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41st edition | March 2026 Dear Colleagues, The School of Medicine recently held an event to honor community members who have chosen to donate their bodies to the UC Irvine Willed Body Program. Each year, more than a thousand Californians make an extraordinary gift to the University of California by donating their bodies to support the education of health professionals and to advance scientific research. Our first- and second-year medical students, along with faculty members, took part in this solemn ceremony honoring their silent teachers and thanking their family members for the knowledge they have gained through this humbling experience. Read More National Health Research Dialogue Comes Into Focus at UC Irvine On Wednesday, Jan. 14, National Institutes of Health director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya returned to California for the second time since his appointment, emphasizing how data, rigor and collaboration are shaping the future of health and wellness. Read More

High Estrogen Levels in Brain May Increase Women's Risk of Stress-Related Memory Issues Research by Tallie Z. Baram, MD, PhD, found that exposure to several simultaneous stressors can lead to persistent memory problems, difficulty recalling events and heightened responses to reminders of trauma. Read More   UC Irvine Researchers Find Differences Between Two Causes of Heart Valve Narrowing The research, conducted with Arash Kheradvar, MD, PhD, will help improve the diagnosis and treatment of the heart condition that affects up to 15% of the population. Read More

Giving the Green Light After Stem Cell Repair Aileen Anderson, PhD, vice chancellor for research, explains how the protein C1q “acts like a traffic light, telling stem cells when to halt or increase activity.” Read More   Crystal M. Glover, PhD, Advances Optimal Aging Outcomes Crystal M. Glover, PhD, shares her continued excitement in joining the long-standing NIH-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) at UC Irvine. Read More

Gaps in Care: Jacqueline Kim, PhD, Puts Health in Context Learn how Jacqueline H.J. Kim, PhD, is addressing gaps in knowledge to better integrate mental health support into clinical care. Read More   Pioneering Research to Prevent and Reverse Blindness A study by Frans Vinberg, PhD, on light signals in postmortem human retinas challenges assumptions about the irreversibility of retinal death while advancing research to restore vision. Read More

Willed Body Program 2026 Ceremony of Thanks Each year, more than a thousand Californians make an extraordinary gift to the University of California by donating their bodies to help educate health professionals. Read More   Learning Across Borders: A Student’s Perspective on Clinical Care in India In late December, seven UC Irvine medical students, including Alicia Wells, went to Gujarat, India, through a medical exchange program coordinated by Rimal Bera, MD. Read More

California Office of Traffic Safety Awards $850,000 Grant for a Safety Collaborative Program The expanded work will examine Orange County teen driver-parent relationships and their influence on driving practices during early teen driver licensure. Read More   Adithya Cattamanchi, MD, Elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation Adithya Cattamanchi, MD, was recently elected as a 2026 member of ASCI, in part because of his work to advance tuberculosis (TB) care in high-burden countries. Read More

Newly Opened UCI Health – Brea Outpatient Center The center increases access to academic-focused care for North OC residents, who will benefit from advanced eye care, along with ear, nose and throat services. Read More   Lifesaving Stem-Cell Transplant Program Meets Growing Demand Stefan O. Ciurea, MD, stands in one of the new adaptable inpatient hospital suites at UCI Health – Irvine, now available to stem-cell transplant patients. Read More

Tapping AI To Boost Cancer Detection and Treatment In one case, the AI algorithm successfully identified a tiny, aggressive tumor — no larger than a grain of rice. Read More   UCI Health – Lakewood Is A Comprehensive Stroke Center Earning Comprehensive Stroke Center certification means the facility can provide rapid, high-quality treatment 24 hours a day to patients with stroke and complex cerebrovascular conditions who require intensive medical and surgical care. Read More

‘Seriously Underestimated’ Shark Experts Looked Into the Eyes of This Deep-Sea Giant and Were Stunned by What They Saw | Wildlife Magazine UCI Health Launches Promising Clinical Trial Using CAR-T Cell Therapy to Treat Lupus | ABC7 The “Energy Budget’: Master the Spoon Theory for Chronic Fatigue in CIPD | Everyday Health National Women’s Physicians Day: Strengthening the Pathway for Women Physicians in Neuroscience | Neurology Live Tuberculosis Outbreak Reported at Catholic High School in Bay Area: Cases Statewide are Climbing | Los Angeles Times Medicaid Expansion Linked With Merkel Cell Survival | Healio Hospitals are 24/7 Energy Hogs. This One Just Went All-Electric | Fast Company How Direct-to-Consumer Health Tests Could Impact Insurance, Mortgages and Employment | STAT News SEE ALL NEWS March 6: School of Medicine Research Retreat March 9-12: 45th Annual Mammoth Mountain Emergency Medicine Conference March 12: 15th Annual Cinat Lectureship March 20: School of Medicine 2026 Match Day March 31: Physician-Scientist Collective Distinguished Lecture Series | Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) 101 | Ari Tabaac, PhD April 9: Second Annual Maximus T32 Retreat | Muscle Biology and Disease Research Center SEE ALL EVENTS UC Irvine School of Medicine Strategic Plan UCI Health SOMNews@uci.edu

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