UC Davis Health
Health Magazine
SUMMER 2025
From Lab to Lives website
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From Labs to Lives

A new UC Davis website and video series share how research funding solves real-world health problems

UC Davis has launched a website and video series titled, “From Labs to Lives,” to highlight federally funded research, describe how it benefits the public, and share the consequences to the public if funding is reduced or eliminated.

The site features video interviews with UC Davis faculty on both the Davis and Sacramento campuses, and a downloadable one-pager or “flashcard” describing each featured researcher’s work. There are also fact sheets about the power of federal investments in medicine, science and engineering, and a research brief about each federal agency’s impact on the university.

UC Davis interdisciplinary research plays a vital role in building the region’s economy, and contributes to our nation’s global leadership in technology and innovation. Through collaboration between our top-ranked hospital and veterinary school, as well as our science and engineering discoveries, this research directly improves American lives.

For example, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) fosters discoveries and strategies to prevent disease, enhance health and reduce illness and disability. UC Davis was awarded $276 million in NIH funding in 2024. UC Davis researchers have used NIH support to:

  • Invent a brain-computer interface that translates brain signals into speech, restoring communication capabilities for people who can’t speak due to paralysis.
  • Develop a landmark form of surgery to treat spina bifida, a disease that can lead to lifelong cognitive, mobility, urinary and bowel disabilities.
  • Create a cure for retinal vein occlusion, a common form of blindness affecting more than 1.6 million Americans, using stem-cell therapy.
  • Advance stem-cell therapy that could eliminate HIV from the body, treat Huntington’s disease and address other disorders.
  • Create a total-body, highly accurate, low-cost scanner to detect cancerous tumors, and develop precision, fluorescence-based surgical tools to remove tumors.
  • Advance understanding of the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, which affects nearly 7 million people in the United States, to identify effective new treatments.
  • Provide vital support in 2024 for 310 UC Davis graduate students and 161 postdoctoral researchers — individuals who will carry today’s discoveries forward.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Defense (DOD) are among other federal agencies that award UC Davis funding for health-related research.

Health research snapshots

Federally-supported health research at UC Davis, and its impacts:

  • Alzheimer’s Disease

    NIH-funded research to prevent Alzheimer’s

    Alzheimer’s disease slowly erases memory, independence and quality of life. Charles DeCarli, M.D., is studying how the brain changes before symptoms appear. His team uses detailed brain scans and genetic research to look for early warning signs — small changes that could help doctors predict who is most at risk. By identifying these clues, his research could lead to earlier diagnosis and new ways to keep the brain healthier for longer.

    Alzheimer’s affects millions of families, yet there is still no cure. DeCarli’s work is critical to understanding who is at risk and how we can protect brain health as we age.

    “The most important aspect of academia is its contributions to society in general. I think most people would agree — and experts certainly would agree — that most of the innovation that we see in science and technology today have, at its roots, academic institutions.”

    – Charles DeCarli, M.D.

  • Treatments for blindness

    NIH-funded research uncovers stem cell therapy treatment for vision loss

    Susanna Park, M.D., Ph.D., is leading groundbreaking research on using stem cell therapy to treat vision loss caused by retinal vein occlusion (RVO) — a condition where blocked blood flow damages the retina, which is like a stroke to the eye and often leads to blindness. Her work focuses on helping the eye heal itself by restoring blood flow and repairing the retina, giving hope to people who currently have few treatment options.

    For many, vision loss from RVO means struggling with everyday tasks like reading, driving or recognizing faces. Park’s research could change that, offering a way to restore sight and independence.

    “It’s hard to do trials like this without federal funding support. And so if we have reduced funding, it slows down or impedes any further developments in inventing and developing new treatments for our patients with vision loss.”

    – Susanna Park, M.D., Ph.D.

  • Children’s health

    NIH-funded innovation improving safety for our youngest patients

    When children need PET/CT scans, they have to keep very still for the duration of their scan, which can be challenging or impossible for some. UC Davis research led by Ramsey Badawi, Ph.D., has developed a total-body PET scanner that is much faster than regular PET scanners, allowing these children to have their scans without needing sedation or anesthetic. This makes the scans safer, and easier on both the children and their parents alike.

    This research is also working on new ways to use artificial intelligence to teach regular PET scanners to “see” more like total-body PET scanners do. This will dramatically help to improve access to the benefits of this game-changing technology.

    “Total body PET has essentially created a whole new industry, but without the kick-starting of the federal health care dollars to really turn that idea into practice, I’m not sure it would ever have happened. And I think that’s true for a lot of these new ideas in health care.”

    – Ramsey Badawi, Ph.D.

  • Breast cancer screening

    NIH-funded research making screening safer and more effective

    Breast cancer affects millions of lives, and early detection can make all the difference. Diana Miglioretti, Ph.D., is leading NIH-funded research to improve breast cancer screening so it catches cancer early while reducing unnecessary stress and procedures. As co-leader of the U.S. Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium, she analyzes data from millions of mammograms to find the best ways to screen people based on their individual risk. Her work helps ensure screening is effective, safe and accessible to everyone.

    Miglioretti’s research is about more than data — it’s about saving lives and improving the screening experience. By personalizing screening guidelines, her work helps detect cancer earlier while reducing false alarms that cause anxiety and extra tests.

    “Without continued federal support, AI could be widely adopted before we have sufficient evidence of its effectiveness, potentially resulting in suboptimal patient outcomes, unnecessary procedures and higher health care costs.”

    – Diana Miglioretti, Ph.D.

  • Pain management in cancer patients

    Federally funded research advancing neuroscience and science communication

    Understanding how our nervous system processes sensations is key to developing better treatments for chronic pain and neurological disorders. Theanne Griffith, Ph.D., a UC Davis School of Medicine researcher, is exploring how sensory neurons transmit signals, focusing on proteins important for neuronal communication.

    This research is advancing our understanding of pain pathways and nervous system function, and how medical treatments can lead to painful peripheral neuropathy in patients.

    “Peripheral neuropathies are painful conditions induced by a variety of things, including chemotherapy. One of the federally funded projects in my lab aims to understand how chemotherapy drugs lead to pain or peripheral neuropathy. That grant is now at risk of losing future funding, hampering my ability to conduct this research.”

    – Theanne Griffith, Ph.D.

    Visit ucdavis.edu/labs-to-lives to learn more.