The UC Irvine School of Biological Sciences collaborates with many other units on campus to help further research in important fields. The following are affiliated institutes and centers that have significant participation from Biological Sciences faculty.

School Centers (Biological Sciences)

UCI Organized Research Units, System-wide Centers and State-wide Centers

School Centers (Biological Sciences)

Center for Environmental Biology

The CEB was established in March 2010 to facilitate research, education, and outreach in biological science to help develop innovative new solutions to environmental problems. Their mission is to link academic research with ecosystem management and stewardship of natural resources, and to educate the next generation of environmental biologists and stewards.

Director: Travis Huxman, PhD
Phone: 949-824-9411
Email: thuxman@uci.edu

Center for Hearing Research

The Center for Hearing Research at UC Irvine is a multidisciplinary group of scientists spanning eight Departments in five Schools, who are bound by a common interest in hearing research.

Center for Virus Research

The overall goal of the Center for Virus Research (CVR) ORU is to develop interdisciplinary collaborations and studies founded in molecular virology. The CVR provides both the administrative infrastructure as well as training and common facilities needed for this type of investigation.

Director: Bert Semler
Phone: 949-824-6074
Email: blsemler@uci.edu

Developmental Biology Center

The DBC enhances the research efforts of faculty whose appointments are in academic departments. The focus of the unit is to analyze the mechanisms controlling animal development.

Director: Rob Steele
Phone: (949) 824-7341, 9367
Email: resteele@uci.edu 

Multiple Sclerosis Research Center

UCI formally established the Multiple Sclerosis Research Center (MSRC) in February of 2011 and a major focus of ongoing research is to develop new therapeutic strategies designed to limit ongoing demyelination while repairing damaged nerve tissue. The MSRC’s established clinical and research programs have made it one of only 15 Collaborative Centers for MS Research (as designated by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society) in the United States. Access to cutting-edge research being done in other Collaborative Centers allows UCI faculty the ability to try new approaches to MS treatments.

Director: Craig Walsh, PhD
Phone: 949-824-8487
Email: cwalsh@uci.edu

UCI Organized Research Units, System-wide Centers and State-wide Centers

Beckman Laser Institute, a national Beckman Institute

The BLI mission is to serve as the world’s leading interdisciplinary center for Biomedical Optics by: Developing new, enabling biophotonic technologies; Applying biophotonic technologies to important problems in biology and medicine; Training students, fellows, and physicians in Biomedical Optics research and providing patients with access to advanced therapeutic and diagnostic clinical procedures using biophotonic medical devices

Director: Matt Brenner, M.D.
General: 714-456-6776
Email: mbrenner@uci.edu 

Cancer Research Institute

The UCI Cancer Research Institute (CRI) facilitates and coordinates basic cancer-related research and training at UCI and functions as the basic science arm of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Director: Marian Waterman, PhD
Phone: 949-824-2885
Email: marian.waterman@uci.edu

Center for Complex Biological Systems, a National Center for Systems Biology

The Center for Complex Biological Systems (CCBS) aims to promote research, education and outreach in Systems Biology by integrating expertise and perspectives from diverse scientific fields to develop a deeper understanding of biological processes.

Director: Arthur Lander, PhD
Phone: 949-824-1721
Email: adlander@uci.edu

Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory

The Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM) was established by the UC Regents in 1983 and is the first research institute in the world dedicated exclusively to the multidisciplinary study of learning and memory mechanisms in the brain. The CNLM’s mission is to promote the most innovative learning and memory research transforming education, technology and brain health. Center faculty use a wide variety of experimental techniques at multiple levels of analysis. These include studies of the molecular cascades underlying experience-dependent changes in neuronal function, the systems in the brain that support different types of learning and memory, and how alterations in brain structure and function affect behavior. 

Director: Michael A. Yassa, PhD
General: 949-824-5193
Email: memory@uci.edu

Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics

The institute has nine Program Areas that illustrate the Institute’s commitment to a growing number of multi- and interdisciplinary scientific areas. The nine program areas including systems biology. IGB faculty and students come from five different disciplines on campus including the School of Biological Sciences.

Director: Pierre Baldi
Phone: 949-824-9296
Email: igb@ics.uci.edu

UC Irvine Institute for Immunology

The UCI Institute for Immunology currently comprises twenty-nine faculty members from the School of Biological Sciences and the School of Medicine, whose research and instructional efforts are in immunology. It integrates the immunological research and educational activities of multiple departments, and the activities of the Institute extend to synergize with allied areas of research including biomedical engineering, public health and physical rehabilitation.

Interim Co-Director: Eric Pearlman, PhD
Phone: 949-824-1867
Email: epearlma@uci.edu

Institute for Memory Impairment and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND)

UCI MIND seeks to conduct research to enhance the quality of life for the elderly by identifying factors and life-style approaches that promote successful brain aging. Toward this end, the Institute facilitates and coordinates a number of activities and continues to develop new major resources to help us achieve our goals.

Director: Josh Grill, PhD
Phone: 949-824-5905
Email: jgrill@uci.edu 

Network for Experimental Research on Evolution

NERE, the Network for Experimental Research on Evolution, is a University of California Multi-campus Research Program funded and administered through the UC Office of the President and its constituent UC campuses. NERE (pronounced “near”) supports collaboration, communication, and graduate education concerned with research on biological evolution.

Reeve-Irvine Research Center

The RIRC is a basic science research facility devoted to the study of repair, regeneration, and recovery of function after spinal cord injury. The mission of the RIRC is to find new treatments for spinal cord injury through the collaborative research and educational efforts of prominent scientists and clinicians both at the University of California, Irvine and around the world.

Director: Oswald Steward, PhD
General: 949-824-8908
Email: osteward@uci.edu 

Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, a CIRM Institute

The Sue & Bill Gross Hall Stem Cell Research Center train researchers through a number of techniques Courses put on each year; provide state-of-the-art tissue culture facilities for campus researchers interested in doing stem cell research; test new technologies and products and bring them to our researchers to enhance their work methodologies and more.

Director: Aileen J. Anderson
General: 949-824-6750
Email: aja@uci.edu 

Urban Water Research Center

The Urban Water Research Center’s (UWRC) mission is to advance the understanding of the distinct characteristics of the urban water environment in order to assist people and institutions in their effort to promote health, enhance the efficient use of water resources, and protect environmental values.

Director: Diego Rosso
Phone: 949-824-8661
Email: bidui@uci.edu