On March 3^rd, the School of Biological Sciences held its annual faculty retreat at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa. This year’s retreat was co-sponsored with the School of Medicine and provided an opportunity to foster and strengthen relationships between the two schools. Over 150 faculty attended the retreat, which featured faculty presentations, including a data blitz headlined by recently recruited faculty. Occasions such as this retreat give faculty from both the Biological Sciences School and the School of Medicine the opportunity to form the multi-disciplinary collaborations necessary to tackle the grand challenges of the 21st century.

After a productive exchange of new ideas, the retreat concluded with a discussion on the future of interdisciplinary research at UCI, chaired by Dean LaFerla and Vice Chancellor of Health Affairs, Howard J. Federoff. “It is our hope that this year’s meeting will help promote awareness and collaboration between our two schools,” said Dean LaFerla.