UCLA has received a $2 million commitment from the W. M. Keck Foundation to establish the UCLA W. M. Keck Foundation COVID-19 Research Fund.

The fund will support basic science research aimed at understanding the SARS-CoV2 virus and the mechanisms by which it causes disease, as well as why some people are more susceptible to life-threatening disease than others; and developing new methods to detect infection and new therapies to treat COVID-19 infection.

Researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and colleagues have found that adding a drug once commonly used to treat schizophrenia to traditional radiation therapy helped improve overall survival in mice with glioblastoma, one of the deadliest and most difficult-to-treat brain tumors.

Physicians and patients’ family members sometimes clash when a patient is so ill that further treatment simply won’t help. Known as “futile treatment” or “potentially inappropriate treatment,” aggressive medical interventions that are highly unlikely to benefit patients sometimes proceed because families are unwilling to accept the recommendation of doctors.

A study by researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has identified a possible new drug that could help prevent cognitive decline in people who undergo radiation therapy for brain tumors. The researchers found when the drug was given to mice 24 hours after the animals were exposed to a dose of radiation, it completely prevented cognitive decline from occurring, and that it did not reduce the efficacy of the radiation treatment.

Breathing propels everything we do, so its rhythm must be carefully organized by our brain cells, right?

Wrong.

Every breath we take arises from a disorderly group of neurons — each one like a soloist belting out its song before it unites with other neurons to harmonize on a fresh breath.

That’s the gist of a UCLA study published March 3 in the online edition of Neuron.

A $1 million gift from the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation will enable UCLA to establish an eponymous endowed chair in the neurology department at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

The new position will be held by a faculty member pursuing new insights into Alzheimer’s disease, with the goal of improving treatment for the degenerative brain disorder. Alzheimer’s affects about 5.8 million Americans.

UCLA researchers have found that it is possible to assess a person’s ability to feel empathy by studying their brain activity while they are resting rather than while they are engaged in specific tasks.  

From face-lifts to facials and fillers, there’s no shortage of ways to reduce the inevitable signs of aging. But there’s one cosmetic procedure that most people don’t think about as a tool that can make women look years younger.

Rhinoplasty, or cosmetic nose surgery, may make a woman look up to three years younger, according to a new study led by researchers at UCLA that used a type of artificial intelligence known as machine learning.

Dr. William “Billy” Cunningham, professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and health policy and management at the Fielding School of Public Health, died Jan. 2 in Los Angeles at the age of 60.

A UCLA faculty member for 27 years, Cunningham was known for his rigorous approach to research and his passion for knowledge. He was focused on addressing racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities and implementing solutions, including efforts to recruit and mentor underrepresented minority trainees to UCLA’s educational programs.

In a UCLA-led study, children and adolescents with a high risk for developing bipolar disorder stayed healthier for longer periods when their family members participated in their psychotherapy sessions.

David Geffen’s latest gift to UCLA will enable 120 more UCLA medical students to benefit from the medical scholarship fund he established.

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High school senior Genesis Morales thought she knew what she wanted to do with her future, but after completing a special Turner-UCLA Allied Health internship this summer her plans changed direction.

“Previously, I was interested in working in substance abuse because I know people who have dealt with that and it’s a really difficult subject,” said Morales. “But then I came here to do the internship and I realized that I’m more interested in working with children.”

Graduating David Geffen Medical Scholarship recipients Caroline Gross and MacLean Sellars (center), flanked by fellow recipients William Sheppard Jr. and Orly Bell.

After earning a master’s degree in education and working as a public-school teacher in New York, Mariel Bailey decided to pursue a medical degree.

An upset stomach can’t be ignored – go ahead, try it – but that doesn’t mean you should panic either, as those of us who have spent too much time Googling our various aches and pains are wont to do.

"If it lasts for a day or two, it's usually nothing to worry about," said Dr. Eric Esrailian, co-chief of the UCLA Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, in a recent interview with Prevention.com.

When the American College of Physicians issued new guidelines for treating lower back pain last month it represented a big shift: instead of recommending prescription medications as the first line of treatment, as it had for years, the new recommendations favored non-invasive treatments such as exercise and heat therapy.

Challenging more than a century of medical tradition, a UCLA doctor is exploring whether antibiotics can be an effective alternative to surgery for treating appendicitis.

Dr. David Talan, an emergency medicine and infectious diseases specialist at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, is study director of a 1,500-patient, $12-million national clinic trial. It’s the largest randomized clinical trial comparing antibiotics to surgery for treating inflammation of the appendix.

While boxes of decadent chocolates treats, celebratory champagne and romantic high-calorie dinners may dance in your mind as a way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, your heart may be pining for something else. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, it is a great time to look at the state of your heart.

To honor the efforts of biomedical scientists, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is awarding its first annual Switzer Prize this spring. The Switzer Prize recognizes the contributions of an individual biomedical investigator whose basic research has led to breakthroughs in patient care.

It has been a difficult year for the Los Angeles community and the nation as a whole as gun violence continues to disproportionately affect the African American community. To help the community heal and bring about change, the dean’s office at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is hosting a series of open dialogue forums.