Elissa Hallem, assistant professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics and a member of UCLA’s Molecular Biology Institute, has been honored as a 2011 Rita Allen Foundation Scholar. The award is granted to seven researchers in biomedical science who will receive a total of $3.5 million in grants as 2011 Rita Allen Foundation Scholars.
An MSN blog on Monday highlighted a study by UCLA researchers and colleagues suggesting that for women, dating a less attractive man may result in a happier, more emotionally satisfying relationship. Benjamin Karney, UCLA associate professor of psychology, was quoted.
Life Sciences professors, were two of three UCLA researchers awarded state stem cell grants totaling $3.9 million. These grants will fund investigations into the basic mechanisms underlying stem cell biology, cellular differentiation and cellular plasticity, the ability of adult stem cells to become cells other than their cell of origin.
A column in Monday’s New York Times about opossums cited research by Ines Horovitz, UCLA assistant adjunct professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, suggesting that the earliest marsupials most likely resembled opossums. Horovitz was quoted.
Benhur Lee UCLA professor of MIMG co-authored a paper whose main findings could lead researchers to a potential new target for anti-HIV therapeutics.
UCLA announced that they have partnered with Roche to give UCLA stem cell and cancer scientists early access to leading-edge technologies in an effort to advance medical research. The agreement the researchers with leading-edge technologies, which will drive research capabilities and further the understanding of complex disease. The technologies, including the latest generation microarray systems from Roche NimbleGen, high-throughput screening instruments, genetic expression profilers and exome sequencing technologies will provide scientists with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA and UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center with valuable technology directly from Roche’s research and development pipeline.
James A. Lake, UCLA Distinguished Professor of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology and Human Genetics, was awarded the Darwin Wallace Medal for major research advances in evolutionary biology. He received the award on May 24 at the anniversary meeting of the Linnean Society of London.
An article in today’s New York Times about perceptual learning, which relies largely on gut-instinct, cites studies by UCLA researchers and colleagues in which school students were asked to solve mathematical problems that often required more intuition than mathematical knowledge. Philip J. Kellman, UCLA professor of cognitive psychology, is quoted.
Julia Barske, a UCLA graduate student and doctoral candidate in ecology and evolutionary biology, has recently published data that shows that the females select the males that completed elements of the courtship dance in 50 milliseconds over the males that took 80 milliseconds. Barney Schlinger, professor and departmental chair of integrative biology and physiology and a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology is co-author of the study.
