Rehab center breaks ground; humanitarian missions

Feb. 26, 2024

A cherry blossom tree blooms above the Humanities Bridge. (Photo: Steve Zylius/UCI)

UCI ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEWS

UCI Health breaks ground on rehab hospital

The UCI Health executive leadership team, led by President and CEO Chad T. Lefteris, breaks ground on the UCI Health Rehabilitation Hospital. The 52-bed facility is scheduled to open in 2025.

UCI Health and Lifepoint Rehabilitation broke ground Feb. 15 on the UCI Health Rehabilitation Hospital, a 68,000-square-foot, two-story building with 52 beds. The Irvine complex will feature an acquired brain injury unit, a dialysis suite, an imaging center for radiology, and multidisciplinary therapy gymnasiums outfitted with the latest technologies and outdoor courtyards. The hospital will be designed for patients receiving acute inpatient rehabilitation care for stroke, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, amputation, and other injuries and disorders.

Surgeon leads overseas humanitarian missions

An elderly woman who had never seen a physician in her life hugs Dr. Cristobal Barrios Jr. of UCI Health

Last summer, UCI Health surgeon Dr. Cristobal Barrios Jr. (right) led a group of volunteers who treated 3,750 people in Ecuador. The team included acupuncturists, UCI medical students, dentists and a high school robotics team from Cleveland. The trip was sponsored by IMAHelps, a nonprofit led by Barrios that has conducted annual clinics for the poor since 1999 in China, Central America, South America, India and the Amazon jungle.

Root vegetables: powerhouses for heart health

Root vegetables are increasingly found on trendy restaurant menus thanks to their high-nutrient profiles and beneficial effects on cardiovascular health. One way to celebrate American Heart Month is by eating more heart-healthy foods, including three delicious root vegetable recipes from the teaching kitchen of Jessica VanRoo, executive chef of UCI’s Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute.

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Academic Senate to honor distinguished faculty

Top, left to right: Krzysztof Palczewski, Kristin Turney, Stephanie Sallum, Jayne Lewis and Joel Lanning; bottom, left to right: Julia Lupton, Stephanie Reich, Michael Yassa, Philip Felgner and Frank LaFerla

Faculty members being honored at the 2023-24 UCI Academic Senate Distinguished Faculty Awards are Krzysztof Palczewski, Distinguished Professor of ophthalmology; Kristin Turney, professor of sociology; Stephanie Sallum, associate professor of physics and astronomy; Jayne Lewis, professor of English; Joel Lanning, associate professor of teaching in civil and environmental engineering; Julia Reinhard Lupton, Distinguished Professor of English; Stephanie Reich, professor of education; Michael Yassa, professor of neurobiology and behavior; Philip Felgner, professor in residence of physiology and biophysics; and Frank LaFerla, Distinguished Professor of neurobiology and behavior. The awards will be presented March 6 at 5 p.m. at the Newkirk Alumni Center. Register by Thursday to attend.

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