Jacobs School Bioengineering News: Top Stories

Systems Biology Approach Provides Insulin Resistance Insights

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego recently offered the sharpest-yet picture of how core biochemical pathways in skeletal muscle cells and fat cells are altered in people who suffer from insulin resistance—a primary defect in type 2 diabetes and obesity. Taking a systems biology approach, the bioengineers and medical researchers also determined how a common class of drugs for treating insulin resistance—TZDs—alter these same core pathways. This led the team to uncover previously unknown effects of TZDs and insights that could lead to improved drug therapies for insulin resistance.

Jacobs School Ranked 9th in the World

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PDT

The University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering is the 9th best in the world for engineering/technology and 15th in the world for computer sciences, according to an academic ranking of the top 100 world universities published by the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

UCSD Researchers Pave Way for Effective Liver Treatments

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

A combination of bioengineering and medical research at the University of California, San Diego has led to a new discovery that could pave the way for more effective treatments for liver disease.

Bioengineer Lands NIH Grant for Stem Cell Work

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 PDT

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced $348 million in awards nationwide to encourage investigators to explore bold ideas that have the potential to catapult fields forward and speed the translation of research into improved health. Bioengineering Assistant Professor Adam Engler is one of five researchers from the University of California, San Diego to have been awarded such a grant in 2009.

Building a Complete Metabolic Model

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham), University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) and other institutions have constructed a complete model, including three dimensional protein structures, of the central metabolic network of the bacterium Thermotoga maritima (T. maritima).

Siebel Foundation Awards Top Bioengineering Students

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 PDT

As breakthrough discoveries in bioengineering become more crucial to fundamental global issues, including health, food production and water supplies, UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering’s top ranked bioengineering department continues to be on the cutting edge of this field. The Siebel Foundation has recognized the Jacob School’s pioneering efforts with a $2 million endowment to fund scholarships for some of its top bioengineering graduate students.

NanoTumor Center Video Wins Telly Award for Edu Video

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

The University of California, San Diego NanoTumor Center and NanoTecNexus (NTN) (formerly NanoBioNexus)—a leading nanotech education organization—won the 2009 Bronze Telly Award for the production of a video on approaches to fighting cancer using nanotechnology. The three minute video, entitled “Fighting Cancer with Nanotechnology,” is embedded below and can be viewed at NanoTecNexus, YouTube and around the Web.

New Drugs Faster from Natural Compounds

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Researchers have invented computational tools to decode and rapidly determine whether natural compounds collected in oceans and forests are new—or if these pharmaceutically promising compounds have already been described and are therefore not patentable. This University of California, San Diego advance will finally enable scientists to rapidly characterize ring-shaped nonribosomal peptides (NRPs)—a class of natural compounds of intense interest due to their potential to yield or inspire new pharmaceuticals. The study will be published in the July 13 online issue of journal Nature Methods.

Engineering Undergrads Do International Research

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Twenty four Jacobs School undergraduates are among the 33 University of California, San Diego undergraduates working as researchers in laboratories across the Pacific Rim and India this summer.

Grad Students Finalists in $250K Business Plan Comp

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT

University of California, San Diego bioengineering graduate students led by Raj Krishnan are among just 16 finalist teams from across the globe who will compete on June 30, 2009 for $250,000 in a global business plan competition.