Starting this fall, UCLA students will have the opportunity to learn a thing or two from Professor Palmer.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that actress and entrepreneur Keke Palmer is teaming with the university’s School of Theater Film and Television on a new 5-year artist-in-residence collaboration — one that will see the I Love Boosters star leading quarterly workshops on campus. (UCLA’s Dean Celine Parreñas Shimizu was quoted. Also: The Grio.) Read more about UCLA in today’s Los Angeles Times, Grist and others.

More highlights from UCLA in the News: June 11, 2026

UCLA oncologist on ‘paradigm-changing’ pancreatic cancer treatment | KCBS-TV

Dr. Zev Wainberg, an oncologist with UCLA Health, discusses a new pancreatic cancer treatment: a once-daily pill that blocks a protein critical to pancreatic cell growth.

The connection between smartphones and the U.S. fertility rate | CNN

“It’s true that people are marrying later, partnering later, and spending less of adulthood in stable relationships, and smartphones may contribute to those trends. But they are occurring alongside major changes in housing costs, education, labor markets, gender norms, and social life,” Dr. Alison Gemmill, an associate professor of epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health whose research focuses on US fertility patterns and other reproductive health topics, said in an email. “Untangling those factors is challenging.”

What’s driving up your expenses? Many say climate change | Grist

“What’s striking is that already, households are bearing serious costs,” said Kimberly Clausing, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. She co-authored a paper from earlier this year finding that families were paying between $400 and $900 more each year because of the effects of climate change, with the costs above $1,300 in the 10 percent hardest-hit counties, many of them found in Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, Colorado and California.

How to choose a preschool in Los Angeles | LAist

Despite the options, nearly half of young Californians do not receive childcare on a regular basis — 10 or more hours per week — according to a study from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

Iran war gas shock is giving public transit a tentative comeback | LA Times

Brian Taylor, a professor of urban planning and public policy at UCLA, said drivers are more likely to leave their cars at home in areas with robust public transportation. He noted that an increase in ridership on those systems is easier to correlate with the effect of fuel prices.

Bass won more Latino neighborhoods than Raman, Pratt combined | LA Times

“She had a lot more established politicos and respected figures in the Latino community,” said Matt Barreto, a professor of political science and Chicana/o studies at UCLA. “It makes her seem like the more established choice.”

After unfounded voter fraud claims, Skid Row residents respond | LA Times

Rick Hasen, a professor of law and the director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA, said that those instances should be investigated — and given President Trump’s relentless claims of voter fraud and the pressure he puts on U.S. attorneys, he is certain they will be. But he said the idea that it happened on a scale that would change the results is outlandish.

‘CoComelon’ turns to UCLA to prove its videos aren’t addictive | LA Times

In 2023, Moonbug recruited the Center for Scholars and Storytellers, a think tank at UCLA that bridges entertainment media and psychology research, to “create the best possible product” for its audience, Hickey said. The center was tasked with analyzing Moonbug’s content and crafting the learning principles to guide the studio’s future preschool programming, which also includes the “Blippi” and “Little Angel” franchises. (UCLA’s Yalda Uhls was quoted.)

Welcome to the Waymo World Cup | Wired

“There’s never going to be a perfectly orderly process with no congestion,” says Adam Millard-Ball, a professor of urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles’ Luskin School of Public Affairs. “Geometrically, you’re not going to be able to have ‘front door’ pickups for everybody.” The future is many things, but traffic-free isn’t one of them.