UCLA Medical School

Legacy Written in Medical Firsts.

At the David Geffen School of Medicine and UCLA Health, research is the engine that drives progress. Our legacy is built on discovery, from identifying the first case of AIDS to pioneering targeted cancer therapies that have redefined treatment. Breakthroughs like these don’t happen by chance; they happen because we invest in science, ask the hard questions, and never stop searching for answers. Through research, we’re not only shaping the future of medicine, we’re changing lives here and around the world.

1st Ever

Human bladder transplant, recently performed at UCLA

A historic surgery, the result of years of research, opens the door for improved treatments.

300K+

Patients included in a genomic biobank

Genomic data is essential to innovations in human health.

Nearly 3M

Women saved by Herceptin since it's UCLA-led debut

UCLA Health's cancer researchers are at the forefront - and have been for over two decades.

First human bladder transplant, performed at UCLA Health

A UCLA Health team has performed the first human bladder transplant

UCLA Health Urology has long been at the frontier of urologic transplantation, with pioneering research in kidney transplantation and now, bladder transplantation.

Learn about this breakthrough

Crowdsourcing the brain

One in three Americans is likely to be affected by a brain disorder in their lifetime. Many of these conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease or severe developmental disorders, have no reliable treatment. Meta-atlases, a type of computational dataset, reveals new clues about development and disease.

Read about the UCLA study

UCLA Health builds on development of breakthroughs

Targeted therapies are revolutionizing the fight against breast cancer, leading to significant improvements in patient survival and quality of life. UCLA Health’s cancer researchers are at the forefront, largely by building on the success of their previous innovations.

Learn about Herceptin's history

Four medical school students working through a live simulation problem together

Programs

Our medical students, trainees, and postdoctoral scholars care for local communities, make discoveries in the lab, and form lifelong bonds.

Find your program

What's the pesticides and Parkinson’s link?

Dr. Beate Ritz’s research in California’s Central Valley highlights the role of the environment in the neurodegenerative disorder.

UCLA Health's shared genomics model

Genomic data is essential to innovations in human health. The Technology Center for Genetics and Bioinformatics provides the tools to help advance biological research.

New AI model reaches clinical-expert level

UCLA researchers have developed a deep-learning framework that teaches itself quickly to analyze complex imaging and accurately diagnose.

Common antidepressants could help the immune system fight cancer

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, significantly enhanced the ability of T cells to fight cancer and suppressed tumor growth across a range of cancer types in tumor models, the study, published in Cell, found.

See how the Yang Lab investigated

It turns out SSRIs don’t just make our brains happier; they also make our T cells happier — even while they’re fighting tumors. These drugs have been widely and safely used to treat depression for decades, so repurposing them for cancer would be a lot easier than developing an entirely new therapy.
Lili Yang, PhD, Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics (MIMG)

A researcher waiting for participants to join a study on high altitude sickness

Heart ‘tunnel’ linked to stroke and migraines

That tunnel is a patent foramen ovale (PFO), a passageway between the upper chambers of the heart. PFO is the most frequent congenital cardiac lesion, affecting up to 25% of the population, but most people won’t know they have one unless or until it’s implicated in a health condition.

Read about research at 12,000 feet

UCLA hosts rare disease registry

UCLA hosts the only Familial Mediterranean Fever program in the Western Hemisphere and maintains a registry/biobank of 700+ patients—the largest such cohort in North America.

AI-powered tool helps detect rare diseases

By definition, a rare disease affects fewer than 200,000 people. But more than 10,000 known rare diseases cumulatively affect 1 in 10 Americans.

Heart research in Precision Health

1,400+ published research studies and clinical trials in heart failure, disease management, preventative cardiology, and outcomes research.

Headlines

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UCLA alumnus Fred Ramsdell wins 2025 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine

October 06, 2025

2 min read

Read the full article

DGSOM medical student Jose Segura-Bermudez posing with friends and family

The Aspiring Surgeon Taking a Stand for Latino Communities

UCLA medical student Jose Segura-Bermudez is becoming a doctor who provides compassionate, culturally competent care to Latino patients.

September 05, 2025

3 min read

Individuals on mats completing yoga poses

How physical activity may fight Parkinson’s disease symptoms

A UCLA study finds that physical activity may fight Parkinson’s disease symptoms

September 03, 2025

3 min read

Magnified view of a kidney cancer metastasis nodule (green) within mouse lung tissue (light purple).

UCLA scientists develop off-the-shelf immunotherapy for metastatic kidney cancer

An off-the-shelf immunotherapy for metastatic kidney cancer uses specially engineered immune cells to attack cancer tumors.

August 29, 2025

3 min read

Physicians in scrubs performing a surgical procedure

Overweight older adults face lower risk of death after major surgery, new research finds

A new UCLA study points to surprising outcomes in elective surgery on older adults who are overweight.

August 26, 2025

2 min read

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