Advancing Health Worldwide Content / Advancing Health Worldwide Content for UC Davis en How Does the Human Brain Help Us Navigate? /health/news/how-human-brain-helps-us-navigate Scientists use epilepsy research to better understand how the hippocampus helps us navigate the world. August 03, 2026 - 9:09am Jocelyn C Anderson /health/news/how-human-brain-helps-us-navigate Metabolite Reverses Gut Dysfunction and Boosts HIV Therapy /news/metabolite-reverses-gut-dysfunction-and-boosts-hiv-therapy <p>Scientists at the<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="https://health.ucdavis.edu/medical-school/">University of California, Davis, School of Medicine</a><span>&nbsp;</span>have identified a naturally occurring metabolite that repairs gut damage caused by HIV infection and significantly improves the effectiveness of<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="https://hivinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv/fact-sheets/hiv-treatment-basics">antiretroviral therapy</a><span>&nbsp;</span>(ART) in the nonhuman primate model of HIV/AIDS.</p> July 30, 2026 - 11:11am James Michael Nash /news/metabolite-reverses-gut-dysfunction-and-boosts-hiv-therapy ‘Enchanted Broomstick’ Protein Walks on Two Stubby Legs to Keep Our Nerve Cells Alive /news/enchanted-broomstick-protein-walks-two-stubby-legs-keep-our-nerve-cells-alive-0 <p>A nerve cell resembles a vast tree with branches that communicate with thousands of other cells. To function, it depends on a motor protein that walks on two legs, hauling urgent cargo from the center of the cell to the faraway tips of every branch. Scientists have unveiled a new structure of this walking protein, showing how cells control it.</p> July 15, 2026 - 10:59am Katherine E Kerlin /news/enchanted-broomstick-protein-walks-two-stubby-legs-keep-our-nerve-cells-alive-0 UC Davis to Set Standard for Measuring Airborne Nanoplastic Health Risks /news/uc-davis-set-standard-measuring-airborne-nanoplastic-health-risks-0 UC Davis researchers have received a nearly $4 million grant NIEH to develop the world’s first standardized method for measuring and describing the neurotoxicity of airborne nanoplastics. July 01, 2026 - 9:00am Katherine E Kerlin /news/uc-davis-set-standard-measuring-airborne-nanoplastic-health-risks-0 Media Experts on New World Screwworm /health/news/media-experts-new-world-screwworm <p>The U.S Department of Agriculture has now <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animals/animal-health/livestock-and-poultry-disease/current-status/us-confirmed-cases-new-world">confirmed cases</a> of New World screwworm in calves, sheep and goats in Texas and in a dog in New Mexico. New World screwworm is a serious parasitic fly that can affect livestock, pets, wildlife, and less commonly, people and birds. Adult screwworm flies are about the size of a common housefly or slightly larger. Their larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals.</p> June 26, 2026 - 10:44am Amy M Quinton /health/news/media-experts-new-world-screwworm Researchers Find Carcinogenic Chromium-6 in Palisades, Altadena Fire Cleanup Zones /news/researchers-find-carcinogenic-chromium-6-palisades-altadena-fire-cleanup-zones <p>A carcinogen with potentially serious impacts on human health was found in neighborhoods in the months after the 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires and may have spread to communities as far as six to nine miles downwind from the fire zones, according to newly published work by University of California researchers.</p> June 01, 2026 - 9:52am Katherine E Kerlin /news/researchers-find-carcinogenic-chromium-6-palisades-altadena-fire-cleanup-zones Dog Daycare Leptospirosis Outbreak in Los Angeles Reveals Broader Public Health Risks /health/news/dog-daycare-leptospirosis-outbreak-los-angeles A Los Angeles leptospirosis outbreak in dogs reveals vaccination gaps and broader public health risks, according to UC Davis research. May 26, 2026 - 9:00am Amy M Quinton /health/news/dog-daycare-leptospirosis-outbreak-los-angeles A DNA-Organizing Protein Offers New Insight into Infertility, IVF and Generational Health /blog/dna-organizing-protein-offers-new-insight-infertility-ivf-and-generational-health <p>The causes of male infertility can be hard to diagnose, with many tests failing to detect genetic defects. Sometimes, infertility doesn’t even involve the genes themselves. It can arise from improper folding of the father’s DNA in the sperm. If a couple conceives, this mispackaged DNA can damage the lifelong health of the child.</p> May 19, 2026 - 2:08pm Andy Fell /blog/dna-organizing-protein-offers-new-insight-infertility-ivf-and-generational-health Children with Rare, Debilitating Brain Diseases Suffer From Mutations in a Little-Known Protein Complex /news/children-rare-debilitating-brain-diseases-suffer-mutations-little-known-protein-complex <p>Thousands of times per year, a family’s moment of joy turns to unexpected grief. A seemingly healthy infant stops smiling or making eye contact. Their limbs grow weak. The tiny child suffers seizures and breathing problems.</p><p>Jawdat Al-Bassam, an associate professor of molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, Davis, often hears from these families. “I’ve gotten emails from folks all over the world,” he said.</p> May 08, 2026 - 9:40am Andy Fell /news/children-rare-debilitating-brain-diseases-suffer-mutations-little-known-protein-complex Cold Hands, Warm Heart — Researchers Solve Medical Mystery /blog/cold-hands-warm-heart-researchers-solve-medical-mystery <p><span>The saying “cold hands, warm heart” is usually meant metaphorically — but new research from UC Davis School of Medicine and collaborating institutions suggests it has a striking biological parallel.</span></p> May 04, 2026 - 10:40am Andy Fell /blog/cold-hands-warm-heart-researchers-solve-medical-mystery