UCLA Headlines April 16, 2012

Research by UCLA scientists and international colleagues mapping human genes that boost or sabotage the brain's resistance to a variety of mental illnesses and Alzheimer's disease was highlighted today by Britain's Telegraph, New Scientist, Asian News International and Agence France-Presse and Sunday by the New York Times, Bloomberg, Live Science, HealthDay News, a Los Angeles Times blog and Discover. UCLA professor of neurology Paul Thompson was quoted in the coverage.

 

A study in which a team of UCLA researchers genetically engineered human stem cells to attack HIV-infected cells in a living organism was highlighted today by the Huffington Post, Sunday by Asian News International and Friday by the International Business Times and an LA Weekly blog. Scott Kitchen, adjunct assistant professor of hematology–oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a member of the UCLA AIDS Institute, was quoted in the coverage.

 

Sunday's Los Angeles Times featured an op-ed by Julie Flapan, director of civic engagement for the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at UCLA, about the growing trend of parents keeping their children in preschool for an extra year to ensure they are mentally and socially ready for kindergarten.

Friday's Washington Post featured an op-ed by Adam Winkler, UCLA professor of law and author of “Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America,” about why lawmakers and political candidates tend to avoid the issue of gun control.

An article in today's Wall Street Journal about a new online network for doctors and their patients who suffer from inflammatory bowel disease references the participation of Dr. Neal Halfon, professor of pediatrics, health services and public policy and director of the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities. Halfon is quoted.

A report by the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA examining discipline, suspensions and students of color in California public schools was highlighted today by the Sacramento Bee and Sunday by the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Daniel Losen, a researcher with the Civil Rights Project, was quoted in the coverage.

Space Daily reports today, and the LAist reported Saturday, on the development by UCLA astronomers and colleagues of a new telescopic instrument that gathers light in infrared wavelengths, allowing scientists to study some of the universe's earliest galaxies. Ian S. McLean, professor of physics and astronomy and director of UCLA's Infrared Laboratory for Astrophysics, was quoted in the coverage.

 

Eugene Volokh, the Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law, was interviewed Friday on NPR’s “Morning Edition” about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney reaching out to the National Rifle Association.

 

An LA Weekly blog today highlights research by Benjamin Karney, professor of psychology and co-director of the Relationship Institute at UCLA, and colleagues suggesting that the "matching algorithms" used by many online dating sites are not scientifically valid. Karney and Thomas Bradbury, professor of psychology and co-director of UCLA's Relationship Institute, are quoted; Gian Gonzaga, UCLA adjunct assistant professor of psychology, is cited.

 

An article in Sunday's Contra Costa Times about the U.S. Senate considering legislation that would increase the tax rate for Americans earning at least $1 million a year cited research by David Shulman, a senior economist with the UCLA Anderson Forecast, on the possible expiration of the Obama payroll-tax cuts and the Bush income-tax cuts.

An article in Sunday's Chronicle of Higher Education about safety in university laboratories referenced a legal case against a UCLA professor and the UC Regents stemming from a 2008 laboratory fire on campus that led to the death of a staff research associate.

 

An article published Sunday in the Atlantic about the annual conference of the Midwest Political Science Association cited the participation of Lynn Vavreck, UCLA associate professor of political science. Vavreck was quoted.

 

The LA Weekly reported Friday on research by the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute showing high levels of reported harassment of Latina transgender women by Los Angeles law enforcement agencies.

 

Inside Higher Ed reports today on a UCLA professor who included links to a site promoting a boycott of Israel on his UCLA course website. Dr. Andrew Leuchter, chair of the UCLA Academic Senate and a professor of psychiatry, is quoted.

 

 

Breslow, a former dean of the UCLA School of Public Health who was among the first to understand how healthy habits contribute to longevity and quality of life, died April 9. See Saturday's New York Times.

 

Myers, professor of history and director of the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies, was quoted Sunday in a Chronicle of Higher Education article about research on genetic markers of Jewish ancestry.

Tilly, director of the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment and a professor of urban planning at UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs, was quoted Thursday in a Voice of America article about the United States–South Korea Free Trade Agreement.

Winkler, UCLA professor of law, was quoted Sunday in a San Francisco Chronicle article about state laws that have expanded residents' right to use deadly force in confrontations.