The Rose Hills Innovator Program supports distinguished early-career faculty at UC Berkeley interested in developing highly innovative research programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. The program provides seed support for projects with an exceptionally high scientific promise that may generate significant follow-on funding. Congratulations to Professor Liana Lareau, named a 2021 Rose Hills Innovator.
faculty
Streets wins 2021 Shu Chien Early Career Award
Congratulations to Prof Aaron Streets, winner of the second annual Shu Chien Early Career lecturer competition at the UC Systemwide Bioengineering symposium.
What We Learned Doing Fast Grants
Professor Patrick Hsu and collaborators have published a 1 year retrospective describing what they learned from starting a Fast Grants process for rapid COVID research funding, and the need for more models and experimentation in science funding. The article was published in Future.
Bakar BioEnginuity Hub: Berkeley’s bold new home for innovation, entrepreneurship
Professor Amy Herr is the Executive Director of the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub (BBH), a new campus initiative that aims to launch world-changing startups to solve pressing technical problems. BBH and it’s associated Bakar Labs incubator will open this fall in a renovated Woo Hon Fai Hall, a space where campus scholars and startup founders will work at the convergence of life and physical sciences — including engineering and data sciences — to transform academic research into viable companies that improve the world.
Conboy lab continues to make strides against aging
Professor Irina Conboy’s lab is a world leader in research to slow and reverse the effects of physical aging. Recently, Conboy was interviewed in a LongevityTechnology story, “Can CRISPR be used to diagnose aging?” And her work on the controversial issue of using young blood to rejuvenate was featured in the article “Young blood to […]
Clark lab’s technique IDs new therapeutic targets for inflammatory autoimmunity
Cell interactions contribute to central nervous system pathology, but techniques to define these interactions are limited. In a publication in Science, Professor Iain Clark’s lab describes a new method that determines the molecular phenotypes and connections between cells in vivo. This technique allows them to identify new therapeutic targets that disrupt inflammatory crosstalk in experimental autoimmunity, and potentially, in neurologic disorders like Multiple Sclerosis.
Herr appointed to Schmidt Science Fellows Academic Council
Professor Amy Herr has been appointed to the Schmidt Science Fellows Program Academic Council. The Fellows program fuels interdisciplinary discoveries by providing cross-disciplinary training to promising postdoctoral scholars. As a Council member, Herr will be responsible for mentoring groups of Fellows on career and personal development topics and providing advice to the whole Fellowship community in her specific area of expertise.
How Covid has changed the future of health tests
The San Francisco Business Times examines crucial work by Dan Fletcher, Melanie Ott and Jennifer Doudna to create an efficient, smartphone-based CRISPR-cellscope hybrid COVID-19 test.
Arkin lab harnesses incredible bacterial ‘Homing Missiles’
Adam Arkin’s lab is leading research to harness tailocins – protein machines made by bacteria that are able to target and attack very specific strains of bacteria. They hope to understand and use these natural spring-powered microneedles to study the microbiome, and eventually to attack and treat harmful infections.