Category: UC San Diego

  • Honoring Sally: Tam O’Shaughnessy Aboard the R/V Sally Ride

    Want a break from the onslaught of bad news? A chance to feel good about the world? Then spend 20 minutes with Tam O’Shaughnessy, the life partner of the late astronaut Sally Ride, as she describes a remarkable friendship that began long before Sally’s historic flights on the Space Shuttle Challenger and later blossomed into […]

  • Studying the Brain in Real Time

    “Basic mechanisms in the brain have universal applications and are the road to medical discovery,” says Ralph Greenspan, PhD. He has spent his career studying how genes affect the brain and behavior of the fruit fly. This research has lead to a deeper understanding of mechanisms in the human brain. Hear about his current efforts […]

  • Osteoporosis Update 2017

    How do you know if you may have Osteoporosis? Should you take calcium or vitamin D supplements? What are the best exercises to keep your bones strong? Find out in this new Stein Institute for Research on Aging program that presents the latest information on osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a skeletal disorder that decreases bone density […]

  • La Jolla Symphony & Chorus: The Lovers

    When Dr. David Chase assumed leadership of the La Jolla Symphony Chorus in 1973, it consisted of 60 members. Over the succeeding years, Dr. Chase grew the chorus to 130 voices while expanding the group’s repertoire to include contemporary works as well as proven classics. To mark his retirement after 44 years as Choral Director […]

  • Aicardi-Goutieres: A Rare Disorder, A Unique Look into the Brain

    Using brains-in-a-dish (cortical organoids), the Muotri Lab at UC San Diego has developed a new treatment for Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome. This study not only identified the underlying mechanisms that drive AGS but has also led to surprising revelations about neuroinflammation. Learn how they repurposed HIV antiretroviral drugs to rescue mutated cells and what this research means […]

  • Confronting Climate Change

    Rosina Bierbaum, formerly of President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and an Adaptation Fellow at the World Bank, shows how climate change will affect all regions and sectors of the economy, and disproportionately affect the poorest people on the planet. Therefore, improving the resilience, adaptation, and preparedness of communities must be […]

  • Extraordinary Variations of the Human Mind

    Experts who have addressed cases of extraordinary human cognitive abilities, from memory to music to language, explore what understanding cognitive anomalies can tell us about the development and evolution of uniquely human mental characteristics. Enjoy these fascinating explorations with the series Extraordinary Variations of the Human Mind: Lessons for Anthropogeny. This series is co-sponsored by […]

  • Neurotransmitter Switching

    If a neuron has sustained activity over a long period of time (visual stimulus, stress, etc.) it can change the type of neurotransmitter that it makes. This gives our neurons many languages to communicate with and makes our brain more adaptable. Nick Spitzer explains this neurotransmitter switching and how that process impacts our physical abilities, […]

  • The Dalai Lama at UC San Diego

    It seems fitting that His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama should deliver both a public talk and the Commencement keynote address at UC San Diego. His Holiness claims a special affinity for educators and for young people, whom he characterizes as the ones who shape the future; in his view each generation has the opportunity […]

  • Who Gets In?

    As the number of refugees escaping violence around the world continues to rise, Americans are once again confronted with the moral question of who is welcomed into the country and who is turned away. Author and journalist Eric Lichtblau recounts a similar situation after World War II. Jewish survivors of the Nazi concentration camps were […]