Health

You could almost say Edwin Shen was destined to become a bioengineer. His mother, a medical doctor, practices pathology in Northern California, and his father retired from a career as a mechanical engineer for medical device companies.

“I guess what I do is right in the middle of my parents’ occupations,” he said. “Bioengineering was something my dad recommended I try. I thought research might be something that aligned well with my personality. It turned out to be a perfect fit.”

Physiology Professor Rudy M.Ortiz has been named a Fellow in this year's cohort of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities’ Leadership Academy (La Academia de Liderazgo).

The program is designed to increase diverse representation in executive and senior-level positions in higher education.

UC Merced public health Professor Maria-Elena De Trinidad Young has been awarded an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The $3 million grant will fund Young's ambitious, five-year research project to understand how immigration policy influences health care access and the well-being of Latinos in rural California and Arizona counties, including Merced, Tulare, Imperial, Monterey and Napa.

About 20 UC Merced students spent the past two weeks working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to see if they can solve a problem that could have a significant impact on cardiology.

The annual Data Science Challenge (DSC), a two-week, full-time internship at LLNL, this year teamed students from Merced and UC Riverside. They attempted to see if machine learning could address a gap in the information provided by the common electrocardiogram (ECG) test.

For Joslyn Conchas, becoming a physician wasn’t always the plan.

“I wanted to be a veterinarian, but that was before I saw firsthand how impactful health disparities are within my community,” she said.

Her grandfather was ill and she witnessed his struggles with the healthcare system while he was in and out of the hospital.

UC Merced is highlighting incoming students for fall 2023 — a dynamic, diverse and accomplished cohort of new Bobcats.

It's the change of pace that Kayla Lopez has been craving. In August, she will leave the busy streets of Southern California and head north to begin her first semester at UC Merced. Lopez is already daydreaming about the scenery around campus where she said she can "take a deep breath of fresh air."

New students or those who have not yet chosen their majors will have an array of options before them.

Five new majors and several new emphases, ranging across all three schools, are all coming online in 2024 and are recruiting students now.

New bachelor’s of science degrees:

• chemical engineering
• data science and computing
• public health

New bachelor’s of arts degrees:

• data science and analytics
• environmental humanities

New emphases:

In the mechanical engineering major:

Chemistry Professor Aurora Pribram-Jones is looking for undergrads to help her get the lead out — out of drinking-water pipes.

A teacher who has touched the stars and a professor who was the first star in the UC Merced doctoral firmament will serve as keynote speakers at the university’s spring Commencement ceremonies May 12-14.

Professor Roberto Andresen Eguiluz has received a CAREER award for his research into the underlying cause of arthritis.

He is the 33rd researcher from UC Merced to earn a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).