Sunday 20 July 2025
The rate of smoking in the San Joaquin Valley is the highest in California — on par with tobacco-producing regions in Georgia and South Carolina — and UC Merced’s Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC) is determined to change that.
Akhila Yechuri is taking what she learned as an undergrad at UC Merced to Hyderabad, India, researching health disparities as the campus’s first undergrad to earn a Fulbright scholarship.
“I'm so overwhelmed and excited,” she said. “This is really thrilling.”
Physics Professor Linda Hirst has been named this year’s recipient of the British Liquid Crystal Society’s C. Hilsum Medal for her contributions to liquid crystal science and technology.
She journeyed to Leeds, England, to receive the prestigious medal, attend an awards dinner and deliver the keynote speech.
“It’s a huge honor to get this recognition,” Hirst said. “I’ve been lucky to work with so many amazing students and colleagues over the years.”
The recipients of this year’s Distinguished Faculty and Lecturer Awards come from various disciplines but all have one thing in common: They have a record of excellence that can’t be ignored.
In our discussions with Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Gregg Camfield about the future of medical education, we realized that you, our HSRI members, had not actually been asked whether you felt that medical education should remain under HSRI, or whether it should be moved out of HSRI and under the Provost’s office. The thinking is that Medical Education should be an independent entity: a Center for Medical Education and Health Sciences, with its own director, budget and staff.
UC Merced’s Graduate Division will host its Grad Slam competition on April 18 with graduate scholars presenting on topics ranging from Valley Fever immune response and antibiotic resistance to computer vision and mathematical methods for thermal collection. This year’s competition started in March with 30 graduate students in the qualifying round, from which the judges narrowed the field to the top 12.
The campus’s 2019 Grad Slam semi-finalists are:
