UCLA In the News lists selected mentions of UCLA in the world’s news media. Some articles may require registration or a subscription to view. See more UCLA In the News.
The economic case for LGBT equality | Los Angeles Blade
“I study LGBT inequality to learn how to end it,” says [UCLA’s M.V. Lee] Badgett. Her latest book on the economic toll of LGBT discrimination, The Economic Case for LGBT Equality, is not only accessible to a general audience but educates smart economists, too. Janet Yellen, the popular former Chair and Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve during the Obama administration and now a Distinguished Fellow at the Brookings Institution, calls the book “eye-opening in its global scope…a must-read for all business leaders and policymakers.”
The germs that transformed history | Wall Street Journal
(Essay written by UCLA’s Jared Diamond) Of course, there have been a great many “mere” epidemics in human history, diseases that have spread more slowly over large areas, but their effects have been profound. Over the course of recorded history and now in the archaeological record, examples abound of germs producing high death tolls and social and political upheaval, with far-reaching effects on local economies, trade, migration, colonization and conquest.
How L.A. County became a coronavirus epicenter | Los Angeles Times
“The Bay Area probably figured it out sooner, and that’s why the Bay Area looked like it was worse early on,” said UCLA epidemiologist Dr. Timothy Brewer. “I think L.A. was a little bit behind S.F. and some of the surrounding areas in the Bay Area ... and now we’re seeing the after effects of that.” (UCLA’s Paul Simon is also quoted).
L.A. County is behind on testing in nursing homes | Los Angeles Times
Dr. Manuel Eskildsen, who teaches in the Division of Geriatrics at UCLA and works as a clinician for a network of nursing homes, said there has been noticeable progress in testing even in the last week… “I have one facility in mind that had a really tough time with referrals after they turned up four or five positives,” Eskildsen said.
The U.S. continues to reopen | MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams”
“People are getting very tired of staying home, and we’re all feeling the effect. But the fact of the matter is… we are in a pandemic. These facts have not changed,” said UCLA’s Anne Rimoin (approx. 2.35 mark. Rimoin was also interviewed again on MSNBC, and on CNN).
Density, poverty keep Los Angeles struggling against virus | Associated Press
A study released Wednesday by the University of California, Los Angeles, found 40% of black people and Latinos reside in neighborhoods where those living conditions make them more susceptible to getting infected or transmitting the virus. “It just builds on the vulnerability of these residents and of these ethnic enclaves,” said Sonja Diaz, co-author of the report and director of the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative. (UCLA’s Karin Michaels is also quoted.)
Malaria drug taken by Trump is subject of scientific trials | Reuters
Most hydroxychloroquine trials thus far have involved hospitalized patients, but “any potential benefit or activity of these agents ... would likely be best observed earlier in the disease course,” said UCLA Medical Center infectious disease specialist Dr. Kara Chew. “Once people are hospitalized, they are quite sick.”
Outbreak becomes a crash course in crisis management | Los Angeles Times column
Crises disrupt. Crises test us. Crises force us to find new ways to function on the fly. Zev Yaroslavsky knows this…. So in April, at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, right as students were showing up on Zoom to take it, he scrapped his plans for the graduate-level seminar he’s been teaching for the last four springs on the leaders, institutions and interests that shape Los Angeles’ civic policies and quality of life.
As states reopen, leaders weigh tough questions | Christian Science Monitor
Eugene Volokh, who teaches at the University of California Los Angeles law school, says it is unlikely that it will be the courts that push reopening. Governments have “extremely broad authority” in a pandemic, especially over everyday business, he explains, citing the 1905 Supreme Court smallpox case, Jacobson v. Massachusetts. It may be a little different where some specific individual rights are involved – such as with churches or guns. Stay-at-home orders also may violate some state constitutions.
If I get coronavirus, do I tell others in my apartment building? | Los Angeles Times
By contrast, if you’ve tested positive for the virus, it is important to notify the people who you’ve been around lately, whether you live with them or not. And you can work with the county to trace your contacts. That way, others can isolate themselves to prevent further spread, [UCLA’s Shira] Shafir said. “I think it is largely the responsibility of the individual to submit to a contact-tracing process,” she said. (Also: Los Angeles Times.)
Minorities disproportionately affected by coronavirus | Orange County Register
California’s minority communities, particularly Latinos, Pacific Islanders and African Americans, are experiencing higher rates of coronavirus cases compared to Caucasians, according to a report released Thursday, May 21, by UCLA’s Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.
Is America’s reopening inviting a disastrous second wave? | Guardian (U.K.)
“To think the virus must have changed just because we’re tired of being at home is almost a fantasy,” said Chandra Ford, founding director of the center for the study of racism, social justice and health at UCLA’s Jonathan and Karin Fielding school of public health. Ford warned subsequent outbreaks are likely to disproportionately affect these same communities.
Staying safe outdoors | CNBC
Setting up a tent and a barbecue, or sitting on the beach in one place for a long period of time is not a good idea, and in some places, it may not be allowed, [UCLA’s Dr. Russell] Buhr says. “The reason for that is, the closer that people are together, the more their risk is of transmission,” he says. (UCLA’s Jeffrey Klausner is also interviewed on KABC-TV.)
Coronavirus antigen tests: Are they wrong too often? | Science
Otto Yang, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, says the tests’ modest sensitivity is a bigger hurdle. Even a test with the 90% sensitivity and 100% specificity that Quidel is aiming for could misinform more than help. Assuming the virus has a prevalence of about 1% and such a test is given to 1000 people, nine people would correctly be told they are infected whereas one person would be mistakenly told they don’t have the virus.
Using public restrooms during the pandemic | BuzzFeed News
“The less contact with touch surfaces the better,” Dr. Richard Jackson, a professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, said in an email. “No proof that this would work on COVID, but why not?”
CAP UCLA’s Kristy Edmunds profiled | Broadway World
“UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance produces and supports programming that builds a community around the world’s creative artists whose ideas find a home in contemporary theater, dance, music, writing and collaboration. Artists that have achieved a towering legacy in their chosen art forms, alongside those who are well on their way because of their generous and singular vision,” said UCLA’s Kristy Edmunds.
UCLA professor leads research on Breathalyzer-like test for COVID-19 | City News Service
A research team led by a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering won a grant to develop an inexpensive and fast breathalyzer-like diagnostic tool to test for the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, according to the university. “Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a critical weakness in health care security infrastructure, which is a substantial deficiency in our capabilities to conduct rapid, simple, point-of-care diagnostic and environmental sample collection and testing,’’ said Pirouz Kavehpour, whose team has received a one-year, $150,000 research grant from the National Science Foundation.
Genomic processes described using biology and statistics | Australian Broadcasting Corporation
At the University of California Los Angeles, the Junction of Statistics and Biology Lab conducts research into genomic and biomedical chemistry. As [principal investigator] Jessica Li explains, the work straddles both high level statistics and biology. The lab had a paper published in the journal Genome Research.
