UCLA scientists have shown that temporarily blocking a protein critical to immune response actually helps the body clear itself of chronic infection. Published in the April 12 edition of the journal Science, the finding suggests new approaches to treating persistent viral infections like HIV and hepatitis C.
Humans could learn a thing or two from turtles, and scientists who have just sequenced the first turtle genome uncovered clues about how people can benefit from the shelled creatures’ remarkable longevity and ability to survive for months without breathing.
Adriana Galván, assistant professor of Psychology, has been selected a William T. Grant Scholar by the William T. Grant Foundation. The award is given to exceptional researchers early in their careers. Galván’s laboratory studies brain development in children, adolescents and adults using behavioral and neuroimaging techniques.
his spring, Andrew Nicholls, a UCLA senior and eight-year army veteran, shared his firsthand perspectives about the military and combat by teaching a new psychology course through the Psychology department called ‘Fast Cars and Battle Scars: Understanding the Modern Combat Veteran and PTSD.’
Social-science research on same-sex families highlighted a study by Jill Waterman, UCLA adjunct professor of psychology; Letitia Anne Peplau, UCLA distinguished research professor of psychology; and Justin Lavner, a UCLA doctoral candidate in psychology, showing that high-risk children adopted from foster care do equally well when they are placed with gay, lesbian or heterosexual parents.
Public tickets for the extremely popular, second-annual campus “Science and Food” lecture series, taught by food scientist Amy Rowat,are now available.
Aging is marked by the accumulation of wear and tear on the body’s organs and tissues, but the specific kinds of damage that usher in death are still unknown. David Walker and his colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles, suspected that the intestines may play a key role. In previous studies, when energy metabolism in the intestines was boosted, the flies’ lifespan increased.
A profile on Amy Rowat, UCLA assistant professor of Integrative Biology and Physiology, highlighting her annual “Science and Food” public events, which feature top chefs and are presented in conjunction with her UCLA academic course, “Science and Food: The Physical and Molecular Origins of What We Eat.”
Thomas Smith, director of the UCLA Center for Tropical Research and professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Trevon Fuller, a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Tropical Research have developed a technique that allows us to predict sites where human and bird viruses could mix and generate a future pandemic.
Andrew Christensen, professor of Psychology who has worked with hundreds of couples over more than 30 years, worked with his colleague Brian Doss, a UCLA alumnus, to designed a website, www.OurRelationship.com, that allows you and your partner to strengthen your marriage— for free and from the comfort of your own home.
