Oct. 22 - UCI Week Academic Minute finale, Saturday colonoscopies
Section 1
Lords of the Ring: A nice fall day for a stroll on Ring Road. Photo by Steve Zylius/UCI
UCI ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEWS
Last day of ‘UCI Week’ on NPR’s ‘Academic Minute’
The cavalcade of UCI experts appearing on National Public Radio's “Academic Minute” series concludes today with Jean K. Ho, postdoctoral scholar at the UCI Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders. Millions of Americans have high blood pressure, which can cause dementia later in life. Hypertension medications to lower blood pressure also help ward off memory loss, but scientists don’t know why. Ho’s research seeks to find the answer.
UCI team develops recommended practices for study of adverse drug events
School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences researchers developed a set of recommended practices for conducting adverse drug event studies that utilize electronic health record (EHR) databases. Their findings, which were published in the Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, cater “to a wide audience, including clinicians, health informaticians and other non-clinician scientists, to improve their knowledge in using EHR data for research studies with an aim to improve patient outcomes,” says lead author Quinton Ng, a doctorate student in the pharmacological sciences program.
School of Social Ecology researcher gets NSF-backed grant to study wildfires’ effects on farmworkers
Michael Méndez, assistant professor of urban planning and public policy, has received a two-year, $400,000 grant from the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Early Career Faculty Innovator Program. It will fund a joint project with researchers at NCAR–which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation–to explore the disparate treatment of undocumented Latino/Latina and indigenous migrant farmworkers during extreme wildfire events in Sonoma County. “These individuals are often not provided with proper occupational health and safety standards and equipment, let alone assistance for disaster relief,” Méndez says.
UCI Health eases barriers to colonoscopies
The UCI Health Digestive Health Institute is now accepting Saturday appointments for colonoscopies, the gold standard for detecting and preventing the spread of colon and rectal cancer. “Our goal at the UCI Health Digestive Health Institute is to eliminate colorectal cancer in Orange County,” says Executive Director Dr. Kenneth Chang. To schedule a colonoscopy, call 888-717-4463.
UC NEWS AND GENERAL NEWS
Friday fun fact
Smart savings: Energy efficiency upgrades saved the UC $316 million in 2020.
Delta variant subtype on rise in U.K.
A subtype of the Delta variant is causing a growing number of infections in the United Kingdom and is being closely monitored there and in other countries. During the week of Sept. 27, the AY.4.2 variant accounted for about 6% of cases in the U.K. and is "on an increasing trajectory," according to the U.K. Health Security Agency. A small number of AY.4.2 cases has also been reported in the U.S. and Denmark.
EVENTS
FBI Presentation: Cyber Threatscape
Tuesday, 11 a.m. (sponsored by Office of Information Technology)
Squid Game @UCI
Tuesday, 3:30 p.m. (sponsored by UCI Illuminations and the departments of Film & Media Studies, Asian Studies, East Asian Studies and Asian American Studies)
Visit today.uci.edu to see and submit event listings. Events of general interest will be shared in UCI Digest two days before they occur.
UCI IN THE NEWS
Note: Some news sites require subscriptions to read articles. The UCI Libraries offer free subscriptions to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Orange County Register and The Washington Post for students, faculty and staff.
Help wanted: more sand for south Orange County’s shrinking beaches
Orange County Register, Oct. 21
Cited: Brett Sanders, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and urban planning and public policy
U.S. lifting travel ban for fully vaccinated travelers from 33 countries
Verywell Health, Oct. 20
Cited: Karen L. Edwards, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
The Raiders had more Black players than any NFL team. Then Jon Gruden took over the roster
FiveThirtyEight, Oct. 21
Author: Michael Tesler, professor of political science and graduate admissions director
COVID-19 NOTIFICATION AND RESOURCES
5 new campus cases
Five students tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. For more information, visit the UCI COVID-19 dashboard.
Remember to upload your vaccine record
Potential workplace exposure
UCI provides this notification of a potential workplace COVID-19 exposure. Employees and subcontractors who were in these locations on the dates listed may have been exposed to the coronavirus. You may be entitled to various benefits under applicable federal and state laws and University-specific policies and agreements. The full notification is available on the UCI Forward site. If you have been identified as a close contact to a COVID-19 case, the UCI Contact Tracing Program will contact you and provide additional direction.
For COVID-19 questions
UCI Forward - information on campus status and operational updates
UCI Health COVID-19 Updates - important information related to UCI Health
UCI Coronavirus Response Center - available at covid19@uci.edu or via phone at (949) 824-9918
Contact Tracing and Vaccine Navigation Services - assistance with vaccines and vaccine uploads; available at contacttracing@uci.edu or via phone at (949) 824-2300
Program in Public Health chatline - answers to questions about COVID-19
For questions specific to your personal health situation, please contact your doctor or healthcare provider.