Recent News

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  Nobel Laureate and UC San Diego Alum to Discuss the Future of American Science at Public Forum

  All are invited to join a Deep Conversation with Fred Ramsdell, June 11 at UC San Diego’s Great Hall

  On June 11, Nobel Laureate and BioSci alum Ramsdell will join School of Biological Sciences Dean Kit Pogliano for a discussion on the nation’s scientific enterprise and its foundation that has delivered bold breakthroughs and transformed lives through research and innovation.

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  Arshad Desai Elected to National Academy of Sciences

  The National Academy of Sciences elected three faculty members from UC San Diego to membership, one of the most prestigious honors awarded to American scientists and engineers. Among the newly elected was Arshad Desai, professor and chair, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology.

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  New Grant Targets Viral Toxins that Exacerbate Viral Diseases

  Coefficient Giving provides funding to study newly discovered vascular ‘leak’ phenomenon as an underlying trigger of disease severity for multiple viruses

  Coefficient Giving has awarded a grant to study on how viruses may have evolved a process that enables them to disseminate, promoting disease development and spread. The grant will support research on viral toxins that are used to compromise integrity of cellular barriers, promoting virus spread.

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  Researchers Uncover Strategy to Help Exhausted Immune Cells Fight Tumors

  New study reveals that proper protein recycling can help burned out T cells regain their fighting capabilities to help clear tumors

  BioSci researchers have identified a way to reinvigorate immune system cells, which can become exhausted after fighting disease. They found that protein recycling malfunctions after a cell burns out. Restoring a proper recycling system allows T cells to regain their cancer-fighting functions.

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  Meet the Grad Student Who Launched an App That Relays Disease-Carrying Insect Risks

  Vector Guard provides valuable public health risk data at a hyperlocal scale and a built-in justice model

  Biological Sciences graduate student Ellie Fausett took an unusual path to her new passion project: Masterminding a new app that brings safety-minded people together with resources to keep them safe outdoors. Learn about her journey and the tool that’s helping people navigate insect disease risks.

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  Neurobiologists Hack Brain Circuits Tied to Placebo Pain Relief

  Researchers demonstrate that placebo pain relief generalizes across different types of pain, offering hope for opioid-free pain management strategies

  Scientists have identified the brain circuits tied to placebo pain relief. Researchers have known that placebo effects can be a powerful treatment, yet the underlying neurological mechanisms have not been well understood. They also found that placebo effects extend to multiple forms of pain.

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  What Does It Mean To Learn With AI?

  School of Biological Sciences Assistant Teaching Professor Christopher Day is piloting an artificial intelligence tutor created by UC San Diego researchers trained on materials from his genetics course.

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  Andrew Chisholm and Emily Troemel Elected AAAS Fellows

  Eight researchers at UC San Diego, including School of Biological Sciences Professors Andrew Chisholm and Emily Troemel, have been elected 2025 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the world’s largest general scientific societies.

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  Bee Dancing is Better with the Right Audience

  Precision of the food-directional ‘waggle dance’ fluctuates with audience size and who’s in attendance

  Dance like nobody’s watching? Not quite, at least not for honey bees. A new study finds that bees performing the “waggle dance,” a form of food source communication, are not simply broadcasting a predetermined message. Rather, the precision of the performer’s directions depends on the audience.

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  Nobel Laureate and BioSci Alumnus Fred Ramsdell to Address Class of 2026

  Nobel laureate and UC San Diego School of Biological alumnus Fred Ramsdell ’83 will serve as the keynote speaker at the 2026 All Campus Commencement ceremony on Saturday, June 13.

To read more about the School of Biological Sciences happenings, see the News Archives.