News Archive
2026 News Releases
March 11, 2026
Automated Grading System Earns Inaugural Outstanding Teaching Innovation Award
A scalable, automated grading system designed to provide students with intelligent feedback on their work while freeing up instructor time for in-person student support was recognized with the Jacobs School’s inaugural Award for Outstanding Teaching Innovation. Full Story
March 4, 2026
Team Led by UC San Diego Researchers Selected for Prestigious Global Cancer Prize
With up to $25 million from Cancer Grand Challenges, an international team led by UC San Diego professor Ludmil Alexandrov will unlock the secrets of DNA's "fingerprints." Full Story
February 10, 2026
UC San Diego Bioengineer Joins NSF Center for Pandemic Insights
UC San Diego bioengineering professor Kiana Aran has been selected to join the NSF Center for Pandemic Insights. Full Story
February 9, 2026
A Researcher’s Dark-Cave Experiment Sheds Light on the Science of “Sensory Deprivation”
In the age of digital connection, how does disconnecting from external stimuli affect the body and the brain? Kiana Aran spent five days in a dark cave to find answers. Full Story
February 6, 2026
After a Heart Attack, the Heart Talks to the Brain - and the Brain Responds
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have discovered an unexpected communication circuit between the heart, brain and immune system that shapes how the heart responds after a heart attack. The findings, published in Cell, reveal that signals triggered by cardiac injury travel to the brain and then feed back to the heart through neural and immune pathways, amplifying inflammation and tissue damage. Full Story
January 15, 2026
By Building Virtual Cells, Researchers Aim to Design Better Microbes and Drugs
Bioengineers are creating comprehensive digital twins of bacterial cells to better understand how to engineer microbes that can sustainably produce valuable chemicals, as well as understand the effects of antibiotics to combat drug-resistant bacteria. The project is part of a new $4.1 million DARPA-funded project. Full Story