News
January 21, 2021
UC San Diego Alumnus at Helm of Company Behind First At-Home COVID Test
In November 2020, Lucira Health received emergency use authorization for the first rapid at-home COVID-19 test from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Erik Engelson, a UC San Diego bioengineering and microbiology alumnus, is president and CEO of Lucira Health. He spoke about the process of getting the COVID-19 test kit through FDA emergency use authorization, his time at UC San Diego, and advice for students, in this Q&A. Full Story
January 13, 2021
UC San Diego professor Bernhard O. Palsson named Y.C. Fung Endowed Chair in Bioengineering
University of California San Diego professor Bernhard O. Palsson has been named the Y.C. Fung Endowed Chair in Bioengineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering. Palsson is also a professor of pediatrics, and Director of the Center for Biosustainability. Palsson’s research focuses on developing experimental and computational models of the red blood cell, E. coli, CHO cells, and several human pathogens to establish their systems biology. His Systems Biology Research Group leverages high-power computing to build interactive databases of biological information and is increasingly focused on Genome Design and Engineering. Full Story
December 15, 2020
Bioengineering alumnus named to Forbes 30 Under 30
UC San Diego bioengineering and biology alumnus Joshua Yang was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Healthcare. Yang, an MD-PhD student at Johns Hopkins, cofounded kidney diagnostics startup Nephrosant, and is active in healthcare venture capital due diligance. Full Story
December 14, 2020
A smart ring shows it's possible to detect fever before you feel it
Temperature data collected by wearable devices worn on the finger can be reliably used to detect the onset of fevers, a leading symptom of both COVID-19 and the flu, according to a team of researchers from the University of California San Diego, UC San Francisco and MIT Lincoln Lab. Full Story
December 8, 2020
10 Jacobs School Faculty Named in 2020 List of Highly Cited Researchers
Ten professors at the University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering are among the world’s most influential researchers in their fields, according to a new research citation report from the Web of Science Group. The professors, Ludmil Alexandrov, Trey Ideker, Rob Knight, Nathan E. Lewis, Prashant Mali, Ying Shirley Meng, Bernhard O. Palsson, Joseph Wang, Kun Zhang and Liangfang Zhang, are amone 52 professors and researchers at UC San Diego named in the prestigious list of Highly Cited Researchers in 2020. Full Story
November 18, 2020
Alumni-led Lucira Health earns 1st FDA authorization for at-home COVID test
On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization to the first rapid at-home COVID-19 test, developed by Lucira Health. Erik Engelson, a UC San Diego bioengineering and microbiology alumnus, is president and CEO of Lucira Health Full Story
November 13, 2020
Neurons stripped of their identity are hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, study finds
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have identified new mechanisms in neurons that cause Alzheimer’s disease. In particular, they discovered that changes in the structure of chromatin, the tightly coiled form of DNA, trigger neurons to lose their specialized function and revert to an earlier cell state. This results in the loss of synaptic connections, an effect associated with memory loss and dementia. Full Story
November 4, 2020
'Monster tumors' could offer new glimpse at human development
Finding just the right model to study human development—from the early embryonic stage onward—has been a challenge for scientists over the last decade. Now, bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have homed in on an unusual candidate: teratomas. Full Story
October 30, 2020
Energizing Plastics Renewability, Recycling Efforts
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded UC San Diego nanoengineering professor Jon Pokorski $2 million in funding to develop a new kind of biodegradable plastic—one filled with bacterial spores that will aid in breaking down the material at the end of its life-cycle. Co-leading the project will be UC San Diego bioengineer Adam Feist. Full Story
October 12, 2020
Broadening horizons in a pandemic
More than 1,200 students from around the world were able to gain experience, advice and insight into their field this summer thanks to the expansion of two previously in-person only summer research programs at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Full Story