The stethoscopes may come later, but the commitment to community was clear as UC Merced welcomed its newest SJV PRIME+ students last weekend. The Student and Family Welcome event marked the beginning of an eight-year journey for 15 students who will progress from bachelor’s degrees at UC Merced to medical degrees from the UCSF School of Medicine, and complete clinical training at UCSF Fresno — all with a shared mission to strengthen health care in the San Joaquin Valley. 

As nations cut emissions that once fueled urban smog, scientists are discovering unexpected chemistry taking place in the atmosphere.

UC Merced Professor Xuan Zhang is leading a project to uncover how these chemical shifts could affect the air we breathe and the climate. The project is supported by a National Science Foundation CAREER Award.

Zhang is the 43rd researcher from UC Merced to earn a CAREER award from the NSF.

In addition to being used recreationally, marijuana and cannabidiol, or CBD, one of the cannabinoids produced by the marijuana plant, are thought to have medical benefits such as helping with chemotherapy-induced nausea, treating epilepsy, relieving pain and helping with a variety of mental health issues.

The region has nearly 170 newly certified community health workers after the first cohort completed a specialized training program at UC Merced.

The National Institutes of Health are backing Professor Clarissa Nobile ’s mission to understand the mechanisms by which microbes form biofilms, specifically those that can be hazardous to human health.

An average of more than 1 million acres of idled farmland a year is a significant contributor to a growing dust problem in California that has implications for millions of residents’ health and the state’s climate.

In California’s Kern County, nearly 925,000 people live in oppressive heat 125 days per year.

Several types of relief are offered. Residents can get breaks on energy bills bloated by air conditioning costs. Triple-digit temperatures trigger the opening of public buildings labeled “cooling centers.” Schools and businesses get tips about preventing heat-related illness.

California’s Central Valley, famous for producing much of the food Americans eat, is also infamous for its inferior air quality and its high rates of poverty, housing insecurity and at-risk workers.

Increasing epidemiological evidence has shown a correlation between long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and the incidence of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD).

Areas with severe PM2.5 pollution — including the Central Valley — are often inhabited by low-income residents who are disproportionately affected by these environmental hazards.

LGBTQ2S+ individuals use tobacco and nicotine products at significantly higher rates than straight and cisgender people, research shows. Reasons can include stress and other health problems brought on by systemic and social prejudice, along with barriers to support for breaking the habit.

UC Merced and CalPride Valle Central have partnered with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences and advocates from across the nation to develop a program to support efforts by LGBTQ2S+ people to quit smoking.

Note: This article has been republished in part.The full article is available online .

When David Mendoza-Cózatl, a 2006 Pew Latin American fellow in the biomedical sciences, got an email soliciting applications for the Pew Innovation Fund, he sprang into action.