New medical, social strategies aim to keep high-risk youth free of HIV infection

Studies funded by UC's California HIV/AIDS Research Program hope to curb HIV in the state by engaging people at high risk in innovative prevention efforts in their communities.

Reaching underserved smokers before lung cancer turns deadly

UC's Tobacco-Related Disease Program administers the California Cancer Research Fund, made possible by taxpayers who donate money by checking line 413 on their state income tax forms. This year, research will focus on early lung cancer screening, especially in underserved communities, and the barriers to seeking life-saving screening and care.

Xiang Zhang

Pushing innovations to industry's doorstep

A tiny laser that could enable smaller and faster smart phones and tablets. A glucosamine-like supplement that targets the underlying cause of multiple sclerosis. These are among research projects getting a boost this year from a UC grants program. The Proof of Concept grants help move UC research out of the lab and to commercialization.

After the smoke clears, danger still lurks

Thirdhand smoke is a new frontier, and UC's Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program has assembled a consortium of investigators to study the health risks caused by the remnants of cigarette smoke.

Researchers in a lab.

Spit in time may help save lives

An ambitious project, teaming Kaiser Permanente and UCSF researchers, takes aim at genetic links to disease.

Ronald David Glass

Center chases truth about state's crises

A multicampus center connects researchers and people in the community to address poverty, employment, health, the environment and other California issues.

Graduate student researchers mix technology and humanity

Graduate students are at the heart of UC research. And many package their expertise, creativity and compassion to tackle and solve key problems in California and beyond.

New strategies pinpoint breast cancer risk, spare many from agony

With the help of donations from state tax filers, the California Breast Cancer Research Program funds innovative research. Studies have led to simple tests that guide treatment by distinguishing non-invasive forms of the cancer from aggressive types.

Making a game out of improving the 'sticky' brain

UCSF neuroscientists have found that by training on attention tests, people young and old can improve brain performance and multitasking skills.

UCSF lab

Persistence, passion lead to new attack on parasitic diseases

Based on research by UCSF and UC San Diego, the FDA has identified an arthritis treatment as an 'orphan drug.' It paves the way for a new drug to attack tropical parasites that disable and kill millions of people worldwide.

Cancer research stretches into the community

Dollars donated by California tax filers support innovative research to fight breast cancer and tobacco-related diseases.

David Rowitch

Stem cell research heads to the clinic

For more than a decade, stem cell science has raised hopes of cures for a host of diseases and illnesses. Now, the research pace has picked up with lab discoveries moving to tests of therapies for patients.

Big help in small packages

UCSF bioengineer Tejal Desai builds medical implants, with parts as tiny as human cells, that may be used to treat diabetes, kidney failure and other diseases.

Combining a prevention pill with community treatment programs

UC's California HIV/AIDS Research Program has funded studies to test a HIV prevention pill among high-risk HIV-uninfected people in the state.

Shinya Yamanaka, Gladstone and UCSF scientist, wins 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine

Shinya Yamanaka has won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of how to transform ordinary adult skin cells into cells that, like embryonic stem cells, are capable of developing into any cell in the human body.

Offering care and calm in the wild

Doctors at a UCSF Fresno program don't just provide emergency care to those who become sick or injured in the backcountry. They research lifesaving techniques and have become leading specialists in wilderness medicine.

Graduate students take their research to the Capitol

They delivered a message to legislators: graduate student research is central not only to the future of UC, but to that of the state and the nation as well.

Rising stars of science

Five UC graduate students and postdoctoral researchers were among innovators named 'Rising Stars of Science: The Forbes 30 under 30.'

Ovarian cancer: UC researchers play key role in new treatments, analysis

For many women, a diagnosis of ovarian cancer is a death sentence. More than 14,000 women die of it each year. With symptoms that mimic other ailments, it often is diagnosed at a late stage. The five-year survival rate is just 31 percent; when the cancer becomes resistant to traditional chemotherapy, newer drugs have held it at bay for a few months at best.