Update: June 16, 2026

Not long ago, Christina, Annie and Genevieve were small bundles of white fluff, huddled together in their nest box.

Now, that downy layer is quickly giving way to sleek feathers.

A new photo shows the trio in transition — their fluffy coats fading as darker feathers emerge across their wings and backs. It’s a clear sign they are entering the next stage of development, trading softness for strength as they prepare for life beyond the nest.

This is a pivotal time. As their feathers come in, the chicks are building the muscle and coordination they’ll need for short hops, wing flaps and, soon, their first flights.

Over the next few weeks, expect to see more movement in and around the nest as curiosity grows and confidence builds.

With that progress comes a little unpredictability.

First flights don’t always go as planned. It’s common for one or more chicks to land on the ground as they learn to navigate the air and surrounding buildings. When that happens, a quick, careful response helps keep them safe and supports their return to the nest.

As Christina, Annie and Genevieve continue this transition from fluff to flight, the UC Davis Health community plays an important role in watching out for them during this critical stage.

As a reminder:

• If a falcon is seen on the ground, do not approach or attempt to handle it
• Call the UC Davis Health Police Department non-emergency line at 916-734-2555, available 24 hours a day
• Police will notify wildlife experts, including William Corbett, to ensure a safe response

More updates to come as these three continue to grow, explore and take to the sky.

Update: June 8, 2026

The UC Davis Health peregrine falcons are entering an exciting new phase, and this year’s chicks now have names: Christina, Annie and Genevieve.

Over the coming weeks, these young falcons will begin testing their wings as they prepare for their first flights. This stage is a critical moment in their development — and one where the campus community can play an important role.

It’s common for fledgling falcons to end up on the ground as they learn to fly. When this happens, quick and careful intervention can make a significant difference. At another regional nest site in San Jose, three of four chicks recently landed on the ground during early flight attempts and were safely returned to the nest, helping prevent injury.

UC Davis Health staff are encouraged to keep an eye out for the falcons during this period.

• If a falcon is seen on the ground, do not approach or attempt to handle it
• Call the UC Davis Health Police Department non-emergency line at 916-734-2555, available 24 hours a day
• Police will notify wildlife experts, including William Corbett, to ensure a safe response

This support is especially important in the next month as the chicks begin flying more frequently.

Additional updates on Christina, Annie and Genevieve will be shared as they continue to grow and explore the campus skies.

Update: June 2, 2026

Three peregrine falcon chicks reached an important milestone this week as wildlife experts placed identification bands on their legs, a routine step that supports long-term conservation efforts.

Banding allows researchers to track individual birds throughout their lives. Each band carries a unique number that helps monitor migration, nesting success, lifespan and overall population health. For peregrine falcons, once listed as endangered, this data continues to play a key role in sustaining the species’ recovery.

The adult falcons circled overhead during the banding, calling out and closely monitoring the activity. They stayed nearby throughout the process, a protective response as they ensured their chicks remained safe.

William Corbett, a procurement supervisor at UC Davis Health and the organization’s resident falcon expert, said the young birds are thriving this season.

“The banding process is an important way to help us follow these birds as they grow and eventually leave the nest,” Corbett said. “This year’s chicks are looking very healthy and strong. They’re doing very well and beginning to spread their wings, which is exactly what we want to see as they get ready for those first flights.”

The process is brief and designed to minimize stress. While the chicks remain in the nest and are not yet able to fly, trained experts carefully handle each bird, secure lightweight bands around their legs and return them safely. The bands do not interfere with movement or growth and remain with the falcons for life.

“It was a special experience to be this close to the birds during such an important moment,” said Christina Mintner, associate chief operating officer for Ambulatory Care Services. “Being part of this process really highlights how connected our campus community is to these falcons. There’s a shared sense of excitement and pride in watching them grow, and it reflects both our commitment to stewardship and our connection to nature.”

In the coming weeks, the falcons will continue building strength, exercising their wings and exploring the nest edges. These early movements mark a critical stage as they prepare to leave the nest and take their first flights.

Update: May 15, 2026

Three peregrine falcon chicks continue to grow in the campus nest, with both parents actively sharing care of the young birds.

One chick from the brood died, a reminder of the challenges young birds can face in the early days after hatching. The chick was removed from the nest for observation.

The remaining three chicks appear healthy and are beginning to move around the nest as they gain strength.

The adult falcons are taking turns tending to the chicks, with the female spending much of the day shielding them and keeping them protected. Both the male and female are regularly bringing food back to the nest, and the chicks are feeding well.

Activity in the nest is expected to increase in the weeks ahead. Viewers can watch for the chicks to grow rapidly, develop thicker down and early feathers, and become more active as they explore the nest box. In time, they will begin flapping their wings and preparing for their first flights.

Falcon observers will continue monitoring the nest and sharing updates as the chicks reach new milestones.

Update: May 12, 2026

The fourth peregrine falcon chick has hatched in the campus nest, completing the brood of four.

The final chick emerged within the past day, joining siblings that began hatching on Mother’s Day. All four chicks appear healthy, with the parent falcons actively feeding them and keeping them warm.

As activity in the nest increases, observers have also noted the presence of another peregrine falcon near the nesting area earlier this month. The bird, identified by band number 65/AW, is a male hatched at the UC Davis Medical Center nest in 2023.

Falcon observers will continue to watch closely in the coming days and weeks to see how this interaction develops and to follow the growth of the four chicks.

Update: May 11, 2026

Three chicks have hatched in the campus falcon nest, marking a Mother’s Day milestone for the resident peregrine pair.

The first hatchling emerged Sunday, followed by two more shortly after. One egg remains in the nest, and observers are watching closely to see if it will hatch in the coming days.

The new arrivals are already being tended to by their parents, who are keeping the chicks warm and well fed. As the hatchlings grow, viewers can expect more movement and activity in the nest and, soon, the first glimpses of their developing personalities.

Updates will continue as the remaining egg nears its expected hatch and the chicks continue to grow.

Update: May 5, 2026

The peregrine falcons nesting atop the UC Davis Medical Center remain settled in for the long wait, with four eggs still unhatched. The adult pair has been taking turns incubating the clutch, carefully trading places throughout the day to keep the eggs warm and protected.

The image captures both birds on duty: one tucked inside the nest box, the other standing watch nearby, scanning the horizon above the Sacramento skyline. This steady shift work is a key part of the incubation process, which can last several weeks.

For now, it is a quiet moment in the nesting season. No chicks yet, but all signs point to attentive parents staying the course as the countdown to hatching continues.

Update: April 14, 2026

All signs point to a full nest this season, with the UC Davis Health peregrine falcon appearing to settle in with a brood of four eggs.

The mother falcon is now in full nesting mode, spending most of her time tucked low in the nest, keeping the eggs warm and protected. Her movements have slowed and become more deliberate — a clear signal that incubation is well underway.

Meanwhile, the father falcon continues to make regular appearances, stopping by the nest area periodically to check in on the family before heading back out. Together, the pair is settling into the steady rhythm of nesting season, marking another exciting milestone for this year’s falcon watch. Watch live cameras.

Update: April 8, 2026

Add one more to the count.

Falcon-eyed viewers and nest cameras confirmed the presence of a fourth egg, marking yet another change inside the UC Davis Health falcon nest. In just over a week, the season has changed from “will she this year?” to “how many?”

With four eggs now, attention turns to what comes next: a fifth egg, or the incubation phase?

Update: April 6, 2026

Over the weekend, the mother falcon laid a third egg, continuing a nesting season that has already delivered several unexpected turns.

What began with uncertainty has quickly grown into a season full of momentum—and, once again, the falcons aren’t done keeping us on our toes.

Update: April 2, 2026

The falcons have added another egg to the nest. Shortly after noon, the mother falcon laid a second egg, building on a nesting season that just days ago appeared uncertain. The two eggs are now visible on the nest cameras.

Update: March 31, 2026

Talk about a plot twist.

Less than 24 hours after sharing that there was a real possibility the falcons might not lay eggs this season, the mother falcon proved once again that nature doesn’t follow our timelines.

Sometime overnight, she laid her first egg.

Based on the nest camera footage, the event occurred quietly and without fanfare. When the sun set Monday evening, the nest was still empty. By the time dawn broke Tuesday morning, a single egg had appeared—transforming a season of uncertainty into one of renewed anticipation.

For everyone watching, it was a reminder why this nest keeps captivating year after year: just when it seems like the story might be winding down, the falcons surprise us with a performance worthy of prime-time interest.

Update: March 30, 2026

It has been nearly two months since peregrine falcons were first spotted near the UC Davis Medical Center this year, prompting a familiar question from fans of the birds: Where are the eggs?

In recent years, egg-laying has followed a fairly predictable timeline. Last year, the female falcon laid her first egg on March 17 and her final egg on March 28. In 2024, the first egg appeared on March 12. While an exact date isn’t available for 2023, the timing of the first hatch suggests the eggs likely arrived in late March.

This year, however, the nest remains empty.

William “Bill” Corbett, a procurement supervisor at UC Davis Health and a longtime falcon expert, said the delay is unusual. Peregrine falcons he tracks in San Jose laid their eggs weeks ago, he said, raising the possibility that the UC Davis Health birds may have chosen a different location.

His team plans to check other areas of the roof to determine whether the falcons established an alternate nest.

“If we don’t have eggs by the end of this week, I don’t feel like it’s going to happen,” Corbett said.

Original Post

A pair of peregrine falcons has once again returned to their nest atop UC Davis Medical Center. The nest sits at a safe distance from the hospital’s busy helipad, offering the birds a secure place to call home for the spring.

This season, the nest features a new, cleaner and larger sign and a ramp. The falcons have already started checking it out as they prepare for their next clutch of eggs. 

Last year, the female falcon laid five eggs, four of which successfully hatched. The falcons had three female chicks and one male. Chicks usually begin hatching in late April. Corbett will continue to share insights about these remarkable birds — and why their presence here is so special — throughout spring.

Watch the live FalconCam here.

Strikingly, the drop in arrests did not end when the orders expired and continued for months afterward.

Those are the results of a new study published in PNAS Nexus.

“These findings suggest ERPOs may interrupt acute-risk behavior while also contributing to longer-term reductions in criminal activity,” said Veronica Pear, first author of the paper. Pear is an epidemiologist and assistant professor at the UC Davis Centers for Violence Prevention (CVP).

ERPOs aim to reduce firearm violence in U.S.

America’s ongoing firearm violence epidemic resulted in 43,593 deaths in 2024. About 40,000 people were shot in 2025, excluding suicides — more than 110 people a day nationwide

ERPOs are designed to address gun violence by temporarily restricting firearm access for individuals deemed by a court to pose a significant danger of harming themselves or others.

Currently, 22 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia have some form of ERPO law. In California, ERPOs are called Gun Violence Restraining Orders and have been in effect since January 1, 2016.

The BCI system was developed at UC Davis, in collaboration with colleagues at Brown University and Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute. It is equipped with advanced decoding algorithms that translate neural signals into text (speech BCI) and enable cursor control (movement BCI). It allows for full interaction with a personal computer.

The brain-computer interface is designed to restore communication and computer control by decoding neural activity linked to attempted speech and movement. Although recent advances have achieved high accuracy in research settings, real-world adoption has been limited by two key challenges: independent at-home use and reliable long-term performance.

The new BCI system overcomes both barriers. The study shows that it can now support rich, independent digital and in-person communication in real-world settings.

"For years, BCIs have been proof-of-concept devices that lived in highly controlled research labs. This work shows that we may have crossed a threshold, by empowering a person with paralysis to speak on his own terms,” said UC Davis neurosurgeon David Brandman. Brandman is the co-principal investigator and co-senior author of this study. He is an associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Neurological Surgery and co-director of the UC Davis Neuroprosthetics Lab. 

UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May conferred degrees as graduates, certificate recipients, faculty, staff, family members and supporters gathered to mark the milestone.

This year’s graduating classes and certificate awardees included:

• 44 students receiving master’s degrees in nursing (whose program concluded in December)
• 63 future physician assistants
• 17 graduates earning Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees as family nurse practitioners
• six graduates receiving Doctor of Philosophy degrees and
• 41 nurse practitioners awarded certificates to provide mental health services.

“This ceremony also comes during an important moment in the history of our school. This year, we are celebrating 15 Years: Shaping What’s Next in Health Care,” said Stephen Cavanagh, dean of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. “Fifteen years ago, this school’s first classes arrived to fulfill a bold idea — attracted to a new kind of health professions school, one rooted in leadership, research, collaboration and bold system change.”

Graduates enter healthcare at a time of need

Standing before hundreds in attendance, Cavanagh traced the school’s growth since its first students arrived in 2010. At the time, the school had two programs, 33 students and no alumni. Today, its graduates serve in clinics, hospitals, communities, classrooms, labs and leadership roles across the healthcare spectrum.

Cavanagh told graduates they are entering a field shaped by workforce shortages, unequal access to care, rising complexity and fast-changing technology. The multiple challenges, he added, create a need for leaders who can think clearly, collaborate and keep people at the center of care.

Now, a $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will help his UC Davis research team test a bioengineered graft infused with ligands (molecules) to treat neuropathic bladders of children with spina bifida or spinal cord injuries.

A neuropathic, also called neurogenic, bladder is caused by dysfunctional nerve messaging between the nervous system and the bladder . The condition results in bladder control issues and kidney disease.

“The bladder is so unique because it is free floating with no supporting matrix of cells around it. It has been historically challenging for regeneration and augmentation,” Kurzrock explained. Kurzrock is the chief of pediatric urologic surgery and professor of urology and pediatrics at UC Davis Children’s Hospital. He is also vice chair of the Department of Urologic Surgery. “Patients with spina bifida or spinal cord injury may develop a neurogenic bladder, leading to problems with urination and kidney function. They may need bladder augmentation to enlarge their bladder.”

The grant will bring together clinical and bioengineering expertise to develop and test an innovative technique to create vascularized grafts.

Bladder augmentation surgeries

In enterocystoplasty, the surgeon uses parts of the intestine or stomach as a graft to enlarge the bladder. The surgery requires an extensive abdominal operation and can have many short- and long-term complications.

Kurzrock found that the ideal substitute for the traditional bladder graft is bioengineered tissue. He developed an innovative method to solve a common problem in graft implants: the challenge of tissue contraction caused by inadequate blood supply. He devised a new procedure to create graft tissues with functioning blood vessels — a necessary condition for graft survival.

In 2022, Kurzrock published a study on vascularized grafts for bladder augmentation in mice and pigs. His study showed that bladder vessels will connect (inosculate) with graft vessels within a few days after transplantation. These connections facilitated blood flow to the entire graft.

A fortified scaffold to promote new blood vessels

Kurzrock is collaborating with UC Davis bioengineer Aijun Wang, an expert in designing and testing supportive structures called scaffolds. Wang has developed a scaffold made of engineered biomaterial modified with a ligand (special molecule known as LXW7) that specifically interacts with endothelial cells that help vascularization. The ligand, developed at UC Davis, helps the cells’ attachment, migration and survival, which promotes formation of new blood vessels and reduces graft complications.

“When these molecules are added to scaffolds, they provide a gripping site for endothelial cells to bind. This allows for better interaction between the cells and their supportive structure, known as extracellular matrix,” explained Wang, professor of surgery and biomedical engineering. He is also the vice chair for translational research, innovation and entrepreneurship in the Department of Surgery and the director of the Center for Bioengineering in Medicine at UC Davis.

How does the graft work?

The engineered graft is a pig tissue, processed to remove the cells and retain the protein structure of the matrix. This acellular scaffold prevents the host’s natural rejection and immune response to new entrants.

The grafts are modified with the ligand then implanted on the rectus muscle bed. This implantation ensures optimum graft maturity and healthy functional vessels prior to bladder transplantation. The new connections provide channels for the blood to flow through the graft within days after transplant and prevent contraction.

“The rectus muscle bed serves as an incubator for the graft until it is vascularized and ready to be transplanted to the bladder,” Kurzrock explained. “In fact, we may technically grow a graft in that space multiple times over the years.”

“It's a brilliant idea to integrate the body's own healing potential,” Wang said. “Adding newer bioengineering technologies, such as the ligand technology, will help in microvascular regeneration of the whole bladder matrix and nearby muscle cells.”

The team will test the new graft in a pig model before extending this study to human clinical trials.

UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Office of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) has funded the unique year-long study as a joint venture with the First Church of God in Merced, which serves the local Hmong community.

Bladder cancer is a serious and often underdiagnosed disease that has been linked to certain chemical exposures, such as smoking, air pollutants and job-related chemicals, including pesticides. Small-scale farmers and workers may face unique risks due to frequent handling of pesticides and limited access to occupational health information. This project seeks to better understand those risks within Hmong farmers, a group who has historically been underrepresented in cancer research.

“Hmong are the most underserved population in Merced and their cancer burden is estimated to be six times greater than other ethnic groups,” said First Church of God Assistant Pastor Nomtsia Xiong. “Any opportunity to develop a strategy to lower the cancer risk in our community is a great benefit to us.”

Community partnership drives understanding

“This study is about listening as much as it is about learning,” Ghosh said. “We want to understand what pesticides Hmong farmworkers are using, how often they are exposed, and how concerned they are about the effects on their health — particularly bladder health.”

Pesticide use is often thought to cause neurological disorders and respiratory diseases – but it also affects bladder health. Ghosh said this is not talked about very much in the Hmong communities due to societal taboos regarding potentially embarrassing symptoms.

The project builds on earlier outreach conducted in collaboration with the COE and the First Church of God. Through this community partnership, the research team distributed a short questionnaire to Hmong farmers in rural areas of the Central Valley. The survey aimed to gauge both knowledge of pesticide exposure and potential indicators of bladder cancer within the community.

Early findings highlight areas of concern

While the initial response group was small, the findings highlighted important concerns. Of the eight individuals who responded, one person reported experiencing visible blood in the urine, a potential warning sign of undiagnosed bladder cancer. Other participants expressed strong interest in understanding the extent of their pesticide exposure and its possible health effects.

“The feedback from our first outreach highlights a meaningful opportunity for deeper engagement,” Braun explained. “The community members are proactive about their health; they are ready to learn more and eager to connect with the right resources.”

Based on these early insights, Ghosh’s team and the First Church of God are proposing a collaborative research approach.

Hmong agricultural workers will not simply be research subjects, but active partners. The study aims to better understand community values, beliefs and priorities related to pesticide use and bladder health risks, including risk of bladder cancer, while also providing education and opportunities for dialogue.

Three-pronged approach to building the study’s framework

The project has three main goals:

1.      Identify what pesticides are being used by small farmers and in what quantities.

2.      Assess whether these pesticides may have harmful effects on bladder health.

3.      Explore whether repeated exposure over time could contribute to the development of bladder cancer.

To achieve this, the research team will conduct a series of community workshops focused on pesticide use and its known health effects. These sessions will be followed by surveys or questionnaires designed to capture individual exposure histories and relevant health concerns. Importantly, the study also seeks to determine the feasibility of recruiting and retaining participants from the Hmong community, with the intention of developing a larger, more comprehensive study in the future.

“Our long-term vision is to build research that is culturally responsive and truly informed by the community,” said Ghosh. “If we want to address cancer disparities, we have to start by understanding and respecting the lived experiences of the people most affected.”

UC Davis Children’s Hospital is the only hospital in Sacramento to be recognized. The hospital was ranked in the top 50 nationally in the pediatric fields of neonatology (ranked 33^rd) and pediatric neurology and neurosurgery (ranked 29^th).

The ranking recognizes the leading children’s hospitals in the United States across eight pediatric fields, featuring the top 50 hospitals for cardiology and cardiac surgery, endocrinology, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery, neonatology, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, orthopaedics and pulmonology. 

"We are honored to receive this recognition,” said Satyan Lakshminrusimha, chair of pediatrics and pediatrician-in-chief at UC Davis Children’s Hospital. “Our team is committed to delivering world-class care every day to children and families here in the Sacramento region and beyond.”

The rankings honor 95 leading hospitals.

The list was compiled from four data sources:

1. A nationwide online survey. Over 10,000 medical professionals and hospital managers with knowledge about pediatric care, including general and specialized pediatricians and nurses, were asked to recommend leading children’s hospitals in the U.S. The survey was also promoted on newsweek.com
2. Hospital quality metrics from a variety of sources on indicators relevant to the respective pediatric fields. This includes the Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
3. Patient satisfaction research, which included Google reviews.
4. Statista Patient-Reported Outcome Measures implementation survey, which are standardized, validated questionnaires completed by patients.

The full list of recipients appears on Newsweek’s website.

“Semantic memory is essential for communication, comprehension and navigating everyday life,” said senior author Kathryn Conlon, an associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Public Health Sciences. “Our findings suggest that long-term exposure to air pollution doesn’t just affect physical health — it may also shape how the brain ages, particularly in ways that matter for independence and quality of life.”

Two other measures of cognitive function — executive function and verbal episodic memory — did not show an impact related to the pollution.

The findings were published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Behavior & Socioeconomics of Aging.

Reducing air pollution may reduce dementia burden

The data for the research comes from the Kaiser Permanente Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR). Launched in 2017, the ongoing study aims to identify factors that impact healthy brain aging among Black adults.

Black adults in the United States experience 1.5 to 2 times higher rates of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias compared with non-Hispanic White adults.

In the new study, the researchers focused on particulate matter (PM), a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (about 1/30th of a human hair) are referred to as PM2.5_, or fine particulates.

Previous research has linked PM2.5 to cardiovascular disease and mortality; however, a growing area of study is focused on the role of fine particulate exposure in the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

The research, led by the UC Davis Centers for Violence Prevention (CVP), polled more than 8,000 adults nationwide. The survey measured beliefs about democracy, civil conflict and the use of force to advance political objectives.

While the researchers identified small increases in the proportion of respondents who view political violence as justified under at least some circumstances, they found no increase overall in personal willingness to commit political violence or to use firearms in such situations.

“What stands out is not a dramatic escalation, but a pattern of relative stability,” said Garen Wintemute, first author of the study. Wintemute is an attending physician in the UC Davis Department of Emergency Medicine and director of CVP. “Across the political spectrum, the large majority of Americans continue to reject political violence, even during a period of intense political strain.”

Wintemute’s distinguished research has shown violence is not only a public safety issue — it’s also a health problem. He launched the annual, nationally representative survey of adults in the United States in 2022 to track year-over-year changes in attitudes toward political violence.

Key findings from new study (mid‑2024 to mid‑2025)

• Justification for political violence: The overall share of respondents who said violence is “usually or always” justified to advance at least one of 20 political objectives increased modestly, from 32.3% to 35.6%.
• Willingness to personally engage in political violence: Measures of personal willingness to damage property, threaten others, injure someone, or kill someone did not increase overall, and willingness to kill someone declined slightly.
• Firearms and political violence: There was no increase in expectations of being armed, threatening someone with a firearm, or shooting someone in a situation respondents believed justified violence.
• Expectations of civil war: A small increase was observed in the belief that the U.S. may experience civil war in the coming years, while support for civil war as “necessary” remained unchanged.

Findings across political groups

The researchers examined responses by political party and by affiliation with the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

Some of the key results from 2024 that persisted in 2025:

• A higher percentage of MAGA Republicans (52.2%) than of strong Democrats (32.1%) believed political violence is usually or always justified to achieve at least one political objective.
• The two groups did not differ significantly regarding their stated willingness to personally injure or kill someone, and such willingness remained uncommon across all groups.

From 2024 to 2025, some attitudes moved in opposite directions:

• Strong Democrats showed small increases in some measures of perceived justification for violence.
• MAGA Republicans, on average, showed small decreases on several of those same measures.

“Looking at only one group can be misleading,” Wintemute said. “The data show modest movement in multiple directions. What’s consistent is that extreme positions and personal readiness to commit violence remain limited to a small minority across all political affiliations. Entrapment in a spiral of escalating political violence is not inevitable in the United States.”

Side‑by‑Side Comparison of Attitudes Toward Political Violence

Bold font and an asterisk (*) indicate that the difference is statistically significant.

Public opinion does not suggest slide toward widespread violence

The findings arrive as concerns persist about political unrest, election‑related violence and threats against public officials.

The study’s authors emphasize that public opinion does not currently suggest an inevitable slide toward widespread political violence, and that prevention efforts can benefit from recognizing both areas of concern and resilience.

“Even in a period of high political tension, most Americans continue to reject political violence,” said Veronica Pear, senior author of the paper. Pear is an epidemiologist and assistant professor at CVP. “This suggests prevention remains both necessary and possible, particularly when efforts build on the fact that support for violence is not the norm.”

Additional co-authors are listed in the paper.

Funding

This research was supported by the Joyce Foundation, the California Wellness Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and the California Firearm Violence Research Center and UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program.

Resources and related research

• Read the study
• UC Davis Centers for Violence Prevention
• Support for authoritarianism and use of force by and against the federal government in the United States in mid-2025: findings from a nationally representative survey
• Military Service and Support for Political Violence and Right-Wing Extremism
• Approval of the National Rifle Association and political violence: findings from a nationally representative survey

Shank’s entry into health policy began as a fellow in the Department of Emergency Medicine Health Policy and Administration Fellowship program at UC Davis Health. Through the program, for two years she worked closely with state and local government officials, spending significant time at the California State Capitol and learning how policy decisions are shaped — and changed.

“Sometimes the most powerful way to help the person in front of you is to change the system behind them,” shared Shank. 

The study, published in Jama Open Network, found naloxone administration during resuscitation by emergency medical service (EMS) personnel was associated with improved outcomes in patients with suspected OA-OHCA.