University of California, Irvine Division of Continuing Education

The National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases has awarded Guiyun Yan, PhD, a professor of population health and disease prevention, $4.3 million to study the spread of malaria in Africa. The funding establishes UC Irvine as one of the International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research, which will engage malaria research in endemic and epidemic regions. Over the next five years, Yan will lead a consortium of American and Ethiopian institutions to study the biology of invasive Anopheles stephensi in Ethiopia, develop new surveillance tools and methods to track vector spread and identify cost-effective vector control methods for urban settings. “There’s a lack of knowledge regarding the factors that facilitate or limit the spread of An. stephensi in Africa,” said Yan. “This center grant provides us an exciting opportunity to develop new tools and methods to effectively address these gaps.” Read more: https://bit.ly/3VDdrrA

Selma Masri, an associate professor of biological chemistry and Bridget Fortin, a doctoral student in biological chemistry and lead author of a new study have revealed that the circadian clock – the biological pacemaker that governs daily rhythms in physiological processes, including immune functions – can be leveraged to enhance the efficacy of certain cancer therapies. The study provides deeper insights into the intricate relationship among the circadian clock, immune regulation and tumor development. It also found that a therapeutic approach optimizing time-of-day delivery based on an individual’s unique circadian patterns offers new avenues for prevention and treatment. “Our findings demonstrate the pivotal role of the circadian clock in enhancing immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.” Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gFGB6QKj

Re-entering the workforce after more than a decade can be a bit intimidating, Temre said. Although she had experience as a court clerk and attorney, she was looking for a fresh start, but she wasn’t sure which direction to go. Then a friend recommended a new career track in contract management, a lucrative and in-demand field. Having NCMA certification provides a standardized way for employers to have insight into a candidate’s training, knowledge, and skillsets, she added. “It helps provide credibility, and in my circumstances at the start of my contract management career, this helps give employers confidence in my potential and dedication despite my current lack of professional experience.” She found her dream job and couldn’t be more excited. “I was very much in need of a position, and I am so grateful to be starting on this new career path.” Aside from focusing on her new career, Temre is far from finished with her writing pursuits. “Being a writer and a storyteller is a part of who I am,” she said. “The opportunity to create a small offering of this same experience for a young reader will never not feel like a little bit of magic.” Read more about Temre: https://bit.ly/45MpsQ8

When most people hear the word “vision,” they think of eyes. But UC Irvine cognitive scientist and visual perception expert Cherlyn Ng says our sight would be terrible if we relied on the eyes alone. In this latest installment of the UC Irvine Social Sciences Experts On series, Ng shares her research on the brain’s role in crafting what we see. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/g9v23v74

With a five-year, $1.4 million National Institutes of Health grant, the Center for Neural Circuit Mapping will establish a training program for Alzheimer’s disease research. An interdisciplinary team of 29 faculty members will mentor and support student trainees, employing state-of-the-art approaches to expand the mechanistic understanding of brain disorders through neural circuit mapping. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4bxJ8bE

Luna was drawn to the Paralegal program for its prestigious designation, as well as its compressed three-month option. She wanted to get her feet wet in the legal world and work as a paralegal before committing to the expense and workload required of a graduate degree, so this was ideal preparation for grad school and, eventually, a career as an attorney. “Law firm life is not for everyone,” Luna said. “I needed to try it out before committing to the challenge of earning a LLM (Master of Laws) degree at USC. The DCE Paralegal program provided a way for me to test the legal waters before committing to doing another degree. I wanted to get my certificate program done quickly so that I could get to work, and the DCE option was the most highly recommended paralegal program from the research I had done,” Luna said. Luna plans to continue working in corporate transactional practice, mostly assisting with mergers and acquisitions, helping employers with compliance regarding California’s stringent labor laws as well as reviewing and drafting contracts while organizing and advising companies. Learn more about Luna and her goals: https://bit.ly/4cEWHa4

Roxane Cohen Silver, a Distinguished Professor of psychological science, medicine and public health, is a nationally-recognized expert on trauma who recently was elected to the elite American Academy of Arts & Sciences. And it was two tragedies – the Columbine High School shooting in 1999 and the 9/11 terrorist attacks – that transformed her career. “It was the first time we recognized that an event in one part of the nation could traumatize people elsewhere,” Silver said, adding that now, the constant drumbeat of “wars, political polarization and election anxiety” are keeping her busier than ever. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3XLnFIW

Last month Chancellor Howard Gillman released a statement declaring the 2024-25 academic year to be the Year of Scholarly Values. “Acknowledging the pivotal importance of academic excellence and integrity to the university's mission, I invite all members of the campus community to engage in discussions during the 2024-25 academic year about the essential role that scholarly values must play in knowledge discovery and dissemination across our various and diverse disciplines,” Gillman said. “These discussions are central to our foundational goals, and I extend my gratitude in advance for your active participation in these crucial conversations and activities.” Read more: https://bit.ly/3W8FqAZ

DCE alumna Temre Beltz had a successful legal career, working as an associate attorney at the firm Latham & Watkins, before taking a long break to stay home and raise her two daughters. Sixteen years later, her teenage daughters have moved on to a new stage of their lives, and Temre decided to do the same. She returned to her alma mater UCI to relaunch her career with a DCE Contract Management certificate. “When the path opened up for me to begin looking for employment again, I was thrilled to find that the Division of Continuing Education offered a six-course certificate program,” she said. “The coursework was rigorous, reasonably priced, and I was happy to return to my alma mater. It is abundantly clear that the instructors in the Contract Management program want their students to succeed not just in the coursework but in their careers as a whole.” The program gave her a coveted new skillset and prepared her to pass the entry-level Certified Contract Management Associate (CCMA?) certification exam, a valued designation offered by the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) that gives applicants a notable edge when seeking employment. In Temre’s case, she quickly found a full-time position with a rapidly scaling software tech company, working remotely under the General Counsel. Read more about Temre's background and journey: https://lnkd.in/g9cYakaU

More than 200 Anteaters – 78 undergraduates and 129 graduate students – have participated in the Fulbright Program since 1992. Among them are Elizabeth Hafen ’22, who is in Madrid, researching Spain’s immigration policies. The international academic exchange offers students the chance to study, conduct research or teach in over 160 countries; about 8,000 grants are awarded each year. In 2023, UCI was designated as a Fulbright Hispanic-Serving Institution Leader for the third year in a row. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gDMnhVPg