News

News Obituary: Y.C. Bert Fung

December 20, 2019

News Obituary: Y.C. Bert Fung

Yuan-Cheng “Bert” Fung, known as “the father of biomechanics” and one of the founders of the discipline of bioengineering at the University of California San Diego, passed away Dec. 15, 2019 of natural causes. He was 100. Full Story


UC San Diego Engineering Dean Albert P. Pisano inducted into National Academy of Inventors

December 5, 2019

UC San Diego Engineering Dean Albert P. Pisano inducted into National Academy of Inventors

Albert P. Pisano, professor and dean of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, has been named a 2019 fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). UC San Diego bioengineering faculty affiliate Paul Citron and electrical engineering alumna Mihri Ozkan (Ph.D. ECE ‘01) are also among the 168 new fellows inducted into National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellows in 2019. Full Story


Machine learning provides new paradigm in understanding microbial gene regulation

December 4, 2019

Machine learning provides new paradigm in understanding microbial gene regulation

UC San Diego bioengineers developed a method that would enable them to understand how E. coli coordinate their expression of thousands of genes. The method uses a machine learning algorithm to automatically interpret gene expression datasets. Full Story


How diversity of respiratory quinones affects microbial physiology

November 25, 2019

How diversity of respiratory quinones affects microbial physiology

A new study provides a fundamental understanding of the diversification of small molecules called respiratory quinones and its adaptive consequences in bacterial species. Bioengineers at the University of California San Diego specifically examined how respiration is affected by different types of quinones present in bacteria growing in aerobic environments. Full Story


UC San Diego Bioengineering Department Makes Strong Showing in List of Highly Cited Researchers Around the World

November 25, 2019

UC San Diego Bioengineering Department Makes Strong Showing in List of Highly Cited Researchers Around the World

Eleven faculty members and affiliates of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California San Diego are among the world’s most influential in their fields, according to a new research citation report from the Web of Science Group. UC San Diego played key roles in launching the discipline of bioengineering over 50 years ago, and the new report is yet another indicator that the Department of Bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering continues to shape the future of bioengineering.    Full Story


Pioneering bioengineer Shu Chien retires after 31 years at UC San Diego

October 17, 2019

Pioneering bioengineer Shu Chien retires after 31 years at UC San Diego

UC San Diego bioengineering professor Shu Chien made many foundational scientific discoveries over the course of his 62-year academic career, ranging from uncovering a key reason why sedentary lifestyles can be unhealthy to how to more efficiently screen for adverse effects of small molecule drugs in patients. He taught hundreds of students, colleagues and collaborators not only how to do good science, but how to be a better person. Full Story


Drug-light combo could offer control over CAR T-cell therapy

October 15, 2019

Drug-light combo could offer control over CAR T-cell therapy

UC San Diego bioengineers are a step closer to making CAR T-cell therapy safer, more precise and easy to control. They developed a system that allows them to select where and when CAR T cells get turned on so that they destroy cancer cells without harming normal cells. Full Story


Bioengineering Pioneer Y.C. Bert Fung Turns 100

October 3, 2019

Bioengineering Pioneer Y.C. Bert Fung Turns 100

Thousands of professors, engineers, scientists and students around the world work in the field of biomechanics, the study of physics and mechanics applied to living tissues. But they are all somehow connected to Professor Y.C. “Bert” Fung at the University of California San Diego. Some use Fung’s findings in their work. Others were trained by or worked with Fung’s students. A core group studied directly under him. Fung realized that physics and mechanics apply to living tissues just as they do to manmade structures. He is often referred to as “the father of biomechanics.” Full Story


Three UC San Diego Researchers Receive Top Honors with NIH Director's Awards

October 1, 2019

Three UC San Diego Researchers Receive Top Honors with NIH Director's Awards

Three UC San Diego researchers have received prestigious awards through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program, including the Pioneer Award and the New Innovator Award. Full Story


Five UC San Diego Bioengineering graduate students honored as Siebel Scholars

September 25, 2019

Five UC San Diego Bioengineering graduate students honored as Siebel Scholars

Five UC San Diego bioengineering graduate students working at the interface of biology, engineering and health have been honored as 2020 Siebel Scholars. They are working to deepen our understanding of the gut microbiome; more accurately diagnose diseases like stroke; develop biomarkers for metastasis; innovate to repair the heart after a heart attack; and engineer T cells to suppress tumor growth. Full Story