News Archive
September 23, 2019
Perturbed Genes Regulating White Blood Cells Linked to Autism Genetics and Severity
Researchers at UC San Diego say they are getting closer to identifying the mechanisms of autism spectrum disorder, revealing a critical gene network that is disrupted and which helps predict severity of symptoms. Full Story
September 11, 2019
Phase 1 trial shows hydrogel to repair heart is safe to inject in humans--a first
Ventrix, a University of California San Diego spin-off company, has successfully conducted a first-in-human, FDA-approved Phase 1 clinical trial of an injectable hydrogel that aims to repair damage and restore cardiac function in heart failure patients who previously suffered a heart attack. Full Story
September 11, 2019
Study uncovers metabolic cause for rare eye disease
An international team of researchers has discovered a cause for a rare eye disease affecting the macula that leads to loss of central vision, called macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel). Using genetic and metabolic data from patients with MacTel, researchers found that the disease is driven by reduced levels of the amino acid serine and accumulation of toxic lipids called deoxysphingolipids. Full Story
September 5, 2019
Synthetic Biologists Extend Functional Life of Cancer Fighting Circuitry in Microbes
Bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a method to significantly extend the life of gene circuits used to instruct microbes to do things such as produce and deliver drugs, break down chemicals and serve as environmental sensors. Most of the circuits that synthetic biologists insert into microbes break or vanish entirely from the microbes after a certain period of time—typically days to weeks—because of various mutations. But in the September 6, 2019 issue of the journal Science, the UC San Diego researchers demonstrated that they can keep genetic circuits going for much longer. Full Story
August 26, 2019
NIH awards researchers $3.1 million grant to improve treatment of common pediatric heart condition
An international team of researchers received a five-year, $3.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to discover new and better ways to treat a pediatric congenital heart condition known as tetralogy of Fallot, which affects a total of 85,000 individuals in the United States. Full Story
August 19, 2019
New bioengineering master's degree bridges engineering and medicine
The University of California San Diego Department of Bioengineering is launching a new master’s degree meant to provide engineering students with exposure to the practice of medicine. The Master of Science in Bioengineering; Medical Specialization is a one-year program at the Jacobs School of Engineering that will prepare engineering students for careers in the biomedical industry, or bolster students’ clinical exposure in preparation for medical school. Full Story
August 5, 2019
Neuroscience and AI can improve each other
Despite their names, artificial intelligence technologies and their component systems, such as artificial neural networks, don?t have much to do with actual brain science. Bioengineering professor Gabriel Silva is dedicated to understanding how the brain works as a system ? and how that knowledge can be used to design and engineer new machine learning models. Full Story
June 27, 2019
Graduating IDEA Scholars embrace new challenges
Among the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering’s class of about 1,600 students that graduated with baccalaureate degrees on June 15 were 41 IDEA Scholars. These students from first generation or underrepresented backgrounds in engineering chose to go above and beyond the already taxing coursework required to earn an engineering degree, and participate in mentoring programs, technical workshops, serve as peer education leaders, and push and support each other through to graduation. Full Story
June 17, 2019
UC San Diego undergraduates awarded Strauss Scholarship for biology, music outreach
Two UC San Diego undergraduate students were named Donald A. Strauss Foundation Public Service Scholars, and were awarded a $15,000 prize to pursue their social change and public service projects. Full Story
June 14, 2019
Graduating students honored at Ring Ceremony
On June 15, about 1,600 students will earn baccalaureate degrees in engineering, making the Jacobs School the third largest engineering school in the country, and second in the number of women earning engineering baccalaureates. All of these students are exceptional and have made a positive impact on our community, but 11 students were selected from among their peers as particularly outstanding. Full Story
June 13, 2019
Changing the World One Startup at a Time
UC San Diego celebrates a year of innovation, including several engineering startups and technology license deals. Full Story
May 28, 2019
Fast-Food Breakfast Combo May Feature Digestive Enzymes on the Prowl and Diabetes
In a paper recently published online in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, physicians and bioengineers at the University of California San Diego used a new set of fluorescent peptides to illuminate a molecular digestive enzyme mechanism that occurs after consumption of a typical fast-food chain American-style breakfast, one that may be contributing to the prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Full Story
May 22, 2019
Two engineers win Excellence in Stewardship awards
Shu Chien, a professor of bioengineering and the department’s founding chair, and Jesse DeWald, staff director of the Envision Arts and Engineering Maker Studio, were both recognized with Excellence in Stewardship awards this year. Full Story
May 16, 2019
UC San Diego Ranked Ninth in World in Biomedical Sciences
In its first-ever assessment of biomedical institutions around the world, based upon published research in a targeted set of high-quality scientific journals, the 2019 Nature Index ranked University of California San Diego ninth among the top 200 institutions in biomedical sciences worldwide. Among the top 200 academic institutions in biomedical sciences in the United States, UC San Diego ranked sixth. Full Story
April 24, 2019
Blood substitute made from nanoparticles wins top prize at Research Expo 2019
Research Expo 2019 got some new blood this year, thanks to UC San Diego nanoengineering PhD student Jia Zhuang. He won the grand prize at Research Expo for his work to develop nanoparticles that could serve as a more stable and easy way to store and mimic red blood cells for transfusions. Full Story
April 24, 2019
Fixing a broken heart: Exploring new ways to heal damage after a heart attack
For people who survive a heart attack, the days immediately following the event are critical for their longevity and long-term healing of the heart's tissue. Now researchers at Northwestern University and University of California, San Diego have designed a minimally invasive platform to deliver a nanomaterial that turns the body's inflammatory response into a signal to heal rather than a means of scarring following a heart attack. Full Story
March 25, 2019
Bioengineers are inducted into renowned biomedical engineering institute
Two researchers at Jacobs School of Engineering were inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the organization announced. Professors Pedro Cabrales and Todd Coleman from the Department of Bioengineering were recognized during a ceremony at the National Academy of Sciences Great Hall in Washington, DC, on March 25. Full Story
March 21, 2019
Working to Change the Future of Prosthetics
Taylor Henderson, an electrical and computer engineering master’s student, is working to lower the barriers to entry for fabricating artificial muscle actuators. She’s developing an algorithm that uses supervised learning to model actuator configurations and return the necessary specifications. Full Story
March 14, 2019
Anticancer vaccines, natural language for computers, and multifunctional materials take center stage at UC San Diego Research Expo
The University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering was just ranked the #11 graduate engineering program in the country by US News. Hear from more than 200 of these talented graduate students as they present their research at the 38th annual Jacobs School Research Expo, a showcase of the top engineering and computer science work underway at UC San Diego. Full Story
February 12, 2019
How breast tissue stiffening promotes breast cancer development
By examining how mammary cells respond in a stiffness-changing hydrogel, researchers discovered that several pathways work together to signal breast cells to turn cancerous. The work could inspire new approaches to treating patients and inhibiting tumor growth. Full Story