UCI Office of the Provost Spring 2022 eNewsletter

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Spring 2022 Newsletter

Dear colleagues, The end of winter quarter has provided a bit of good news with low COVID-19 case counts on campus, in our community, and in much of the U.S. Of course, we continue to monitor developments closely. The end of winter quarter has also brought the shocking reality and the unspeakable horrors of war to Europe. Our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine and to the members of our community impacted by the war. As we turn to spring, we can celebrate the achievements of our campus colleagues. We have two newly elected members of the National Academy of Engineering and seven new American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows, all being honored for their significant contributions to their fields. UCI has recently laid the foundation for two major collaborative efforts that may lead to breakthrough research. We announced the launch of the Institute for Precision Health, an endeavor that combines our health sciences, engineering, statistics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, clinical genomics, data science, public health, and healthcare delivery system capabilities to provide more personalized health care. That was followed by the announcement of a $57.75M gift from the estate of Audrey Steele Burnand that will fund a new campuswide center to pursue depression research. The winter quarter was challenging because of the Omicron variant. My thanks to all for the dedication and flexibility showed by our community. Hopefully the spring quarter will be easier to manage. Stay safe. Hal Stern Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Chancellor's Professor, Statistics

Table of Contents

Julie Schoenung and Farzad Naeim Elected to National Academy of Engineering

Julie Schoenung, Professor and Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Farzad Naeim, Adjunct Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. The UCI Samueli School is now home to 16 National Academy of Engineering members, which honors individuals for outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education."

Seven Honored as AAAS Fellows

Seven UCI researchers have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest general scientific society. With this cohort, UCI now has 192 AAAS fellows.

Steven Allison Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Rina Dechter Distinguished Professor, Computer Science

Paul Dourish Chancellor's Professor, Informatics

Alex Guenther Professor, Earth System Science

Annie Qu Chancellor's Professor, Statistics

Padhraic Smyth Chancellor's Professor, Computer Science

Isabella Velicogna Professor, Earth System Science

Faculty Awards and Accolades

UCI Launches Institute for
Precision Health

Tom Andriola, Vice Chancellor for Information, Technology and Data, and Leslie Thompson, Donald Bren Professor and Chancellor's Professor in Psychiatry & Human Behavior and Neurobiology & Behavior

UCI launched the Institute for Precision Health, an endeavor that combines health sciences, engineering, machine learning, artificial intelligence, clinical genomics and data science capabilities to deliver the most effective health and wellness strategy for each individual person. Precision medicine uses the power of computer algorithms, predictive modeling and AI to develop personalized treatment and, at the same time, confront the linked challenges of health equity and the high cost of care.

Audrey Steele Burnand Estate Gifts $57.75M to Establish Depression Research Center

Left to Right - Pramod Khargonekar, Vice Chancellor for Research, Michael J. Stamos, Dean, School of Medicine, and Frank LaFerla, Dean, School of Biological Sciences

The estate of Audrey Steele Burnand gifted $57.75M to UCI to create a campuswide center that will pursue research into the causes and treatment of depression and support the UCI-managed Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center. The $55M earmarked for depression research is believed to be the largest philanthropic donation to a U.S. university to support research focused solely on depression, which is the most prevalent mental health disorder in the U.S.

Research Highlights

Complete the UCI Community Safety Survey by April 29. Survey respondents will have the opportunity to be entered into weekly Amazon gift card drawings.

A range of campuswide students, staff and faculty were recognized for their mentoring contributions at the recent Mentoring for Achievement and Excellence celebration.

UCI faculty, staff and alumni will join together to recognize graduate student research excellence and leadership in the Hispanic community at the LEAD Awards on March 31, 2022.

Save the Date

The awardees are new faculty who demonstrated exceptional research and accomplishments to advance diversity, equity and inclusion at UCI.

Presented by the Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation, UCI Teach Week is an annual celebration of teaching and learning to be held April 18-22, 2022. The entire Anteater community is invited to participate in a range of panels, presentations and other free activities.