Faculty

Link Between Dementia and Air Pollution Drives Research Collaboration

April 17, 2025

Students Zeyi Moo, back left, and Yaying Wang, right, work with Professor Xuan Zhang, center, on her Alzheimer's-related research. Photo courtesy of Kate Marsh.

California’s Central Valley, famous for producing much of the food Americans eat, is also infamous for its inferior air quality and its high rates of poverty, housing insecurity and at-risk workers. Increasing epidemiological evidence has shown a correlation between long-term exposure to...

Zoom event presenters (top row) Patti Kishi, Jess Évora and Charles Nies, (center row) Hayley Montoya, Cassie Gunter and Brandon Lopez, (bottom row) Andrea Guerra

Leadership Awards Honor Students, Organizations

For the second year, the Margo F. Souza Student Leadership Center and the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) held the 2021 UC Merced Leadership Awards virtually. The April 30 event provided an...

Professor Colleen Naughton (center) poses with first-year doctoral student Ana Grace Alvarado (left) and fourth-year undergraduate student Fernando Adali Roman, Jr (right). Photo by Veronica Adrover, UC Merced

Naughton Lab Creates Dashboard to Track Global Wastewater Testing for Covid-19

After the COVID-19 pandemic struck, scientists across the globe realized they could track the virus by testing sewage water. School of Engineering Professor Colleen Naughton pioneered a dashboard to...

$2.2M NIH Grant Designed to Produce Highly Trained, Diverse Ph.D. Workforce

A five-year, $2.2 million training grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will assist UC Merced with the development of diverse cohorts of doctoral students in interdisciplinary...

Professor Berhe Nominated to Lead Federal Office of Science

President Joe Biden has nominated UC Merced Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe to be the new director of the Office of Science in the federal Department of Energy. In honor of Earth Day, the White...

Female applied mathematics graduate student

Shayna Bennett Wins Grad Slam at UC Merced

Applied Mathematics graduate student Shayna Bennett will represent UC Merced at the University of California Grad Slam finals on May 7. For the campus’s Grad Slam final round, Bennett...

The Center for Climate Justice’s two-day launch event kicks off on Earth Day, April 22.

Professor Tracey Osborne Leads New UC Center for Climate Justice

The University of California is launching a new center just in time for Earth Day: the Center for Climate Justice. Led by Management of Complex Systems Professor and UC Presidential Chair Tracey...

Undergraduate Experience: Habibatu Mboka

Name: Habibatu Mboka Year: Graduating May 2021, School of Engineering Commencement Student Speaker Major: Computer Science and Engineering Hometown: Turlock What clubs or...

Public health Professor Asa Bradman conducted research to examine a link between childhood development and food dyes. Photo by Veronica Adrover, UC Merced

Public Health Professor Shows Food Dye Linked to Childhood Behavior in California EPA Study

Public health Professor Asa Bradman contributed to a new report that examines the relationship between synthetic food dye — found in everything from juice to cupcakes — and child...

The Manilay and Spencer lab groups sit together on campus.

Collaboration Furthers Understanding of Immune Cell Development

Immunology Professor Jennifer Manilay and bioengineering Professor Joel Spencer are using a new grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand a project they’ve been working...