News

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
