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Hard Shells and Electrosensory Gels: Lab Makes Surprising Discovery

October 19, 2020
Molecular biology Professor Chris Amemiya and his former graduate student Molly Phillips have made a discovery that upends traditional ideas about a structural polysaccharide called chitin that is found in some fish. Over the course of their studies, they collected evidence that chitin — which...

Gopinathan Named Fellow of Leading Physics Organization

September 28, 2020
Physics Professor Ajay Gopinathan has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). This prestigious recognition is for physicists who have made exceptional contributions in physics research, important applications of physics, leadership in or service to physics or significant...

New Grant More than Doubles Campus Supercomputing Power

August 31, 2020
UC Merced is rapidly gaining a strong reputation for research and scientific computing across many disciplines and a major expansion of its computing infrastructure is about to cement the campus’ status as a research computing hub. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is supplying $700,000 and the...

Some Immune Cells Appear to ‘Know’ the Coronavirus, Even Though They’ve Never Met

August 20, 2020
Having had the common cold appears to have programmed some people’s immune cells to recognize the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. That discovery — by an immunology team that includes a UC Merced alumnus — could change scientists’ understanding of the virus behind the current pandemic. Lorenzo...

‘From the Valley, For the Valley’: Local Students Start Training at UCSF to Become Physicians for the Region

August 19, 2020
The San Joaquin Valley has a shortage of doctors, but students such as Kyle Shen (’18) aim to change that by attending a tailored track at UCSF’s medical school specifically designed to address this problem. Shen is one of 12 recently admitted to the newest cohort of students in the UCSF San...

Shahar Sukenik Wins NIH R35 Outstanding Investigator Award

August 17, 2020
The Sukenik lab has been awarded an R35 Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Institute of Health to study how a special class of floppy, disordered proteins, function inside the cellular environment. These proteins are common in human cells and are linked to the progression of cancer...

RadioBio Receives UC President’s Award for Outstanding Student Leadership

July 30, 2020
University of California President Janet Napolitano has selected UC Merced student organization RadioBio as one of two recipients for the 2020 President’s Award for Outstanding Student Leadership. RadioBio, a science podcast that discusses topics ranging from molecules to ecosystems, was created in...

Summer Research Program Continues to Serve Students Remotely

July 29, 2020
While the COVID-19 pandemic has kept most students and faculty mentors off campus, UC Merced’s commitment to providing research experiences to undergraduate students has not wavered. Over the past 14 years, the Summer Undergraduate Research Institute (SURI) has become an integral part of the...

$3.5 Million Hellman Endowment Expands Future of Research at UC Merced

July 26, 2020
Since 2011, the Hellman Fellows Fund has provided close to 60 UC Merced assistant professors with much-needed research support in the form of seed funding. The prestigious Hellman Fellowship has launched countless careers at UC Merced and across the UC system. Now, thanks to a generous new $3.5...

New Project Aims to Advance Understanding of Immune Cells as they Develop

July 20, 2020
Maybe now more than ever, scientists need to understand the immune system. A new National Institutes of Health grant is funding a cross-disciplinary collaboration between bioengineering Professor Joel Spencer and immunology Professor Jennifer Manilay that will allow them to watch as immune-...

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