Announcements

Our group members have been very fortunate to have received many honors and awards. Please browse through these announcements to learn more about the researchers' individual accomplishments.

APR 2022: Prof. Davis Appointed Associate Vice Chancellor for Interdisciplinary Research and Strategic Initiatives

14 APR 2022.
The University of California, Davis, Office of Research is pleased to announce the appointment of Cristina Davis as the new associate vice chancellor of Interdisciplinary Research and Strategic Initiatives (IRSI) effective April 11, 2022. The IRSI division in the Office of Research works with faculty and staff to initiate and advance interdisciplinary and strategically important research programs through partnerships with federal, state and other entities. announcement.

OCT 2021: Prof. Davis Appointed Associate Dean for Research

29 SEP 2021.
The UC Davis College of Engineering is pleased to announce that mechanical and aerospace engineering professor and chair Cristina Davis has been appointed to serve as associate dean for research effective October 1. As a member of the college’s leadership team, Davis will work with the leadership of college research centers and recharge facilities to ensure they continue to fulfill their missions. She will also assist Dean Corsi with catalyzing new multi-disciplinary research initiatives, developing external research partnerships and facilitating group discussions to build a strategic research vision and plan for the college. announcement.

DEC 2019: Prof. Davis Elected NAI Fellow

03 DEC 2019.
Prof. Davis was named a 2019 fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Being named a fellow recognizes academic inventors with a "highly prolific spirit of innovation" who have created or facilitating inventions that have had a major impact on society. Davis has issued 12 patents, all of which are licensed to industry and most of which are included in commercial products. NAI link here.

NOV 2019: Prof. Davis Elected AAAS Fellow

27 NOV 2019.
Mechanical and aerospace engineering professor and chair Cristina Davis was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She was cited for, "distinguished contributions to non-invasive chemical and biological sensing tools, algorithms, and applications for human and agriculture diagnostics and monitoring". AAAS link here.

OCT 2019: A Breath Test for Opioids

03 OCT 2019.
Postdoctoral researcher Eva Borras leads study to detect drugs in exhaled breath. Subjects breathe normally into a specialized collection device. Droplets in breath condense and are stored in a freezer until testing. Borras uses mass spectrometry to identify compounds in the samples. More information is here.

SEP 2019: Microbes Make Chemicals for Scent Marking in a Cat

10 SEP 2019.
Our group collaborated with Prof. Jonathan Eisen's group to determine that bacteria release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that animals use to communicate. More information is here.

SEP 2019: Schmidt Awarded Breath Summit 2019 Poster Award

10 SEP 2019.
Doctoral student Alexander Schmidt awarded the "Breath Summit 2019 Poster Award". This award carries a € 300 prize for future travel to a scientific meeting. More information is here.

SEP 2019: Prof. Davis Chair Elect for IABR

10 SEP 2019.
Prof. Cristina Davis appointed Chair Elect of the International Association of Breath Research (IABR). She will serve as Vice Chair of the professional society from 2019-2021, and then serve as Chair from 2021-2023. This is the main professional society dedicated to exploring concepts in breath diagnostics. More information is here.

AUG 2019: Can Science Save Citrus?

27 AUG 2019.
Staff member Mitch McCartney leads our efforts to use volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to determine bacteria infections in citrus trees. More information is here.

JUL 2019: Prof. Davis Named Department Chair

01 JUL 2019.
Professor Cristina Davis has been named chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, effective July 1, 2019. Davis has been at UC Davis since November 2005 and has served as vice chair for the past two years. More information is here.

MAY 2019: Former Doctoral Student Awarded 2019 Munir Award

15 MAY 2019.
Former doctoral student Konstantin Zamuruyev was awarded the UC Davis Graduate Studies 2019 College of Engineering Zuhair Munir Best Dissertation. Dr. Zamuruyev is currently a staff scientist at NASA JPL. More information is here.

MAY 2018: Schmidt Picked for Prestigious NIH TL1 Fellowship

MAY 2019.
Doctoral student Alexander Schmidt received a two-year prestigious Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) TL1 Pre-doctoral Clinical Research Training Program Scholar Award from June 2019-June 2021. This awawrd covers all tuition, fees, stipend and research supplies. There are also funds available for travel to scientific meetings. More information is here.

MAR 2018: Prof. Davis Selected for Academic Senate Award

01 MAR 2019.
Prof. Cristina Davis awarded the UC Davis Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award (DSPSA). Davis served on the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board from 2014 to 2018, dedicating 210 days of service and receiving the Commander’s Public Service Award. She led an extensive site review resulting in enterprise-level changes in the Air Force. More information is here.

MAR 2019: Fung Awarded Department Fellowship

DEC 2018
Doctoral student Alexander Fung received a merit-based MAE Department Fellowship for Spring Quarter 2019. This fellowship covers a stipend, student fees and full tuition for the quarter.

DEC 2018: Fung Awarded Department Fellowship

DEC 2018
Doctoral student Alexander Fung received a merit-based MAE Department Fellowship for Winter Quarter 2019. This fellowship covers a stipend, student fees and full tuition for the quarter.

OCT 2018: Prof. Davis Wins Faculty Award in College of Engineering

03 OCT 2018.
Prof. Cristina Davis awarded the UC Davis College of Engineering Outstanding Mid-Career Faculty Award. In their nomination of Davis, colleagues praise Davis for her ability to "strike the right balance between fundamental and applied sciences," and characterize her a leading researcher among the scholars of her generation. More information is here.

SEP 2018: Prof. Davis Receives Award from the US Military

18 SEP 2018.
Prof. Cristina Davis awarded Department of the Air Force, Commander's Public Service Award. As a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) for the United States Air Force (USAF), she provided critical feedback for the armed forces science and technology investments.

NOV 2017: Prof. Cristina Davis wins Sacramento Region Innovation Award

07 NOV 2017.
Prof. Cristina Davis wins Sacramento Region Innovation Award for food and agribusiness. She is a co-founder of XTB Laboratories, Inc. which is commercializing disease diagnostics for citrus trees. More information is here.

JUN 2017: Alex Falcon Awarded CAMP Summer Fellowship

JUN 2017.
Undergraduate researcher Alexandria Falcon has been selected to participate as a Scholar in the California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) Program for Summer 2018.

JUL 2017: Yamaguchi Awarded Second Year on T32 Fellowship

JUL 2017.
Postdoctoral Fellow Mei Yamaguchi selected for a second year of support from the campus NHLBI T32 fellowship.

JUL 2017: Simms Receives Prestigious Fellowship

JUL 2017.
Incoming first year doctoral student Leslie Simms selected for the prestigious Floyd and Mary Schwall Fellowship in Medical Research. This fellowship is administered by the UC Davis School of Medicine. This provides all tuition/fees and provides a monthly stipend, M&S funds and travel funds for two years.

JUL 2017: Yamaguchi Awarded T32 Fellowship

JUL 2017
Postdoctoral Fellow Mei Yamaguchi selected for campus NHLBI T32 fellowship with 1 year of salary funding (AUG 2017-JUL 2018). This has the potential to be renewable for 2 additional years, if adequate research progress is made.

APR 2017: Schmidt in Top 10 Science Competition

14 APR 2017.
Doctoral student Alexander Schmidt selected for Top 10 Finalist round of public speaking competition on his dissertation project for the UC Davis Grad Slam Competition.

JUN 2016: Prof. Davis awarded the 2016 UC Davis Chancellor's Innovation Award

28 JUN 2016.
Professor Davis was recognized for her lifetime work on chemical and biological sensing. More information is here.

JUN 2016: Konstantin Zamuruyev selected for third year of T32 training grant fellowship

08 JUN 2015.
Doctoral student Konstantin Zamuruyev was chosen to receive a third year of support from the Pre-doctoral Graduate Fellowship award from the campus NIH National Research Service Award (T32) for Training in Comparative Lung Biology and Medicine.

JUN 2016: Konstantin Zamuruyev receives $1,000 travel award

03 JUN 2016.
Doctoral student Konstantin Zamuruyev received a $1,000 award from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering to support his travel to Hilton Head, SC to participate in the Hilton Head 2016 Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Workshop.

MAY 2016: Alexandria Falcon wins undergraduate researcher award

MAY 2016.
First year undergraduate Alexandria Falcon was awarded the "Tercero Bright Scholar Award" for her work with our group!

APR 2016: Michael Schivo awarded K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award from the NIH

19 APR 2016.
Michael Schivo MD Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Division has received a National Institutes of Health K23 award from the NHLBI for his project "Using Breath to Determine Specific Virus Infection in Asthmatic Patients". This award provides a minimum of 3 years of support to investigators committed to patient-oriented research. His research focuses on using volatile organic compound (VOC) analysis as a means to study and diagnose airway diseases, and in this proposal he will expand on his prior studies by examining if VOCs are useful to determine if asthmatics having exacerbations are infected with influenza or other respiratory viruses. Dr. Schivo has been previously supported by from an NIEHS T32 and NHLBI T32 award during his clinical fellowship and non-ACGME research fellowship, and then moved on to further translational research training through the Mentored Clinical Research Training Program and then a K12 award through the CTSC.

APR 2016: Michael Schivo honored with 2016 IM Faculty Research Award

08 APR 2016.
Collaborating faculty member Mike Schivo was selected by his peers in the Department of Internal Medicine to receive their 2016 research award given within their division. This highly prestigious award will be presented to Mike on 05 MAY at an award ceremony where he will speak on his research work.

MAR 2016: Prof. Davis wins Best Newcomer Award at 2016 World Agritech Investment Summit

17 MAR 2016.
Prof. Davis presented at the "Pitch-Fest" session to highlight start-up company XTB Laboratories, Inc. - a faculty-affiliated start-up company emerging from her UC Davis research group in 2016. The financing pitch was chosen as the best in the session, and she was awarded the "Best Newcomer Award" for the pitch.

FEB 2016: Daniel Peirano selected for second term of NSF Veterans Research Supplement award

11 FEB 2016.
Doctoral student and US Army veteran Daniel Peirano was selected to receive a second term of support from the National Science Foundation through their Veterans Research Supplement award. The $10,000 fellowship will support his tuition and salary for Spring 2016. A link to the NSF program is More information is here.

JAN 2016: Prof. Davis selected as AIMBE Fellow

20 JAN 2016.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the pending induction of Cristina E. Davis, Ph.D., Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, to its College of Fellows. Dr. Davis was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for outstanding contributions to non-invasive chemical and biological sensing tools, algorithms, and applications.

JUN 2015: Daniel Peirano selected for NSF Veterans Research Supplement award

13 MAY 2015.
Doctoral student and US Army veteran Daniel Peirano received an NSF Veterans Research Supplement award. This award seeks to further education/career development focused on promoting veterans into science and technology careers, and allow students to conduct basic and/or industrially relevant research in order to gain a deeper understanding of engineering. The $10,000 fellowship will support his salary for Summer 2015. A link to the NSF program is More information is here.

MAY 2015: Konstantin Zamuruyev selected for second year of T32 training grant fellowship

13 MAY 2015.
Doctoral student Konstantin Zamuruyev was chosen to receive a second year of support from the Pre-doctoral Graduate Fellowship award from the campus NIH National Research Service Award (T32) for Training in Comparative Lung Biology and Medicine.

MAY 2014: Mitchell McCartney selected for undergraduate scholarship

29 MAY 2014.
Undergraduate researcher Mitch McCartney was chosen as this year's recipient of the UC Davis Department of Chemistry's "2014 NovaBay Pharmaceuticals Award in Medicinal Chemistry". This cash scholarship is awarded to well-deserving undergraduate chemistry students to support their studies and research. Recipients are chosen based on scientific publications and presentations, entrepreneurial spirit and motivation, and GPA.

MAY 2014: Konstantin Zamuruyev selected for training grant fellowship

21 MAY 2014.
Doctoral student Konstantin Zamuruyev was chosenn to receive a Pre-doctoral Graduate Fellowship award from the campus NIH National Research Service Award (T32) for Training in Comparative Lung Biology and Medicine. This fellowship starts 01 JUL 2014 for one year, with the possibility to competitively renew the support for up to two additional years.

APR 2014: Prof. Mike Schivo honored in Internal Medicine

07 APR 2014.
Prof. Mike Schivo was awarded the "Joan Oettinger Memorial Award" jointly with another colleague of his in Internal Medicine. This is great news! Mike will be awarded a research stipend, and he will be honored at an awards ceremony at the School of Medicine on 28 MAY 2014. Mike's research focuses on non-invasive breath biomarker detection in clinical populations.

APR 2014: Prof. Davis invited to speak for National Academy of Engineering

01 APR 2014.
Professor Davis was invited to speak at the recent regional meeting of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) that was held on the UC Davis campus. She highlighted our ongoing work for non-invasive metabolite detection in biological systems.

OCT 2013: Konstantin Zamuruyev fellowship support from NIEHS training grant renewed for third year!

16 JUL 2012.
Doctoral student Konstantin Zamuruyev's graduate fellowsip was renewed for the 2013-2014 academic year from the UC Davis NIEHS-funded Superfund program. Konstantin's research focuses on novel instrumentation and sensors for breath diagnostics.

July 2012: Mike Schivo awarded NIH funding from Loan Repayment Program (LRP)

19 JUL 2012.
Dr. Mike Schivo received fantastic news this week that his application to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Loan Repayment Program (LRP) was approved for funding by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). This is great news, and his contract is awarded for 2 years! The overall purpose of the extramural LRP is the recruitment and retention of highly qualified health professionals as research investigators to careers in research. The NIH chooses qualified health professionals who contractually agree to engage in NIH mission-relevant research for at least two years, and who agree to engage in such research for at least 50 percent of their work schedule. LRPs provide for the repayment of educational loan debt of up to $35,000 annually for qualified health professionals performing research within the mission of NIH. This program is complementary with his recent K12 research award. Congratulations Mike!

July 2012: Konstantin Zamuruyev fellowship support from NIEHS training grant renewed for second year!

16 JUL 2012.
Doctoral student Konstantin Zamuruyev's graduate fellowsip was renewed for the 2012-2013 academic year from the UC Davis NIEHS-funded Superfund program. Konstantin's research focuses on novel instrumentation and sensors for breath diagnostics.

May 2012: Mike Schivo chosen as a UC Davis CTSC K12 Scholar

21 MAY 2012.
Dr. Michael Schivo is a recipient of a K12 mentored career development award within our School of Medicine. The NIH-funded CTSC supports highly qualified junior faculty to conduct mentored, multidisciplinary, patient-oriented clinical research. The period of support may extend for up to 3 years, with an extension of 1-2 additional years in exceptional cases. The goal of the program is to accelerate the career development of promising junior faculty, promoting their development as independent clinical multidisciplinary research investigators. The program will provide select scholars with a salary of $75,000 plus benefits, as well as $25,000 for travel and research expenses each year. Congrats Mike!

May 2012: Mike Schivo receives clinical research award

15 MAY 2012.
Mike Schivo was selected for a 2012 "Internal Medicine Trainee Research Award" here in the UC Davis School of Medicine. This award carries with it recognition for his scholarly accomplishments, one of which is his excellent work on our recent book chapter "Volatile organic compounds in human breath: biogenic origin and point-of-care analysis approaches". The award also provides him with travel funds to attend an upcoming scientific conference and present some of his most recent research results.

April 2012: New research partnership with SoberLink, Inc.

11 APR 2012.
Our research team proudly announces a new scientific partnership with California-based Soberlink (Los Angeles, CA). Their mission is to provide remote monitoring technologies that can contribute to sobriety compliance testing. We are excited to be contributing to research that aids their goals and products!

April 2012: Eric Ranstrom awarded Departmental Citation

02 APR 2012.
Eric Ranstrom was selected for a 2012 "Departmental Citation for Outstanding Undergraduate Accomplishments in Mechanical Engineering". He graduated in March 2012 with a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Computer Science.

March 2012: Incoming graduate student Joachim Pederson receives NSF fellowship

30 MAR 2012.
Incoming graduate student Joachim Pederson was selected for a three year Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) award from the National Science Foundation to pursue his studies with our group. This extremely competative fellowship is awarded to a select number of students nation wide. Joachim was also fortunate to receive a 2012 summer research fellowship from the California Pre-Doctoral Program which is one of 70 awards administered this year by the Office of The Chancellor at The California State University (CSU).

March 2012: Yuriy Zrodnikov awarded scholarship

Doctoral graduate student Yuriy Zrodnikov was awarded a scholarship entitled "UCD Science and Humanities Graduate Research Award" in support of his dissertation research. This cash award is potentially renewable for each year until he graduates, and it can be used to purchase materials and supplies in support of his dissertation research. Yuriy is completing his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, and his research focuses on novel MEMS ion mobility spectrometer chemical sensors.

September 2011: Prof. Davis chosen for National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) 2011 Frontiers of Engineering Education (FOEE) symposium.

The Frontiers of Engineering Education (FOEE) Symposium brings together some of the nation's most engaged and innovative engineering educators in order to recognize, reward, and promote effective, substantive, and inspirational engineering education through a sustained dialogue within the emerging generation of innovative faculty. Engineering faculty members in the first half of their careers who are developing and implementing innovative educational approaches in a variety of disciplines will come together for the 2-1/2-day event, where they can share ideas, learn from research and best practice in education, and leave with a charter to bring about improvement in their home institution. The participants were nominated by fellow engineers or deans and chosen from a highly competitive pool of applicants.

July 2011: Alice Kwan receives "Selected Professions" fellowship from AAUW.

Masters student Alice Kwan was recently awarded a fellowsip for the 2011-2012 academic year from the American Association for University Women (AAUW). This is a highly prestigious national fellowship that is awarded to only ~20-25 recipients each year across the entire country. AAUW Selected Professions fellowships are awarded to women who are pursuing advanced graduate degrees in programs (like engineering) where women's participation traditionally has been low. This funding will help Alice to continue to pursue her research on non-invasive respiratory diagnostics using portable mobile devices and telemetry of diagnostic data collected on mobile phones.

July 2011: Konstantin Zamuruyev receives fellowship support from NIEHS training grant.

Doctoral student Konstantin Zamuruyev was recently awarded a fellowsip for the 2011-2012 academic year from the UC Davis NIEHS-funded Superfund program. Konstantin's research with other students and postdocs in our group focuses on novel instrumentation and sensors for breath diagnostics. The Superfund NIEHS fellowship will help him to develop new tools to monitor human health and exposure to environmental toxins and hazardous chemicals.

April 2011: Prof. Davis named Hartwell Investigator.

Prof. Davis was one of 12 researchers selected nationally for the prestegious 3 year Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award. This award from The Hartwell Foundation will facilitate her research on miniature chemical breath sensors for childhood asthma diagnostics.

March 2011: Lab members awarded Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) summer internships.

Arunima Panigrahy and Eric Ranstrom were recently selected to participate in a 10-week summer internship with Sandia National Laboratories. Both will be working on computational projects to further apply their programming skills to areas of national security applications.

July 2010: Prof. Davis named CTSC Associate Director.

Prof. Davis was recently named an Associate Director of the UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC).

June 2010: Nanodyne makes the cut!

One of 16 start-up companies invited to the DSJ/Cisco Systems Global Business Plan Competition.

June 2010: Introducing Nanodyne, Inc.

A start-up company is formed by UC Davis MBA students to commercialize our hybrid organometallic thin film technology for the hard disk drive industry.

May 2010: Team using technology from our laboratory takes 2nd place at UC Davis 2010 BIG BANG! Business Plan Competition.

Our lab's patent application for a novel hybrid thin film was used as the foundation for a UC Davis MBA business school student team to enter the 2010 BIG BANG! Business Plan Competition. The team won 2nd place for the marketing and business development plan around this concept. Congrats to the team!

June 2009: Prof. Cristina Davis selected for National Science Foundation Workshop

Prof. Cristina Davis was selected as a participant in the NSF-sponsored workshop entitled "Micro and Nano Systems (MNS) Horizon 2040." Together a group of ~40 leaders in the field will discuss how this area of research will evolve over the next 30 years, and how to recognize and seed R&D investments to yield the greatest societal impacts.

May 2009: Mindy Simon selected for Honorable Mention in NSF Graduate Fellowship program

Master's student Mindy Simon was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2008-2009 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. This competative program awards a very limited number of fellowships and honorable mentions each year, and is a very competative national award. Congrats Mindy!

May 2009: Huilan Han selected for second year Biotechnology Fellowship renewal

Doctoral graduate student Huilan Han was selected to again receive 2009-2010 fellowship support from the UC Davis Biotechnology Training Program. For the second year in a row, she was selected for this prestigious award. As a part of the fellowship, she'll receive an annual scholarship stipend along with full tuition this upcoming year. The UC Davis Biotechnology Training Program is a program on campus that allows Ph.D. students to be trained in the area of biotechnology, and encourages interdisciplinary research.

May 2008: Huilan Han selected for campus Biotechnology Fellowship

Doctoral graduate student Huilan Han was selected to receive 2008-2009 fellowship support from the UC Davis Biotechnology Training Program. This is a prestigious award that is very competitive here on campus. Huilan will receive an annual scholarship stipend along with full tuition this upcoming year, and is potentially renewable for a second year. The UC Davis Biotechnology Training Program is a program on campus that allows Ph.D. students to be trained in the area of biotechnology, and encourages interdisciplinary research.

April 2008: Huilan Han receives campus fellowship

For a second consecutive year, doctoral graduate student Huilan Han was awarded a campus fellowship entitled "UCD Science and Humanities Graduate Research Award" which is used to support her dissertation research. This cash award is potentially renewable for each year until she graduates, and it can be used to purchase materials and supplies in support of her dissertation research.

April 2008: Nick Strand awarded Department of Defense Fellowship

Master's graduate student Nick Strand was awarded a fellowship from the Science, Mathematics And Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship for Service Program which has been established by the Department of Defense (DoD) to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The program aims to increase the number of civilian scientists and engineers working at DoD laboratories. The DoD offers this scholarship for service to individuals who demonstrate outstanding ability and special aptitude for a career in scientific and engineering research and product development, express interest in career opportunities at DoD laboratories, and are pursuing a specific degree in science or engineering. Over 2000 applicants applied for fellowships this year, and only 200 students nation-wide were selected for the program. After graduation, Nick will be working with one of the national laboratories pursuing defense research at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.

February 2008: Mary Molina receives travel grant to present research at CAMP symposium

Undergraduate researcher Mary Molina received a travel grant to present her research at the California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) Statewide Undergraduate Research Symposium. University of California, Irvine; Beckman Center of the National Academies. February 22-24, 2008.

December 2007: Alex Sutherland awarded UC President's Undergraduate Fellowship

Undergraduate researcher Alex Suterland was awarded the University of California President's Undergraduate Fellowship. Alex is currently earning his B.S. in Chemistry. His fellowship award funds for 2007-2008 will cover materials and supplies for his project. His proposal was selected through a very competative process to receive funding from the President's office.

October 2007: Professor Cristina Davis receives service award

Professor Cristina Davis was presented with an award for "Outstanding Service as a Competition Judge" from the Siemens Foundation and the College Board. She has served as an initial judge for the Siemens Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition for over 5 years. The Siemen's competion for Math, Science and Technology recognizes remarkable talent early on, fostering individual growth for high school students who are willing to challenge themselves through science research. Through this competition, students have an opportunity to receive national recognition for science research projects they complete while in high school. It is administrated by The College Board, in Princeton, NJ. The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the association is composed of more than 5,400 schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations. Each year, the College Board serves seven million students and their parents, 23,000 high schools, and 3,500 colleges through major programs and services in college admissions, guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, and teaching and learning. Among its best-known programs are the SAT®, the PSAT/NMSQT®, and the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®). The College Board is committed to the principles of excellence and equity, and that commitment is embodied in all of its programs, services, activities, and concerns.

October 2007: Mary Molina receives travel grant to present research at SACNAS

Undergraduate researcher Mary Molina received a travel grant to present her research at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) National Conference: Stretching the Imagination to Support Leadership and Sustainability (Kansas City, MO), October 11-14, 2007. Mary will earn her B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in June 2008.

July 2007: Professor Crisina Davis selected for National Academies Keck Futures Initiative

Professor Cristina Davis was selected to attend the 5th Annual National Academies Keck Futures Initiative entitled "The Future of Human Healthspan: Demography, Evolution, Medicine and Bioengineering." The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative is a 15-year effort to catalyze interdisciplinary inquiry and to enhance communication among researchers, funding organizations, universities, and the general public. The Initiative's objective is to enhance the climate for conducting interdisciplinary research, and to break down related institutional and systemic barriers. The Initiative builds on three pillars of vital and sustained research: interdisciplinary encounters that counterbalance specialization and isolation; the asking of new questions; and communication bridging languages, cultures, habits of thought, and institutions. Toward these goals, the multifaceted Futures Initiative incorporates three core activities each year: Futures Conferences, Futures Grants and National Academies Communication Awards. The National Academies also conducted a study on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research. The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative is funded through a generous grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation.

May 2007: Stephanie Pulford awarded fellowship

Doctoral student Stephanie Pulford was awarded a "Howard Hughes Medical Institute - Integrating Medicine into Basic Science" training grant fellowship. This is a very competitive award for stipend support, tuition and travel support, and is potentially renewable. As a part of the fellowship, she will take part in an intensive 5 week Summer Institute in "Introduction to Clinical Medicine" at the UC Davis Medical Center. The UC Davis-Howard Hughes Medical Institute (UC Davis-HHMI) training program Integrating Medicine into Basic Science, introduces highly-qualified and highly-motivated PhD students in biomedical research and engineering to the world of clinical medicine. UC Davis-HHMI scholars will become future leaders in translating scientific discoveries into clinical applications to improve human health. This premier training program is one of only 13 such funded HHMI training programs in the nation and is intended to train a cadre of new researchers who are committed to working at the interface of biomedical science and clinical medicine and who will develop the skills to participate in and lead translational research teams to improve human health.

May 2007: Mary Molina awarded fellowship

Undergraduate researcher Mary Molina was awarded a stipend fellowship from the NSF-funded "California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP)" program. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), CAMP represents the California arm of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program that aims to increase the number of under-represented/economically disadvantaged students graduating with bachelor's degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. CAMP is hosted on eight of the UC campuses, with the lead campus for the California Alliance centered at UC Irvine (CAMP Statewide). CAMP provides monetary support to undergraduate students in the form of research stipends for work conducted under the direction of a UC Davis faculty member. Mary is currently completing her B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering, and she will graduate in June 2008.

March 2007: Huilan Han awarded scholarship

Doctoral graduate student Huilan Han was awarded a scholarship entitled "UCD Science and Humanities Graduate Research Award" in support of her dissertation research. This cash award is potentially renewable for each year until she graduates, and it can be used to purchase materials and supplies in support of her dissertation research. Huilan is completing her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, and her research focuses on novel bioMEMS devices.