News

UCI Researchers Join Forces to Tackle Challenges in Human Health and the Environment

Monday, February 22, 2021

The newly opened Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building at the University of California, Irvine was conceived with one goal in mind: providing a place where researchers in disparate academic fields could work together to address grand challenges, principally in human health and the planet’s climate crisis. Faculty, students and staff are now moving into the facility after three and a half years of construction. Made possible by seed financing from Susan and Henry Samueli, through the Samueli Foundation, combined with resources from the UC Office of the President and UCI, the gleaming, six-story edifice of glass, steel and concrete adds mor...

CBRE Ranks Irvine's Tech Talent Pool as Top in Growth Potential

Monday, February 08, 2021

(Site Selection Magazine) CBRE has identified Irvine as a growing market for tech workers. Home to the University of California, Irvine, the city is one of the CBRE’s 2020 Scoring Tech Talent report's top gainers, having climbed five ranking spots to No. 21. Download the report. Baltimore (No. 11) and Columbus, Ohio, (No. 24), both of which rose three ranking spots, enjoy the presence of major universities and research labs, as do Madison, Wisconsin (No. 27) and Pittsburgh (No. 30). Does tech investment follow tech talent or the other way around? It’s actually some of both. The question going forward, said Colin Yasukochi, executive directo...

UCI Alum Appointed COVID Data Director, White House COVID-19 Response

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

University of California, Irvine alum Dr. Cyrus Shahpar has been appointed to the Biden administration in the role of COVID data director. Dr. Shahpar has focused on infectious disease and public health throughout his career, and previously led rapid response for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He departs a role as vice president for Epidemic Intelligence at the Resolve to Save Lives Initiative to join the Biden administration, having previously served on the incoming administration’s Agency Review Team for the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Shahpar earned his medical degree and MBA at UC Irvine and his master’s i...

UCI to Build $1 Billion, 144-Bed World-Class Hospital on Irvine Campus

Saturday, January 23, 2021

Plans to build a world-class, acute care hospital on the northern edge of the University of California, Irvine academic campus advanced significantly today, as the University of California Board of Regents granted approval of the project’s 144-bed acute care facility, ambulatory care center, and cancer center. The hospital joins the previously approved UCI Health Center for Advanced Care to create the new UCI Medical Center Irvine-Newport, a full-service academic health complex that will bring a broad spectrum of the most advanced healthcare services to coastal and southern Orange County, including access to the hundreds of clinical trials underway at UCI Health...

UCI Coronavirus Vaccine Could Protect Against All COVID Strains

Friday, January 22, 2021

(Patch) UC Irvine scientists are developing a vaccine to attack all strains of coronavirus, the university reported on Jan. 21. Along with the vaccine, scientists say they have identified a potential breakthrough that —if it works—would solve many of the problems related to distributing the medicine to patients across the world, a UCI professor on the project says. Lbachir BenMohamed— a UCI School of Medicine professor of immunology and the founder of the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology at the University of California, Irvine—says that his team is developing what they envision will be a vaccine that could work on al...

UCI Health Infectious Disease Experts Answer questions About COVID-19 Vaccines

Thursday, January 07, 2021

We all want this pandemic to end. By mid-December 2020, the coronavirus has caused 75 million confirmed infections and 1.7 million deaths worldwide. More than 310,000 Americans have died due to COVID-19-related illnesses, which now exceeds heart disease as the leading cause of U.S. deaths. During the current winter surge, the virus is claiming about 2,500 U.S. lives every day. But safe and effective vaccines can end the pandemic if, as experts believe, at least 70% of people are vaccinated. Two COVID-19 vaccines have received emergency approval for frontline healthcare workers and residents of long-term care homes. UCI Health infectious disease expert...

MemorialCare is Presenting Sponsor for Greater Irvine Chamber Business Outlook

Monday, January 04, 2021

MemorialCare, a platinum-level Leaders Circle partner of the Greater Irvine Chamber, is returning for the second year as Presenting Sponsor for the Chamber's Business Outlook featuring UCI's economy expert Chris Schwarz, and live-streamed on Thursday, Jan. 28, at noon. "The Greater Irvine Chamber Business Outlook event couldn't come at a more important time, as our business community is focused on mitigating the fiscal impact that COVID-19 has had on employers," said Barry Arbuckle, Ph.D., president and CEO, MemorialCare. "MemorialCare is honored to once again sponsor this timely event, as we join the community of Irvine and all of Orange County in gaining the vita...

UCI Health Receives COVID-19 Vaccine, First Batch of 3,000 to be Given to Frontline Healthcare Employees

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

UCI Health on Dec. 16 received an initial shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine at the UCI Medical Center and will begin providing the first round of injections to its front-line healthcare workers. UCI Health was allotted some 3,000 units of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. It will begin offering vaccinations to frontline healthcare workers today and continue with a full roll out tomorrow to its frontline clinical co-workers who care for patients in high-risk settings or patients with unknown COVID-19 status. UCI Health officials say they plan to vaccinate 2,000 people in this group, known as Group A, by Sunday and then begin t...

UC Irvine’s Chris Schwarz to Headline Greater Irvine Chamber's 2021 Business Outlook

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Chris Schwarz, associate professor of finance and faculty director of the Center for Investment and Wealth Management at University of California, Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business, returns for the third year to the Greater Irvine Chamber Business Outlook event. A popular opening speaker in the past, Schwarz headlines the 2021 event, delivering his presentation digitally on Thursday, Jan. 28, at 12:00 p.m. “An expert in the field of economics, Chris Schwarz is also a crowd favorite, capturing the attention of large audiences with his knowledge, insights, and good humor about a salient topic,” said Bryan Starr, president and CEO, Greater Irvine Chamber. “His observations and analyses are now mor...

UCI Researchers Develop At-Home Coronavirus Saliva Test

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

Researchers in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine announced promising results in the development of a noninvasive at-home antigen test to detect the spike of SARS-CoV-2 proteins in saliva. The team, led by Michelle Khine, professor of biomedical engineering, posted their findings on the preprint server medRxiv.org. Khine is proposing a point-of-care platform that uses saliva, an electrochemical reaction and the children’s toy Shrinky Dinks to create the low-cost electrodes. “A rapid, population-scale diagnostic and screening device is our goal, and we think our electrochemical aptamer-based assay could be an ideal candidate,” Khine said. Working with Khine...

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