Feeling Blue? You’ll Shun the New
A sick or sad child might cling to mom’s leg. But that same child – fed, rested and generally content – will happily toddle off to explore every nook and cranny of the known world. Or: You’re chipper and you decide to check out the new restaurant across town. You’re blue and you turn to comfort foods. If you’ve seen or experienced these scenarios, you may not be surprised about the latest finding from an international team of social and cognitive psychologists: A negative mood, it turns out, imparts a warm glow to the familiar. Happiness, on the other hand, makes novelty attractive. More

UC San Diego Researchers Participating
in ‘Olympics of Science Conferences’
The future of stem cell research, how poor sleep influences drug use in adolescent social networks, understanding genome instability in cancer cells, and how computer science is being used to solve the nation’s most pressing health and environmental “grand challenges” are just a few of the topics that more than 20 UC San Diego researchers will discuss Feb. 18-22 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) at the San Diego Convention Center. More

Rady School Launches “Fellowships for the Future” Initiative with $2.5 Million Challenge Gift from Pauline Foster
The Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego today announced a $2.5 million charitable gift from local philanthropist and business owner Pauline Foster to endow MBA student fellowships. The gift to provide fellowships (graduate level scholarships) to MBA students is part of “Invent the Future: The UC San Diego Student Support Campaign.” More

Economic Empowerment Theme of Black History Month at UC San Diego
The need for economic development has been a central element to African-American empowerment and livelihood. After centuries of unrequited toil and despite gaining freedom, African-Americans were still plagued by a discriminatory society and the ills of poverty. In this regard, the University of California, San Diego is recognizing Black History Month with several events that reflect this year’s theme, Recognizing the Future of Black Economic Empowerment. More

Better Computing, Communication for
Emergency Personnel at Disaster Sites
Hurricane Katrina. The Southeast Asian tsunami. Now the killer earthquake in Haiti, which has claimed upwards of 50,000 lives. In each case, the response to a natural disaster has been further complicated by the difficulty delivering medical care in a chaotic environment where the communications infrastructure on the ground is seriously damaged or completely destroyed. More

Renowned Oceanographer Walter Munk to Receive Crafoord Prize
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego scientist Walter Munk, often referred to as the world’s “greatest living oceanographer,” added to a long list of career honors today when the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced his receipt of the Crafoord Prize, which is given each spring to researchers who have made major advancements in their branches of science. More

Link Between Obesity and Enhanced Cancer Risk Elucidated
Epidemiological studies indicate that being overweight or obese is associated with increased cancer risk. The most dramatic effect of obesity on cancer risk has been noted for a common form of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma or HCC. Modeling the effect of obesity in mice, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have conclusively demonstrated that obesity is tumor-promoting and have obtained evidence that this effect depends on induction of low-grade, chronic inflammation. More

UC San Diego Offers New Master's Degree
in International Affairs for Professionals
UC San Diego’s School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) is launching a one-year executive master’s degree program beginning fall 2010, and is now accepting applications for the new Master of Advanced Studies in International Affairs. More

UC San Diego Researchers Synchronize Blinking “Genetic Clocks”
Researchers at UC San Diego who last year genetically engineered bacteria to keep track of time by turning on and off fluorescent proteins within their cells have taken another step toward the construction of a programmable genetic sensor. The scientists recently synchronized these bacterial “genetic clocks” to blink in unison and engineered the bacterial genes to alter their blinking rates when environmental conditions change. More

Scientists Show How Brain Tumors Outsmart Drugs
Researchers at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores UCSD Cancer Center have shown one way in which gliomas, a deadly type of brain tumor, can evade drugs aimed at blocking a key cell signaling protein, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR),that is crucial for tumor growth. In a related finding, they also proved that a particular EGFR mutation is important not only to initiate the tumor, but for its continued growth or “maintenance” as well. More

Med. Students Say Western Medicine / Teaching Needs to
Integrate More with Complementary and Alternative Medicine
In the largest national survey of its kind, researchers from UCLA and UC San Diego measured medical students’ attitudes and beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine. The findings will be published in the online issue of Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (eCAM) on January 20, 2010. More

Researchers Find New Insights into Inherited Retinal Disease
An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered new links between a common form of inherited blindness affecting children and a gene known as Abelson helper integration site-1 (AHI1). Their findings, which may lead to new therapies and improved diagnostics for retinal disease, will appear online in advance of publication in the journal Nature Genetics on January 17. More

UC San Diego Receives Record Number of
Freshman and Transfer Applications
The University of California, San Diego has received 48,073 freshman applications for Fall 2010, up 1,101 applicants, or 2.3 percent, from the previous year. The 14,286 transfer student applications continued to show an increase to 3,102 students or 27.7 percent from 2009, reflecting a record number of applications from both transfer and freshman. More

2010 Construction Projects at UC San Diego Total $568 Million
More than 300 construction workers on Wednesday afternoon will celebrate with UC San Diego faculty, staff and students the “topping off” of the $67 million Health Services Graduate Student Housing complex. The project, consisting of 225 two-bedroom apartment units is scheduled to be completed in September 2010. The uniquely designed nine-story apartment development is one of six major projects under construction at UC San Diego this year, all of which are changing the skyline of the campus at a combined total cost of $568 million. More