News Archive
2025 News Releases
March 27, 2025
Bioengineer Elected AAAS Fellow
Karen Christman, a professor in the Shu Chien-Gene Lay Department of Bioengineering and the Sanford Stem Cell Institute, was elected a 2024 AAAS Fellow. Full Story
March 20, 2025
How a Y Chromosome Gene May Shape the Course of Heart Valve Disease
Bioengineers have shed new light on how a type of heart valve disease—aortic valve stenosis—progresses differently in males and females. The research paves the way for treatments that can be tailored to a patient's biological sex. Full Story
March 10, 2025
Sam Ward Appointed Vice Dean for Research at School of Medicine
Sam Ward, P.T., Ph.D., professor in the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Radiology at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, has been appointed vice dean for research. Full Story
March 5, 2025
A New Way to Predict Cancer's Spread? Scientists Look at 'Stickiness' of Tumor Cells
By assessing how "sticky" tumor cells are, UC San Diego researchers have found a potential way to predict whether a patient's early-stage breast cancer is likely to spread. The discovery could help doctors identify high-risk patients and tailor their treatments accordingly. Full Story
February 27, 2025
Bioengineer elected to the National Academy of Inventors
Lingyan Shi was elected as a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors. She is an expert in imaging and spectroscopy technologies, such as stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) nanoscopy. This imaging technique can visualize chemical signatures such as molecular bonds in cells, tissues or animals without the need for fluorescent markers typically used in biological microscopy. The technology can be a powerful tool for diagnosing and assessing the impact of therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and aging processes, as well as for drug discovery. Full Story
February 5, 2025
UC San Diego Professor Honored by Sony and Nature for Bioengineering Research
Bioengineering Professor Kiana Aran is one of three inaugural winners of the Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature. She is recognized for her pioneering work fusing biology with electronics to enhance precision medicine—including the development of CRISPR-Chip, a CRISPR-powered electronic chip designed to detect genetic mutations in real time. The award is a collaboration between the Sony Group Corporation and Nature. Full Story
January 23, 2025
Scaling up Neuromorphic Computing for More Efficient and Effective AI Everywhere and Anytime
Neuromorphic computing—a field that applies principles of neuroscience to computing systems to mimic the brain’s function and structure—needs to scale up if it is to effectively compete with current computing methods. In a review published Jan. 22 in the journal Nature, 23 researchers, including two from the University of California San Diego, present a detailed roadmap of what needs to happen to reach that goal. The article offers a new and practical perspective toward approaching the cognitive capacity of the human brain with comparable form factor and power consumption. Full Story
January 21, 2025
Why Our Biological Clock Ticks: Research Reconciles Major Theories of Aging
Researchers at UC San Diego have published results that shed new light on an old question: what causes aging at the molecular level? Their findings, published in Nature Aging, describe a never-before-seen link between the two most accepted explanations: random genetic mutations and predictable epigenetic modifications. Full Story
January 16, 2025
Jacobs School Faculty Receive Awards to Accelerate Innovation to Market
Stephanie Fraley, Nicole Steinmetz, Kiana Aran and Sheng Xu all received Accelerating Innovation to Market awards from the Office of Innovation and Commercialization. In addition, Jacobs School affiliates Erin Walsh and Nadir Weibel also received awards. Full Story
January 14, 2025
Genetic Tweak Optimizes Drug-making Cells by Blocking Buildup of Toxic Byproduct
Scientists led by UC San Diego have developed a new strategy to enhance pharmaceutical production in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, which are commonly used to manufacture protein-based drugs for treating cancer, autoimmune diseases and much more. By knocking out a gene circuit responsible for producing lactic acid—a metabolite that makes the cells’ environment toxic—researchers eliminate a primary hurdle in developing cells that can produce higher amounts of pharmaceuticals like Herceptin and Rituximab, without compromising their growth or energy production. Full Story