March 2018
A Message from the Dean: A new look
Have you visited our website in the last few weeks? We’ve got a new look and improved features that will help us tell life sciences stories at UC Davis like never before. 

And speaking of stories, be sure to check out “ Feeding the Future,” which explores the research from faculty and students in the Department of Plant Biology. Together, we are building the scientific knowledge base that will help meet the challenges of food production in a changing climate. 

Sincerely,




Mark Winey, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Biological Sciences
Distinguished Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology 

P.S. To support any of our college initiatives, please click the ‘Give Now’ button below. This year, alumna Deborah J. Neff, ’76, is generously matching all gifts of $500 or more to the Dean’s Circle with her personal gift of $500. Make your gift by June 30 to take advantage of this matching challenge to gain the benefits of Dean’s Circle membership.
UC Davis researchers are exploring the survival strategies of wild and parasitic plants to help cultivate the climate-resistant crops of tomorrow.
News Highlights
Jennifer Whistler: On the Search for Safer Opioids
When it comes to opioids, Center for Neuroscience Associate Director Jennifer Whistler believes drug development is headed in the wrong direction. Her solution: design a better drug that mimics the body's natural pain reliever, endorphin.
New Machine Learning Algorithm Finds Patterns in RNA Structures
Inspired by speech recognition technology, a program created by UC Davis researchers could help scientists understand the secret language inside cells. The software, called PatteRNA, mines RNA to establish links between structure, function and disease.
Didem Sarikaya Awarded UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship
For her advocacy work, Sarikaya recently received the University of California’s President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, which is awarded to encourage women and minority Ph.D. recipients to pursue academic careers in the UC system.
Harnessing Plant Microbiomes to Promote Agricultural Growth
Joseph Edwards, ’17 Ph.D., Professor Venkatesan Sundaresan, and their colleagues tracked root microbiome shifts throughout the life-cycle of rice. This research could help inform the design of agricultural probiotics to promote growth traits in rice plants.

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