Ali Behrangi, third-year civil and environmental engineering doctoral student at UC Irvine, has been awarded NASA’s Earth and Space Science Fellowship. One of 50 students selected for the two-year, renewable fellowship, Behrangi will receive $30,000 each year to continue researching precipitation estimation using remotely sensed satellite images. He is the first student in The Henry Samueli School of Engineering to receive this distinction. The award aims to ensure the continued training of a highly qualified workforce in disciplines required to achieve NASA’s scientific goals.   More »

The UC Irvine Medical Center has been named one of the sites for a novel national study on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Dr. Tahseen Mozaffar, director of the UCI MDA-ALS Research & Clinical Center, will lead the local effort to collect blood and tissue samples from ALS patients. Knowledge generated from study of these samples will speed the development of biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of this chronic, fatal neuromuscular disease. Study leaders from the ALS Therapy Development Institute also believe the data will help researchers worldwide develop effective therapeutics.   More »

Myron Simon, a longtime English professor noted for his work in ethnic literature, died Monday, Aug. 18, at the age of 80. Simon taught at UCI for 25 years starting in 1969 and for some of that time held a joint appointment in the Department of Education because of his interest in how English is taught. He was known as an attentive professor who demanded the best from his students, said Brook Thomas, English department chair. His groundbreaking anthology of ethnic literature Ethnic Writers in America was published in 1972. He lived in University Hills at the time of his death.

UC Irvine biologists have discovered a new way to combat a type of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer that afflicts about 1,500 new patients in the U.S. each year. David Fruman (pictured), associate director of the Center for Immunology, working with Michael Lilly of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, found that leukemia cells die quickly when enzymes that promote cell division are blocked. The UCI scientists, along with graduate students Matthew Janes and Michael Kharas, found that a chemical compound called PI-103 inhibited both enzymes and killed mouse and human leukemia cells in laboratory experiments. Their findings will appear in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.   More »

A team of UC Irvine scientists has been awarded a $4 million grant to study synthetic telepathy – communicating by thoughts instead of speech. Funded by the U.S. Army Research Office, the project could benefit soldiers on the battlefield and paralysis and stroke patients who can’t communicate verbally, according to lead researcher Michael D’Zmura, chair of the UCI Department of Cognitive Sciences. The team will work with experts in automatic speech recognition and brain imaging at other universities to research a brain-computer interface that would use noninvasive brain imaging technology to let people communicate thoughts to each other.   More »

California’s stem cell research funding agency today awarded UC Irvine neuroscientist Dr. Edwin Monuki $3 million to study and generate a cell type that keeps the brain and spinal cord healthy. Monuki, assistant professor of pathology & laboratory medicine and developmental & cell biology, was one of 23 scientists from 12 institutions to receive a New Faculty Award from the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, the governing body of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Monuki will study the formation of choroid plexus epithelial cells, which produce the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord with nourishing chemicals to promote normal nervous system health and function, learning and memory, and neural repair following injury.   More »

The city of Vienna will honor Ruth Kluger, professor emerita of German at UC Irvine and a Holocaust survivor, by reprinting and distributing 100,000 copies of her memoir as part of the Einestadteinbuch (A city, a book) festival Nov. 24. Kluger’s autobiography, Weiterleben.Eine Jugend, was a best seller in Germany and details her childhood in a series of concentration camps. Her English language memoir, Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered, is based on Weiterleben.Eine Jugend. During the festival, Kluger will be honored at a gala celebration and reception hosted by the mayor of Vienna.   More »

Sadegh Dabiri, third-year doctoral student in UC Irvine's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has received the prestigious American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Martin Summerfield Graduate Award for Studies in Propellants and Combustion. The $5,000 award, funded through individual memorial gifts as well as the AIAA Foundation, is given to students who actively participate in propellants and combustion research as part of their graduate studies. Dabiri, who received his master's in mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCI in 2005, is now focusing his studies in the Combustion, Fluid Dynamics and Propulsion Laboratory.   More »

Warmer temperatures and longer dry spells have killed thousands of trees and shrubs in a Southern California mountain range, pushing the plants’ habitat an average of 213 feet up the mountain over the past 30 years, a UC Irvine study has determined. The study, by Michael Goulden and Anne Kelly, is the first to show directly the impact of climate change on a mountainous ecosystem by physically studying the location of plants, and it demonstrates what could occur globally if the Earth’s temperature continues to rise. The research appears online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.   More »

The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC Irvine is the only cancer clinic in Orange County to be an exemplary clinical trial site, meeting the stringent standards and attributes established this summer by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Chao’s doctors and researchers maintain a robust diversity of studies designed to advance new cancer treatments. According to Dr. Randall Holcombe (pictured), chief of hematology/oncology and director of clinical trials, the Chao Center has more than 50 ongoing clinical trials, ranging from ones for cancer prevention and early detection to others focusing on advanced treatments. “Our talented team of investigators, nurses, researchers and support staff are on the cutting edge of developing and testing tomorrow’s cancer cures,” Holcombe said. “It’s a tribute to them that we meet these rigorous national clinical trial standards.”   More »

Molly Goodenbour has been named head women’s basketball coach at UC Irvine. Goodenbour, who received a four-year contract, becomes the seventh women's coach in the program's history. “Molly is a proven winner with championship experience,” said Athletic Director Mike Izzi. “She is a successful head coach and I look forward to her developing the UC Irvine program into a Big West Conference and national contender.” Goodenbour, 36, comes to UCI after two successful seasons at Chico State, where she compiled a 52-11 record.   More »