UC San Diego (Audio)

Advances in precision medicine and patient advocacy are transforming the way cancer is understood and treated. Nikoo McGoldrick shares her personal journey with metastatic breast cancer, emphasizing the importance of patients having a voice in their care. Sheldon Morris, M.D., M.P.H., explains how regenerative medicine progresses through stem cell therapies, gene therapies, CAR-T cell treatments,...

Healthy aging starts with physical resilience, the body’s ability to withstand and recover from stress. Maile Young Karris, M.D., defines the concept and sets the stage for practical strategies that match real-world needs. Ryan J. Moran, M.D., M.P.H., recommends simple routines such as wall push ups, posture alignment, and chin tucks, and he links posture and vision to fall prevention; social conn...

Heather E. Whitson, MD, MHS explores how resilience—the ability to recover and adapt after stress or illness—changes across the lifespan. She explains that bounce back slows with age and that people age at different rates, influenced by biology, lifestyle, and environment. Studies connect lower inflammation, stronger cellular health, and emotional well-being to better recovery, such as regaining m...

Scott A. Armstrong, M.D., Ph. D., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, studies how certain aggressive forms of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) develop and survive. His work centers on a protein called menin, which helps leukemia cells keep cancer-promoting genes switched on. Armstrong’s team has found that blocking menin with specially designed drugs can shut down these gene programs, push leukemia c...

Danielle K. Glorioso, LCSW, explores the complex nature of grief, emphasizing that it is a lifelong, evolving response to loss rather than something to “get over.” She explains the differences between acute grief, integrated grief, and prolonged grief disorder, highlighting how factors like attachment, personal history, and circumstances of death can influence the grieving process. Glorioso outlin...

How do you find hope in a deeply fractured and polarized world? In this timely and powerful conversation, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Nicholas Kristof pulls from decades of reporting from global conflict zones and overlooked American communities to bring a deeply human perspective to today’s most urgent moral and civic challenges. In an era marked by division and misinformation, this program...

Stanley Chodorow, Emeritus Professor of History at UC San Diego, traces the evolution of food preservation, preparation, and production from ancient times to the modern era. He explores early methods such as drying, salting, and ice cellars, advances like iceboxes, refrigeration, and flash freezing, and innovations in cooking technology from open fires to gas and electric stoves. Chodorow examines...

Sean Morrison, Ph. D., from the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern, investigates how stem cells function, regenerate, and interact with their surrounding environment in the bone marrow. His research reveals how leptin receptor-positive cells—key components of the bone marrow niche—regulate hematopoietic stem cell maintenance and regeneration, influence platelet product...

Deepak Srivastava, MD, explores how cellular reprogramming offers new hope for treating heart disease. He highlights innovative strategies to regenerate damaged heart tissue by stimulating adult cardiomyocytes to divide and converting fibroblasts into heart-like cells. His team develops a nonviral delivery system using lipid nanoparticles and investigates the role of specific gene regulators in re...

Kimberly Peters, a stage four uterine cancer patient at UC San Diego Health, urges government leaders not to cut science funding. She warns that reduced federal support risks delaying vital research and life-saving cures. [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 41071]

Asteroids, often called “fossils of the solar system,” are remnants from its formation that offer clues about planetary origins and the potential beginnings of life. Dr. Neil Farber, Solar System Ambassador for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, explains that some, known as near-Earth objects, pose impact risks—though large, dangerous collisions are rare—and NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor missio...

Hear about cutting-edge advances in regenerative medicine, from lab breakthroughs to patient impact. Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD, introduces efforts at the Sanford Stem Cell Institute to develop therapies that enhance the body’s ability to heal itself. Dan Kaufman, MD, PhD, shares progress in cancer immunotherapy using engineered natural killer cells derived from pluripotent stem cells. Karen Chris...

Ina Stelzer, Ph. D., explores how the maternal immune system adapts to support a healthy pregnancy and how disruptions can lead to complications like preterm birth. Her lab identifies early immune changes linked to spontaneous preterm birth and investigates the role of the maternal brain in regulating immune responses. Stelzer uses advanced technologies like mass cytometry and spatial proteomics t...

Amanda Lewis, Ph. D. investigates how glycan-degrading enzymes contribute to bacterial vaginosis (BV), a common condition linked to infertility, preterm birth, pelvic inflammatory disease, and increased cancer risk. Her research shows that BV-associated bacteria strip protective sugar coatings—glycans—from vaginal epithelial cells, disrupting normal function and increasing vulnerability to infecti...

Michael J. Wilkinson, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.N.L.A., explores the science and clinical evidence behind intermittent fasting and its role in promoting cardiometabolic health. He explains how aligning eating patterns with the body’s natural circadian rhythms can improve weight, blood pressure, glucose regulation, and other risk factors, especially in individuals with metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes...

AI and genetic medicine are converging to transform how we diagnose, treat, and prevent disease. Gene Yeo, Ph. D., unites RNA biology with artificial intelligence to speed the path from genome sequencing to personalized RNA therapeutics. Advances in sequencing have reduced costs dramatically, making interpretation and translation into treatments the real challenge. Using deep learning and large da...

Rebecca Rakow Penner, M.D., Ph. D., is a body and breast imaging radiologist and MRI physicist advancing how pelvic pain and gynecologic cancers are diagnosed through imaging. She highlights how MRI is improving the detection of endometriosis, pelvic adhesions, venous disorders, and pelvic floor dysfunction with enhanced resolution and motion-sensitive techniques. Rakow Penner also works on new MR...

Sarah Banks, Ph. D. explores why Alzheimer's disease affects women differently than men, emphasizing distinct patterns in tau pathology, cognitive testing bias, and treatment response. She explains how women tend to show a rapid buildup of tau during early cognitive decline, which may contribute to their higher prevalence of Alzheimer's. Banks also highlights how common diagnostic tools may overlo...

Marni Jacobs, Ph. D., M.P.H., presents the MOM Health Study, part of the NIH's Multi-Omics for Health and Disease (MOHD) Consortium, which investigates hypertensive disorders of pregnancy—such as preeclampsia—and their impact on postpartum health. The study aims to uncover the biological mechanisms linking these conditions to long-term maternal outcomes like stroke and heart disease. Unlike other...

Louise Laurent, M.D., Ph. D., presents new insights into placental biology using cutting-edge molecular and imaging technologies. As part of the NIH-funded Human Biomolecular Atlas Program, her research focuses on mapping the structure and function of the placenta across gestation. By combining bulk RNA sequencing, single-cell analysis, spatial transcriptomics, and imaging mass cytometry, Laurent...

Lars Bode, Ph. D., presents the Human Milk Institute at UC San Diego, the world’s first research center dedicated entirely to human milk. Established in 2022, the institute connects molecular research with clinical practice, community outreach, and public health. It unites multiple programs under one umbrella, including a milk bank for preterm infants, a biorepository, lactation education, and a r...

Anthony Molina, Ph. D. highlights research and resources from the Stein Institute for Research on Aging that support healthy aging, with a focus on women’s health. He describes the institute’s work in training scientists, conducting clinical trials, and promoting community engagement. Key resources include a geroscience lab for biomarker discovery, new facilities for exposome and epigenetics resea...

Jennifer Anger, M.D., M.P.H., Ph. D. investigates interstitial cystitis (IC), also known as painful bladder syndrome, with a focus on improving care through research on sex, gender, and health disparities. Using Veterans Affairs (VA) data, Anger challenges the outdated belief that IC predominantly affects women. She explores how comorbidities such as PTSD and depression, common among veterans, inf...

Science communication expert Lisa Warshaw and scientist Rob Signer, Ph. D., offer a practical guide to turning complex research into clear, memorable stories. They explain why strong openings, simple messages, vivid analogies, and visual storytelling are essential to making science resonate. The talk includes tips on avoiding jargon, using soundbites effectively, and preparing for high-stakes mome...

Gladys (Sandy) Ramos, M.D. outlines the comprehensive maternal care services at UC San Diego, emphasizing clinical excellence, innovation, and community impact. She highlights programs in diabetes and pregnancy, high-risk obstetrics, postpartum and HIV care, and maternal mental health. Ramos describes cutting-edge capabilities in fetal and placental imaging, including expertise in placenta accreta...