Excellence Award for Educational Innovation – Assistant Professor
Dannielle Carr, Institute for Society and Genetics
Professor Carr has received this year’s Excellence Award for Educational Innovation for thoughtfully redesigning how students engage with technology in her courses in the age of AI. Her teaching cultivates careful reading, critical thinking, intellectual independence, and interdisciplinary synthesis. One of her students commented, “Thanks to Dr. Carr, I learned to question everything. I learned about ways of thinking and how they came about.”
Carr boosts engagement in her classroom through role play, having students dress up to bring historical academic texts to life. And in her course that’s centered around original research, Carr has students publish their research as zines, to share their work with family and friends.
Excellence Award for Inclusive Excellence – Postdoctoral Scholar
Kathia Ramirez, Psychology / Neuroscience
As the chair of the postdoctoral association, Ramirez stepped up to communicate with campus leadership to advocate for her fellow postdoctoral scholars. She made leadership aware of the significant challenges faced by international postdocs, and ensured that her colleagues were taken care of. Ramirez has also been advancing inclusive excellence through her mentorship of UCLA students, and she has been helping local communities understand the importance of science through science communications programs.
Excellence Award for Inclusive Excellence – Associate Professor
Lauren Ng, Psychology
As leader of the TRUST lab, Professor Ng has been working with colleagues, students, and community members to design and implement scalable evidence-based interventions for individuals suffering from traumatic stress in under-resourced areas around the world.
While Ng’s work was initially focused on conflict zones in sub-Saharan Africa where mental health care services are virtually non-existent – she’s applied the lessons she learned there to bring pragmatic approaches to underserved communities here in the United States.
Outstanding Research Publication – Postdoctoral Scholar
Yan-Ruide (Charlie) Li, Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics
Postdoctoral fellow Yan-Ruide (Charlie) Li is being honored for collaborative research that established a new and improved method for producing custom-made cancer immunotherapies that have been shown to be remarkably safe.
The research, published in Nature Biotechnology in 2024, resulted in a manufacturing platform that transforms generic stem cells from cord blood into uniform engineered natural killer T cells (CAR-NKT cells). Their innovative method boosts the production of these engineered cells a million-fold from previous methods and shows an excellent safety profile. This research, which was developed in compliance with clinical standards and procedures, has paved the way for human clinical trials at UCLA medical centers, bringing scalable cancer treatments closer to reality.
Outstanding Research Publication – Assistant Professor
Valerie Tornini, Integrative Biology & Physiology / Institute
Up to now, our understanding of embryonic cell development involves a critical first-step – where cells go through an initial “blank slate” phase – before they can become any type of cell in the body.
In their 2025 Cell Reports paper, “In vivo differentiation of embryonic cells devoid of key reprogramming factors,” Tornini and her team conducted a study, in a living system, where they removed the genetic “switches” that reprogram cells back to a “blank slate” phase. They found that even without going through this system reboot, some cells were still able to transform into entirely new, distinct cell types, including some that resembled nerve cells.
This discovery shows that for some embryonic cells it’s not absolutely necessary to enter a “blank slate” phase during development, as previously thought. The fact that cells have a backup plan for specialization opens new doors for regenerative medicine and synthetic biology.
Outstanding Research Publication- Associate Professor
Nandita Garud, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology / Human Genetics
The trillions of bacteria that make up our gut microbiome can have a huge effect on our health, but tracking their evolution has been extremely difficult.
In a 2026 study published in Nature, Gene-specific selective sweeps are pervasive across human gut microbiomes, Garud and her team developed a new statistical method to detect “selective sweeps” – beneficial mutations that spread to reach high frequencies in bacterial populations. Tracking these genetic shifts across 24 human populations, they discovered over 300 distinct bacterial adaptations.
The team found evidence that adaptations in gut microbiomes may be related to the digestion of maltodextrin, a synthetic starch ubiquitous in ultra-processed foods. This suggests that modern diets act as a direct evolutionary force, forcing gut ecosystems to adapt. By discovering a new method for tracking gut microbiome adaptations, the team has provided science with a powerful tool that could create targeted probiotics or new treatments for gut health.
Outstanding Research Publication- Full Professor
Lili Yang, Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics
Cancer immunotherapy helps the immune system fight tumors, but there are hidden “brakes” that often shut down killer T cells before they can finish the job.
In their research “Serotonin transporter inhibits antitumor immunity through regulating the intratumoral serotonin axis,” published in Cell in 2025, Dr. Yang and her team discovered a completely new brake mechanism controlled by a serotonin transporter found inside tumors. They found that blocking this transporter boosts active killer T cells and stops them from burning out.
This research suggests that common SSRI antidepressants—already widely used and safely tolerated—could potentially be repurposed as cancer treatments. In the lab, Yang and her team showed that SSRIs significantly slowed solid tumor growth, especially when paired with existing immunotherapies. A clinical trial is now ongoing at UCLA to evaluate SSRI treatment for colorectal cancer patients.
Administrative Staff Excellence
Steve Schweitzer, Life Sciences Administration
This year’s co-recipient of the Administrative Staff Excellence award is Steve Schweitzer, Life Sciences’ associate dean for finance and administration. Schweitzer was unanimously nominated by the colleagues who’ve been working directly with him and felt he earned this recognition for his exceptional guidance during challenging times.
Schweitzer oversees divisional finances and operations–in collaboration with the administrative staff and faculty in the division.
During difficult fiscal freezes and complex organizational changes, Schweitzer balanced institutional strategic goals with everyday operational realities, while listening carefully to departmental needs, keeping staff informed, and fostering a collaborative team environment.
Administrative Staff Excellence
Sabrina Lux, Psychology
Sabrina Lux, chief administrative officer (CAO) of the psychology department, is the co-recipient of this year’s Administrative Staff Excellence award. Lux received four separate, deeply personalized nominations, signed by multiple colleagues. Lux oversees the management of the Department of Psychology, the largest department in Life Sciences, that includes 5,000 undergraduates, 200 Ph.D. students, a sprawling physical plant, a childcare program, an outpatient psychology training clinic, and a complex budget.
She has grown campus relationships, expertly guided spatial planning, provided steady, compassionate guidance during major crises like the pandemic and wildfires. Her leadership is rooted in deep kindness, active listening, and an extraordinary commitment to her community. She is recognized as a hard-working leader who makes every individual feel genuinely seen and understood.
Special Recognition for decades of exceptional service
Lana Song, CFO of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics
Lana Song has been recognized this year with a Special Recognition award to celebrate her decades of exceptional service within Life Sciences. Song is highly regarded for her expertise in the complex financial structures of both UCLA and federal funding agencies. She’s maintained meticulous accountability across unique funding portfolios, and her colleagues laud her work as exemplary of administrative excellence.
Song has dedicated her long, distinguished career to mentoring and cultivating talent, successfully developing numerous fund managers who have since stepped into leadership roles across the entire campus. Her legacy is defined by this profound and lasting investment in people.
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