Campus News
Dopamine deficiency found to drive memory impairment in Alzheimer’s disease
UC Irvine researchers identified dopamine loss in a key brain region as a driver of memory decline in Alzheimer’s disease. Restoring dopamine levels, including with the drug Levodopa, improved memory function in preclinical models. Findings suggest a promising new treatment pathway targeting brain circuits, not just toxic proteins. Irvine, Calif., April 23, 2026 — Why…
Read MoreWater, warming and a world at risk
A UC Irvine professor of civil and environmental engineering, Amir AghaKouchak was named a 2026 Frontiers Planet Prize national champion. The sole winner from the U.S., he’s in the running for one of three $1 million prizes to be awarded later this year. AghaKouchak credits his postdocs, students, collaborators and colleagues at the campus’s Center…
Read MoreCollaborating with a purpose
In its second year, the UC Irvine Climate Collaboration is going strong, building up interdisciplinary climate change research teams in response to the needs of regional partners. In Q&A, UCICC director Brett Sanders discusses the impetus for starting the organization, how it functions, and what he and his collaborators hope to achieve. The UC Irvine…
Read MoreAn Earth Day lesson in ‘forever chemicals’
When the first Earth Day was recognized, on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans – at the time, 10 percent of the total U.S. population – demonstrated in gatherings around the country to protest industrial developments that had led to serious human health impacts. And so began the modern environmental movement. The theme for Earth…
Read MoreUC Irvine physicists discover method to reverse ‘quantum scrambling’
A problem in quantum computing called “quantum scrambling” hampers the technology’s development. Scrambling results in the loss of data in a quantum computing system, an issue previously thought to be irreversible. A UC Irvine team has discovered a way to reverse the scrambling process. Irvine, Calif., April 13, 2026 — Quantum computers stand to revolutionize…
Read MoreMapping urban heat from space reveals dangerous inequities in LA public parks
More than a third of parks and recreational spaces in South Los Angeles hit or exceeded the human thermal pain threshold, while no parks in West Los Angeles did. Researchers determined that South Los Angeles parks were built with far more heat-retaining materials, such as artificial turf and concrete, than those in West Los Angeles.…
Read MoreUC Irvine study finds dangerous lead levels at LA homes declared clean after remediation
Even after one of California’s largest cleanup efforts, nearly 70 percent of remediated homes near the former Exide battery smelter in Southeast L.A. still exceeded the state’s soil lead threshold. Continued contamination disproportionately affects low-income, predominantly Latino families with young children. Community-driven research by UC Irvine helped expose ongoing contamination, prompting expanded testing, blood lead…
Read MoreIn celebration of National Public Health Week
The American Public Health Association was formed in 1872, when scientific advances were starting to reveal the causes of contagious diseases. For over 150 years, the APHA has championed “optimal, equitable health and well-being for all,” and in 1995, President Bill Clinton signed an executive order declaring that the first full week of April each…
Read MoreAAAS names 7 UC Irvine researchers as fellows
Irvine, Calif., March 26, 2026 —The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society, has selected seven University of California, Irvine researchers – working in disciplines as diverse as chemistry, civil and environmental engineering, neurobiology, and physics – as fellows. “Congratulations to the seven UC Irvine researchers named fellows of…
Read MoreUC Irvine researchers engineer a light-powered biohybrid cardiac interface
UC Irvine researchers have designed a device that makes heart tissue respond to pulses of light. Combining polymer layers with heart cells, the invention can be used in the future to test cardiac therapeutics safely and effectively. Other possible applications include soft, biocompatible heart patch implants controlled by light. Funding was provided by the National…
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