Oct. 27 - Fulbright HSI Leaders recognition, Distinguished Faculty award
Section 1
Rarely used or seen umbrellas dotted the campus as a rainstorm from the north ignored the sign by parking over Irvine on Monday. Photo by Steve Zylius/UCI
UCI ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEWS
Tiffany Willoughby-Herard was honored for helping create a pathway to UCI for the next generation of Black scholars.
Willoughby-Herard receives Distinguished Faculty award
Tiffany Willoughby-Herard, associate professor of African American studies and equity advisor in the School of Humanities, has been named the 2021-2022 recipient of the campus’ Academic Senate Distinguished Faculty Award for Mentorship. Willoughby-Herard was recognized for co-leading a program that matches UCI mentors with Historically Black College and Universities’ undergraduate research students.
UCI named to inaugural cohort of Fulbright HSI Leaders by State Department
The newly created designation by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs recognizes the noteworthy engagement that UCI and 34 other Hispanic-Serving Institutions have achieved with the federal government’s flagship international educational exchange program. “This recognition underscores UCI’s ambition to be the nation’s leading Hispanic/Latinx-thriving university,” said former Fulbright scholar Douglas M. Haynes, vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion.
Geneticist wins NIH award to study genome evolution
Grace Yuh Chwen Lee, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, is the recipient of an Early Career Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award from the National Institutes of Health. Lee, who is among the first cohort of UCI faculty to receive an Early Career MIRA, will use the award to study how transposable elements change the local chromatin environment and influence the 3D structure of genomes.
Fostering a global perspective
The inaugural cohort of graduate students in the School of Social Sciences Department of Global and International Studies are exploring: China’s interventions in Latin America; how the Filipino diaspora fills a significant role in U.S. elder and health care; how international tourism contributes to the poverty and oppression of locals; and the invisible impacts of the sprawling Amazon warehouse that just opened in Tijuana, Mexico.
UC NEWS AND GENERAL NEWS
Merck will share formula for its COVID pill with poor countries
Merck & Co. will license its promising drug to a United Nations-backed nonprofit to provide more supplies to low- and middle-income countries. The Medicines Patent Pool, which aims to expand poor countries’ access to drugs, will work with multiple drugmakers to produce molnupiravir for 105 nations, including Pakistan, Cambodia and all of Africa, the company and nonprofit said today.
FDA panel backs Pfizer's low-dose vaccine for kids
The advisory panel voted unanimously, with one abstention, that the vaccine’s benefits for ages 5 to 11 outweigh any potential risks. The FDA, which is not bound by the panel recommendation released Tuesday, is expected to make its own decision within days.
Vaccine eligibility for mood disorders underscores elevated risk
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added mood disorders to the list of conditions that put people at high risk for severe COVID recently, clinicians were not surprised. But the scientific seal of approval is still critical: It makes millions of people eligible for booster shots based on their mental health diagnosis alone and gives vulnerable groups more reason to protect themselves.
EVENTS
Scribble Your Stress Away
Friday, 9 a.m. (sponsored by Campuswide Honors Student Council)
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
The ‘original’ COVID-19 is essentially gone
Orange County Register, Oct. 24
Cited: Andrew Noymer, associate professor of population health & disease prevention
Fact check: Claim linking widespread fingerprint use to nearly identical inmates misses mark
USA Today, Oct. 27
Cited: Simon Cole, professor of criminology, law and society
How to beat the dreaded midday slump
Slate (audio), Oct. 26
Guest: Sara Mednick, professor of cognitive science
#UCICONNECTED
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COVID-19 NOTIFICATION AND RESOURCES
3 new campus cases
One employee and two students tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. 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
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