UC San Diego, Department of Bioengineering

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego recently offered the sharpest-yet picture of how core biochemical pathways in skeletal muscle cells and fat cells are altered in people who suffer from insulin resistance—a primary defect in type 2 diabetes and obesity. Taking a systems biology approach, the bioengineers and medical researchers also determined how a common class of drugs for treating insulin resistance—TZDs—alter these same core pathways.

Over the last 20 years, the sequencing of the human genome, along with related organisms, has represented one of the largest scientific endeavors in the history of mankind. The information collected from genome sequencing will provide the raw data for the field of bioinformatics, where computer science and biology meet.

The University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering is the 9th best in the world for engineering/technology and 15th in the world for computer sciences, according to an academic ranking of the top 100 world universities published by the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The UC San Diego Department of Bioengineering welcomes its newest faculty member, Gert Cauwenberghs.

Dr. Cauwenberghs received his Engineer’s Degree in Applied Physics from the University of Brussels in 1988. He obtained his Masters of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1989 and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1994 from the California Institute of Technology.

A combination of bioengineering and medical research at the University of California, San Diego has led to a new discovery that could pave the way for more effective treatments for liver disease.