Erkki Ruoslahti, professor at UC Santa Barbara's Burnham Institute for Medical Research, is the recipient of a $2.8 million award from the Department of Defense for research into detection and therapies for breast cancer using nanotechnology.

Carol W. Greider, a 1983 graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Greider shares the Nobel with Elizabeth H. Blackburn and Jack W. Szostak. The three were honored for the discovery of "how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase."

The AlloSphere

The AlloSphere is a unique, one-of-a-kind research instrument that can be described as a large, dynamically varying digital microscope connected to a super computer to examine N-dimensional data sets and mathematical equations.

Photo by Paul Wellman

The Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) receives a a $272,162 grant from the National Science Foundation  for a new compact storage system to replace the herbarium's World War II-era cabinets.

Michael T. Bowers, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UC Santa Barbara, has been named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in its inaugural class of 162 Fellows.

New research by scientists at UC Santa Barbara indicates a possible Antarctic location for ice that seemed to be missing at a key point in climate history 34 million years ago.

Bruce Luyendyk and Douglas Wilson
credit: George Foulsham, Office of Public Affairs, UCSB

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have discovered a potential new drug delivery system. The finding is a biological mechanism for delivery of nanoparticles into tissue. The results are published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the senior author is Erkki Ruoslahti, of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research at UCSB.

Levine and his co-author Janneke HilleRisLambers, a former postdoctoral fellow at UCSB, who is now an assistant professor at the University of Washington, did field testing of small plants. These plants were found in northern Santa Barbara County on rocky outcrops, where diversity is very high. They used a combination of mathematical techniques, as well as experimental approaches, to remove niche differences from these experimental communities.

A study by the NRDC and Robert Wilkinson, Director of the Water Policy Program at the Bren School and lecturer in the Environmental Studies Program, on increasing water supplies in Southern California using rain-capturing techniques.

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have isolated a unique protein that appears to have a dual function and could lead to a "boon in medicine." The findings are published in the August issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.

Vallée-Bélisle holds an electronic cocaine biosensor, which uses an artificial DNA biomolecular switch that mimics the natural switches found in cells. The theory developed by the authors explains how these switches work, which may significantly help efforts to build biological-based sensors for the detection of chemicals ranging from drugs to explosives to disease markers.
Credit: George Foulsham, Office of Public Affairs, UCSB

 

Scientists have joined forces in a groundbreaking assessment on the status of marine fisheries and ecosystems. The two-year study, based at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and led by Boris Worm of Dalhousie University and Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington, included an international team of 19 co-authors. It shows that steps taken to curb overfishing are beginning to succeed in five of the 10 large marine ecosystems that they examined. The paper, which appears in the July 31 issue of the journal Science, provides new hope for rebuilding troubled fisheries.

Incandela, wrapping up his third year as deputy physics coordinator for the LHC's Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, has been appointed as one of two deputy spokespersons for the CMS project. Incandela was nominated and unanimously chosen for this position by his international peers. Incandela is a professor of physics at UCSB.

Steven Gaines, professor of ecology, evolution and marine biology at UC Santa Barbara, has received the inaugural Marc J. Hershman Excellence in Mentoring Award from the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative. Gaines is also director of UCSB's Marine Science Institute.

Bradley Cardinale, an assistant professor of ecology, evolution, and marine biology, has received the 2009-10 Harold J. Plous Award. One of the university's most prestigious faculty honors.