ith California lawmakers seeking measures to address urgent environmental issues such as greenhouse gas pollution from vehicles and toxic chemicals in drinking water,UCLA students are contributing research and policy ideas through UCLA School of Law’s new California Environmental Legislation and Policy Clinic.Led by Julia Stein and Jonathan Zasloff of UCLA’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment,the clinic’s 10 students worked with elected state officials and their staffs over the course of the semester to develop solutions for several of the state’s environmental policy priorities.“Our goal was to provide acourse that exposes students to the inner workings of the California legislature—and Sacramento in general—and to the unique role attorneys can play in the lawmaking and policy process,”said Stein,who is the supervising attorney and project director. 查看详细>>

Where will Ilive?Where will Iwork and how much money will Imake?Where can Iplay?How will Iget there?Will Ibe healthy?Will Ibe safe?On the surface these may seem like simple questions,but if you dig alittle the answers can be complex,with significant implications for the daily lives of Angelenos and the communities we live in.It is questions like these that lay at the heart of UCLA Data for Democracy in Los Angeles,the second of UCLA’s Centennial initiatives,which will engage students,teachers and schools in an exploration of issues impacting equality,opportunity and social change.The four Centennial initiatives are designed to expand public access to UCLA’s scholarly resources and build upon UCLA’s longstanding commitment of service to the community.Each one is acollaboration among multiple departments,centers,institutes and community groups.Developed by researchers at UCLA Center Xand the UCLA Institute for Democracy,Education and Access with research colleagues across campus,Data for Democracy in Los Angeles offers schools,teachers and students across Los Angeles County access to UCLA data and analysis on issues such as parks,jobs,health,housing and more.Participating schools and classrooms will have access to research briefs and materials,including charts,maps and graphs,and the opportunity to share and discuss their work through an online application called Padlet. 查看详细>>

UCLA has received$27.2 million from the National Institutes of Health to spearhead the new phase of an initiative to enhance the diversity of the U.S.’s biomedical workforce.The five-year grant funds the second and final phase of an NIH program called the Diversity Program Consortium:Enhancing the Diversity of the NIH-Funded Workforce.Launched in 2014,the multi-institution initiative is aimed at engaging students and early-career researchers in the biomedical and biobehavioral sciences who are from underrepresented backgrounds,and preparing them for success in the NIH-funded workforce.To date,more than 30,000 students and researchers have participated;the program will follow their progress in the field for the next several years.“This is alandmark national project and the largest of its kind to develop evidence-based practices for institutions to increase diversity and promote excellence in the next generation of biomedical and biobehavioral researchers,”said Dr.Keith Norris,a professor of medicine in the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.Norris is one of the project’s three principal investigators.The others are Dr.Teresa Seeman,a professor of medicine in the Geffen School of Medicine division of geriatrics,and of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health;and Steven Wallace,a professor of community health sciences at the Fielding School. 查看详细>>

Three researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have received awards totaling more than$18 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine,the state’s stem cell agency.The recipients are Dr.Sophie Deng,professor of ophthalmology at the UCLA Stein Eye Institute;Yvonne Chen,a UCLA associate professor of microbiology,immunology and molecular genetics;and Dr.Caroline Kuo,a UCLA assistant clinical professor of pediatrics.The awards were announced at aCIRM meeting today.Deng’s four-year,$10.3 million award will fund aclinical trial for ablinding eye condition called limbal stem cell deficiency.Limbal stem cells are specialized stem cells in eye tissue that help maintain the health of the cornea.Because of genetic defects or injuries caused by infections,burns,surgeries or other factors,some people do not have enough limbal stem cells,which results in pain,corneal scarring and blindness.The approach she is testing involves extracting asmall number of limbal stem cells from aperson’s eye,multiplying them in alab,and then transplanting them back into the eye,where they could regenerate the cornea and restore vision.The research will be conducted in collaboration with the UCLA–UCI Alpha Stem Cell Clinic,a partnership between UCLA and UC Irvine.The grants awarded to Chen and Kuo are for projects that are heading toward the FDA’s investigational new drug application process,which is required by the agency before aphase 1clinical trial—the stage of testing that focuses on atreatment’s safety. 查看详细>>

Based on its successful first few years of incubating startups at UCLA,the Blackstone Charitable Foundation has partnered with the University of California to bring the Blackstone LaunchPad to eight more UC campuses.UC and the Blackstone Charitable Foundation recently announced the expansion of the program that equips students with more tools and resources to take their entrepreneurship and innovation to the next level.The$5 million expansion of the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars program will give more UC campuses critical access to resources,opportunities and mentorships for students and recent graduates across disciplines and experience levels.Blackstone LaunchPad has been operating on campus through Startup UCLA since 2014,reaching more than 8,000 students,serving 800-plus startup ventures and facilitating more than 3,000 startup consulting meetings.Every UC campus(except UC Santa Barbara)will now be able to leverage the opportunities from LaunchPad thanks to the Blackstone Charitable Foundation grant.Pat Turner,dean and vice provost of undergraduate education at UCLA,said she is pleased that the Blackstone LaunchPad program is now available throughout the UC,because she has seen what an impact it has made on campus.“Blackstone LaunchPad is akey component of Startup UCLA’s offerings and enables students to turn their ideas into socially relevant ventures,”Turner said.“The Blackstone LaunchPad helps foster UCLA’s entrepreneurial spirit,bringing experiential learning to new heights.”UC students will be able to take advantage of LaunchPad events,coaching and talent network to help them succeed in their entrepreneurial ventures,moving groundbreaking research out of the laboratory or classroom and into the marketplace.“As the home to entrepreneurs and researchers at the forefront of cutting-edge discoveries and technological advancements,UC is the powerful engine behind California’s global leadership on innovation,”said UC President Janet Napolitano.“We take great pride,especially,in our efforts to break down barriers and increase opportunities for women and minority entrepreneurs,”Napolitano said.“We are excited to bring LaunchPad—and its valuable resources,opportunities and network—to UC campuses to further embed the‘startup culture’into the fabric of our campus communities.” 查看详细>>

FINDINGS Researchers from the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and other institutions in the U.S.,Canada,the United Kingdom and Singapore,have identified 1,178 biomarkers in men’s genomes—the complete set of genetic material inherited from one’s parents—that predict how an individual person’s prostate cancer will grow.The finding suggests that predicting how aperson’s cancer will evolve may lie in their inherited DNA.BACKGROUND The researchers focused in part on abiological process called DNA methylation.DNA methylation is anatural process cells use to turn genes on or off to help support normal physiological changes.This occurs when aspecific chemical compound called amethyl group attaches itself to parts of the DNA.Some of these parts control cellular functions,such as the production of proteins.When tumors form,they have the ability to hijack DNA methylation to help the cancer cells grow and spread by turning cellular functions on and off.In the new study,researchers discovered that variations in the DNA aperson is born with make it easier or harder for atumor to use methylation to turn off and on cancer genes.That discovery could soon help physicians predict how prostate cancer is likely to evolve in individual patients.METHOD The study included prostate tumors from 589 men that had not spread beyond the prostate.All of the study subjects had confirmed prostate cancer and had been treated with either radiotherapy or surgical removal of the prostate.Tissue samples from the tumors were gathered before therapy.Using the samples and specialized computer sequencing software programs,researchers looked for patterns in the DNA where people with specific DNA variants consistently had more or less methylation than people without those DNA variants.They identified 1,178 locations where DNA variants make it easier or harder for tumors to control cancer genes through methylation.With that data,the researchers identified the DNA variations that are likely to facilitate tumor growth.IMPACT 查看详细>>

The UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios,which are dedicated to supporting emerging artists and strengthening Los Angeles’s position as aworld arts capital,opened Sept.26 after amajor restoration and expansion.Designed by the Los Angeles architecture firm Johnston Marklee,the 48,000 square foot campus in Culver City’s Hayden tract creates atrue artist’s neighborhood.As UCLA celebrates its centennial year,the building underscores the campus’s continued commitment to nurturing generations of artistic talent while simultaneously enriching Los Angeles’vibrant cultural community.Clusters of intimate,private studio spaces abut communal,shared facilities and critique spaces.The design considers the nature of artistic practice today and anticipates change by creating abuilding that can evolve in the future with new technologies and working methods,and the complex was designed for LEED Gold certification with sustainable materials throughout.The restoration was largely funded by a$20 million gift in 2016 from Margo Leavin,the largest ever made by an alumna to the arts within the University of California system.“I’m grateful that my career in the Los Angeles art world has afforded me the opportunity to support those at the very heart of this community:artists,”Leavin said.“The students,alumni,and faculty from the art department at UCLA shape the future of the arts in Los Angeles and beyond.It would be my wish that others who are passionate about the future of the arts,–especially other women who have enjoyed professional success–will join me in harnessing their resources to benefit those who are still developing their creative practices.We need to remember that without artists,there would be no art world.” 查看详细>>

Scientists from the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs will lead a$25 million study funded by the National Institutes of Health to test treatments for opioid addiction in rural America.A separate grant of$3.3 million from the NIH was awarded to another UCLA researcher from the substance abuse programs who will study the effectiveness of using text messages to help people with opioid addiction adhere to their treatment regimens.The grants,announced today,will be distributed over five years.They are both part of the NIH’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative,also known as the HEAL Initiative.Yih-Ing Hser,who will lead the research on approaches for people in rural regions,said the study will take place at more than 40 primary care clinics in five to six U.S.states.Hser is adistinguished research professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.Specific locations have not yet been chosen for the study,but Hser said researchers are considering potential sites in California,Idaho,Maine,Maryland,New Mexico,Utah,Vermont,Washington and West Virginia.Researchers are looking specifically at rural regions because the percentage of deaths from opioid overdoses is higher and there is typically less access to physicians than in urban areas,according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 查看详细>>

Guy Van den Broeck,an assistant professor of computer science in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering,has received the 2019 Computers and Thought Award from the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence.The award is considered the highest award in the AI field for researchers under the age of 35.Van den Broeck leads the Statistical and Relational Artificial Intelligence Lab.His research interests are in machine learning,knowledge representation and reasoning,applications of probabilistic reasoning and learning,and AI in general.Currently,he’s developing programming languages and algorithms that allow AI systems to perform high-level reasoning and solve complex cognitive tasks.He’s also helping to make machine learning techniques broadly available and easier to use.Van den Broeck,who is aSamueli fellow,joined the UCLA faculty in 2015.The Computers and Thought Award debuted in 1973.Previous winners include Martha Pollack,Cornell University’s president;and Hiroaki Kitano,president and CEO of Sony Computer Science Laboratories.The award was presented in August at the IJCAI 2019 conference in Macau,where he also gave atalk on his work. 查看详细>>

Ximin He,an assistant professor of materials science and engineering in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering,has received atop international honor for early career researchers.He was one of 14 researchers from around the globe who were named CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars for 2019–21.The program recognized her research in creating new materials,which are inspired by nature,that harvest and store energy.A key to this work is in understanding photosynthesis and biological phototropism—the phenomenon that explains how plants grow and orient themselves to maximize their exposure to sunlight—and incorporating those concepts into smart materials.The scholar program includes$100,000(Canadian)in unrestricted research support and pairs scholars with senior researchers who are part of CIFAR.The program also offers leadership and communication skills training.CIFAR,based in Canada,is aglobal charitable organization that supports scholars who seek to address the most important questions facing science and humanity.It is supported by the government of Canada;provincial governments of British Columbia,Alberta and Quebec,and international partners that include individuals,foundations and corporations.The scholars program is supported by the Azrieli Foundation,with additional support provided by the Love Family Leadership Development Fund. 查看详细>>