What if the path to delaying the onset of dementia symptoms begins at the nose?
It is a doorway that the research of Dr. Michael Leon opened with a 2023 study on the power of olfaction enrichment to influence memory function and brain health. The findings drew wide acclaim and interest when his results found that stimulation of our sense of smell with essential oils had a profound impact on memory, cognition, and language recall.

Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Featuring Aimee Edinger
Nov 7, 2023
Professor Aimee Edinger presented at Dunlop School’s Dean’s Distinguished Lecutre on October 12, 2023. This lecture described how natural compounds found in yeast and humans might be leveraged to set up roadblocks that kill drug-resistant tumor cells, tame the obesity epidemic, and help deliver next-generation DNA and RNA medicines.

A dementia caregiver turns to an unconventional method to help her patients
Sep 25, 2023
A Minnesota-based chorus offers inspiration for dementia patients and caregivers. For CNN’s Amara Walker and her mother, it’s deeply personal.

Human brains, in and out of skulls, promise to unravel Alzheimer’s mysteries
Sep 25, 2023
Why do some brains remain robust as time marches on, while others wither? What can be done to halt deterioration in its tracks, or even better — reverse it?
That’s the mystery that decades of work at UCI and other federal research centers are dedicated to unraveling. Some of the biggest brains in science are devoted to understanding aging, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Climate change increasing frequency of 100-year events – scientist
Sep 11, 2023
Climate change is in large parts responsible for this storm, says Professor Kathleen Treseder, from the University of California, Irvine’s Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department.
KNX Radio Climate Change Interview Featuring Professor Steve Allison
Sep 11, 2023
UCs Irvine, Riverside and San Diego are working to find solutions to manage the impacts from climate change with a regional project to reduce risks in California, led by UCI and Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Steven Allison.

Sea level rise could drastically erode California beaches by the end of the century
Sep 11, 2023
Kathleen Treseder thinks a lot about potential solutions for problems like erosion. She studies and teaches climate change at the University of California, Irvine. She says many of the expensive homes along Orange County’s coastline might withstand waves lapping at their porches, but they could be taken out by a storm surge.

UC Irvine biologists find what colors a butterfly’s world
Aug 11, 2023
In searching for the genetic mechanism behind this difference, the UCI biologists selected as their subject Heliconius charithonia, in which visual capacity is sexually dimorphic. When they finished assembling the first complete genome for this species, they learned that its W – or female – chromosome contained the opsin gene.

Professor Michael Yassa and Dean Frank LaFerla Honored with Distinguished Faculty Awards
Jul 19, 2023
The School of Biological Sciences is proud to announce that Professor Michael Yassa and Dean Frank LaFerla have been selected as recipients of the Academic Senate's highest honors, the Distinguished Faculty Awards. These prestigious awards recognize excellence in...

Uncovering the Impact of Social Determinants on the Risk of Alzheimer Disease: Michael Yassa, PhD
Jul 5, 2023
June is Alzheimer and Brain Awareness Month, an event dedicated to raising awareness about Alzheimer disease (AD), educating others, and promoting patient advocacy for patients living with the condition. One notable issue in the field gaining attention is the risk of AD among patients in racial and ethnic minority groups as well as their lack of representation of these populations in AD research.