A bird’s song may teach us about human speech disorders
Stephanie White, a UCLA associate professor of Integrative Biology and Physiology is senior author of a new study that found 2,000 genes expressed in a region of the male zebra finch's brain, that are significantly linked to singing. At least some of these genes are shared by humans, and are likely important for human speech.
UCLA scientists identify a cell signaling pathway that regulates blood stem cells in placenta
Dr. Hanna Mikkola, UCLA associate professor of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology, recently led a study that found a specific cell signaling pathway in the placenta that plays a key role in stopping blood stem cells from differentiating into mature blood cells in the placenta. This is critical to ensure proper blood supply for an individual's lifetime.
UCLA Life Sciences Assistant Professor awarded prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship
John Novembre, an assistant professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is among 126 scientists and scholars to receive a 2012 Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
UCLA Life Science postdoctoral researcher awarded Damon Runyon Fellowship
Postdoctoral researcher Yanling Wang has been named a Damon Runyon Fellow by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting exceptional early career researchers and innovative cancer research.
Evolution is written all over your face
Michael Alfaro, associate professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and his colleagues shed light on why faces of primates look so dramatically different from one another.
Stem Cell Study: Balancing blood supply
Utpal Banerjee, the Irving and Jean Stone Professor and chairman of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology co-authored a study showing that two-way signaling from two different sets of cells is necessary for bloody-supply balance, both to ensure that enough blood cells are produced to respond to injury and infection and that blood progenitor cells remain available for future needs.
Understanding our cross-wired senses
Ladan Shams, associate professor of Cognitive Psychology recently led research that found that our senses of sight and hearing work closely together, perhaps more so than we might have thought.
UCLA Distinguished Prof. Robert Modlin elected as a fellow by AAAS
Robert Modlin, Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, has been selected as a fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society and the publisher of the journal Science.
Life Science Professor, Robert Modlin named AAAS fellow
Robert Modlin, professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, has been named a fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science for "distinguished contributions toward understanding human antimicrobial pathways, including Th1/Th2 cytokines, TLR 2 recognition of microbial lipoproteins, and the role of vitamin D in immunity."
UCLA stem cell researchers reprogram human skin cells to become nerve cells
William Lowry, an assistant professor of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, and associate researcher Saran Karumbayaram, have taken human skin cells, reprogrammed them into cells with the same unlimited property as embryonic stem cells, and then differentiated them into neurons while completely avoiding the use of animal-based reagents and feeder conditions throughout the process.