Human & Animal Health

Over 14 million Americans live with a mental illness, and over 8 million of them rely on prescription medication to treat their condition. While many evidence-based treatments are effective, many patients do not benefit enough and there remain patients who suffer from treatment-resistant conditions. These unmet challenges have driven interest in novel therapeutic approaches: one such emerging area of research interest being psychedelic-assisted therapy. 

How does your brain know where your hand is without looking, or adjusts when you pick up an object that’s heavier than expected? These everyday feats rely on the remarkable process known as sensorimotor integration.

Every day, seventeen people in the United States die waiting for an organ transplant while more than 100,000 patients are currently on national waiting lists, and kidneys being the most critically short supply. The demand for donor organs has vastly outpaced supply for decades, and no amount of public awareness campaigns has been capable of closing this gap. However, a very different solution is emerging from research labs. This technology instead involves pigs, molecular scissors, and reimagining where transplantable organs come from.

Nanotechnology is rapidly transforming the field of biotechnology by changing how scientists diagnose, treat, and understand diseases. At its core, nanotechnology involves manipulating materials at the nanoscale (usually between 1-100 nanometers). At that level, matter behaves a lot differently than at larger scales. The ability to work at such a small level allows breakthroughs that used to be impossible. For students and innovators interested in medicine, this topic represents the future of healthcare and scientific research.

Typically, psychology often feels like a deeply human science as it is mainly concerned with our thoughts and behaviors. But some of the most powerful insights in the human mind have often come from looking beyond our species. Comparative and translational psychology bridge this gap, using animal research to illuminate universal principles of behavior, and apply them to human health. At UC Davis, the Bliss-Moreau Lab is an extremely strong example of this integrative approach in psychology.

In August 2024, baby KJ was born in Philadelphia with a rare and life-threatening genetic condition: CPS1 deficiency. A mutation in his DNA meant he lacked a liver enzyme (CPS1) that breaks down ammonia–a waste product of protein metabolism. Patients with CPS1 deficiency need liver transplants, and to do so they need to be medically stable and old enough to handle a transplant procedure. In the meantime, there runs a risk of ammonia levels building up in the body and damaging organs, particularly the brain and liver.

Antibiotics are one of the most important discoveries in modern medicine. Since their introduction in the early twentieth century, doctors have used them to treat infections that used to be deadly, as well as making many modern medical procedures possible. However, the effectiveness of antibiotics is slowly decreasing due to antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria evolve mechanisms that allow them to survive exposure to drugs.

The advancement of organoid technology has revolutionized biomedical research by creating realistic 3D models that replicate the function and structure of tissues, providing a bridge between cell cultures and in vivo models. Organoids, often called mini-organs, are cells grown in vitro to form mini-clusters that eventually differentiate into functional tissue structures. This technology involves growing three-dimensional tissue structures in controlled laboratory conditions, which has extensive benefits in translational applications, especially in regenerative medicine.

Proteins are vital to all processes in life. They are a chain of smaller units: amino acids. The sequence of these amino acids is encoded in DNA, but a protein’s function is heavily dependent on its 3D structure. This amino acid chain is able to fold upon itself with many complex twists, turns and tangles. Even small changes to this structure can dramatically alter its behaviour. In fact, many human diseases are caused by detrimental changes to protein folding. 

Have you ever wondered how the human body heals itself, or what exact mechanisms occur in the body to trigger this regeneration after injury? For centuries, humans have relied on countless treatments that target symptoms rather than the root cause of disease, but what if we could activate the body’s own healing powers to actually repair or regrow damaged tissues? That goal is at the heart of a rapidly growing field known as regenerative medicine, a field that seeks not just to manage illnesses, but ultimately restore normal function.