UC San Diego's School of Biological Sciences Newsletter
Before receiving the Nobel Prize in Stockholm, biochemistry and cell biology graduate Ramsdell discussed his time at UC San Diego, his Nobel Prize-winning research in immunology and the consequences of federal funding threats to American science. Related: watch this video of University of California President James B. Milliken discussing UC's faculty and alumni winning five new Nobel Prizes and the central role of federal funding in advancing world-changing scientific inquiry.
In an effort to create a bridge between scientific discovery and biomedical impact, UC San Diego's School of Biological Sciences, in partnership with the School of Medicine and the Office of Innovation and Commercialization, hosted a forum that brought together life sciences CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors, faculty, postdoctoral scholars and students.
The Revelle Medal is the highest honor awarded by the university to recognize current or former faculty members for sustained, distinguished and extraordinary service to the campus. In this video, campus leaders discuss 2025 Revelle Medalist Nicholas C. Spitzer, a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Neurobiology, and his career accomplishments as a scientist, educator and colleague.
BioSci alumna and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins (center), a member of the Dean's Leadership Council, was recently elected to the National Academy of Medicine. In the fall she visited UC San Diego and met with School of Biological Sciences Dean Kit Pogliano (right) and Executive Director of Development Julie Paolillo.
Researchers have captured unprecedented images of the mechanisms that allow mosquitoes, the world’s deadliest animal, to target our blood. The scientists used advanced imaging technology to assemble detailed visualizations of the neurons within hairs that mosquitoes use to detect us as blood hosts.
Professor Emeritus Chrstopher Wills describes each of Earth’s ecosystems as a teeming evolutionary cauldron. He believes that understanding and preserving their complex richness are the keys to our survival. His book describing ecosystem insights from across the globe, “Why Ecosystems Matter, Preserving the Key to Our Survival," has been honored with the Marsh Book of the Year Award from the British Ecological Society. Photo credit: Professor Carolyn Kurle.
TResearchers are redefining the nutritional value of prey. Studying the dynamics of sea lion predators and their prey, the researchers found that not all prey are the same — even those of similar size and weight of the same species — offering new perspectives for understanding ocean food resources.
UC San Diego has announced that Amir Zarrinpar, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed as the inaugural holder of the Stuart and Barbara L. Brody Endowed Chair in Circadian Biology and Medicine. The newly created chair, established with a gift from Irwin and Joan Jacobs, honors the legacy of Stuart Brody, an internationally recognized UC San Diego expert in circadian biology and his wife Barbara, a leading public health and community medicine researcher.
The School of Biological Sciences has made an annual tradition of celebrating outstanding graduate student research. The 2025-2026 Biological Sciences Founding Faculty Awards were presented to Emily Armbruster and Pierce Ford.
Join Developmental Biologist Azim Surani for "Germline epigenetic imprints regulate mammalian development" on Wednesday, March 11, 2026 from 10 am - 11:30 am at UC San Diego's Qualicomm Institute Auditorium. Registration and full Kyoto Prize Symposium details: https://calendar.ucsd.edu/event/basic-sciences .
UC San Diego BioSci In The News...
