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Health and Medicine

Our research in medicine produces life-saving developments, advances human health and keeps our society thriving.

A collection of dark green lines and small dots on a pale green background
Photo Credit
Courtesy UCSB Engineering
A close-up view of anaerobic gut fungi under the microscope. Armed with powerful plant-degrading enzymes and a dense network of hyphae, these specialized microbes break down tough lignocellulosic plant matter in the absence of oxygen.

Two UCSB-led projects selected for DOE’s Genesis Mission

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illustration of two women, one of whom is pregnant, standing in front of a balancing scale

Abortion access linked to future economic and educational success
Denise Montell
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Denise Montell

Professor Denise Montell wins second NIH Pioneer Award, receiving $5.5 million for immune therapy research
A globe made out of healthy foods with a stethoscope against a blackboard background.
Photo Credit
Udra via iStock

Billions worldwide consume inadequate levels of micronutrients critical to human health
An illustration of macrophages attacking a cancer cell.
Photo Credit
Wildpixel via iStock
Priming macrophage immune cells could supercharge certain cancer therapies.

An appetizer can stimulate immune cells’ appetite, a boon for cancer treatments
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Understanding aging on a cellular level
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Investigating the changing disease ecology of California
An illustrative image of small peptide helices.
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
This is a story about proteins, how they malfunction, and what cells do to prevent that.

Researchers reveal a new approach for treating degenerative diseases
abstract image of the brain disintegrating

Researchers uncover a potential method for interrupting the misfolding of tau protein that underlies neurodegenerative disease
Beijing’s Forbidden City lies shrouded in industrial smog.
Photo Credit
Holger Kleine via iStock
China’s infamous air pollution affects its citizens’ minds as well as their bodies.

Clearing the air reduces suicide rates
a cathedral in the middle of a mountain town in Colombia
Yarumal, a municipality in the foothills of the Andes north of Medellín, is one of several communities in Colombia that host a large kindred with a genetic form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease

Untangling a sticky mystery: Researchers make precious headway into a genetic form of Alzheimer’s disease
three blue-gray petri dishes against a black background testing the resistance of bacteria to antimicrobials

Researchers develop molecules for a new class of antibiotics that can overcome drug resistant bacteria
A blue macrophage engulfs a magenta lymphocyte, as rendered by ChatGPT4.
Photo Credit
ChatGPT4, prompt by Denise Montell
A blue macrophage engulfs a magenta lymphocyte, as rendered by ChatGPT4.

When bad cells go good: harnessing cellular cannibalism for cancer treatment
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