researchers learned they will receive $6 million in funding to support the continued development of a promising new treatment for Huntington’s disease (HD).

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A University of California, Irvine-led study reveals that connectivity within the brain appears to be largely dictated by spatial architecture rather than cell type-specific cues. The study was published this month in Cell Reports.

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Irvine, Calif., Jan. 23, 2019 — Online publishing platforms and digital media can provide opportunities for nonmainstream groups to push back against and offer alternatives to the simplistic stereotypes presented in literature and popular culture. A study led by the University of California, Irvine focused on Harry Potter fan fiction and discovered that autistic people, family members, teachers and advocates cast autistic characters in their stories in diverse ways that challenge typical representations.

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Irvine, Calif., Jan. 15, 2019 — With a little help from HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” University of California, Irvine neurobiologists have uncovered a key component of how the human brain marks time. Using high-powered functional MRI on college students watching the popular TV show, they were able to capture the processes by which the brain stores information related to when events happen, or what is known as temporal memory.

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Irvine, Calif., Monday, Jan. 14, 2019 – Antarctica experienced a sixfold increase in yearly ice mass loss between 1979 and 2017, according to a study published today in  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Glaciologists from the University of California, Irvine, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Netherlands’ Utrecht University additionally found that the accelerated melting caused global sea levels to rise more than half an inch during that time.

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In a University of California, Irvine-led study, researchers found evidence that fasting affects circadian clocks in the liver and skeletal muscle, causing them to rewire their metabolism, which can ultimately lead to improved health and protection against aging-associated diseases. The study was published recently in Cell Reports.

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Irvine, Calif., Dec. 18, 2018 — Dr. Steve Goldstein – a nationally renowned academic leader, physician and pediatric researcher – has been named vice chancellor for health affairs at the University of California, Irvine, effective Feb. 1, 2019. Goldstein will oversee and guide the development of the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, formed last year with a cornerstone gift of $200 million, the largest in UCI’s history.

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Seven University of California, Irvine researchers in areas ranging from engineering and chemistry to sociology and anthropology have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society.

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The University of California, Irvine has been named by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as the national pilot site for an interdisciplinary team of researchers led by the School of Education to study approaches that will increase our understanding of what makes a liberal arts education so valuable.

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Smoke from widespread fires in Indonesia in the summer and fall of 2015 hung heavily over major urban centers in Southeast Asia, causing adverse health effects for millions of people. The afflicted could not have known that the polluted air they were breathing contained carbon from plants that were alive during the Middle Ages.

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The University of California, Irvine has been awarded a $5.4 million Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs partnership grant from the U.S. Department of Education to prepare middle school students for college access and success. The seven-year GEAR UP project will provide multiple academic activities and services for sixth- and seventh-graders in the Compton Unified School District that continue through high school and their freshman year in college.