Heart & Stroke Walk; preschool’s uneven impact

May 13, 2024

Construction continues on the Falling Leaves Foundation Medical Innovation Building on campus. (Photo: Steve Zylius/UC Irvine)

UC IRVINE NEWS

Reflections on O.C.’s AANHPI progress

social sciences dean Bill Maurer (above left) and AAAJ regional director Sylvia Kim (right)

In 2017, UC Irvine researchers partnered with Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Orange County to identify the major needs and assets of Orange County's Asian American & Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. The idea originated when social sciences dean Bill Maurer (above left) and AAAJ regional director Sylvia Kim (right) discussed the need for a baseline study of local AANHPI residents and their economic, social and healthcare needs. Maurer recently caught up with Kim to chat about the study's lasting impact, Kim's current work as the founder and CEO of consulting firm Rebel for Good, and where she sees the conversation heading 10 years from now.

UCI Health tops goal for Heart & Stroke Walk

Two dozen teams and more than 250 co-workers from throughout UCI Health participated in the walk. Credit: JSutton Photo.

UCI Health participated in the American Heart Association’s 2024 Orange County Heart & Stroke Walk and raised nearly $24,000. Two dozen teams and more than 250 co-workers joined the walk. The money will fund research, advocacy, training and health promotion to fight the No. 1 and No. 5 causes of death in the United States, respectively: heart disease and stroke. The Heart Association is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Study shows uneven effectiveness of preschool

A study by School of Education researchers and others found mixed results on how well publicly funded U.S. preschool programs affect student performance beyond early childhood. “It’s settled that early childhood education is an essential component of any nation’s public policy,” said study co-author Jade Jenkins, an associate professor of education. “What is less settled, however, is how much we should expect preschool to be shaping achievement and well-being later in life.” Jenkins and her team propose further research to uncover the essential components of preschool success. Future studies should include K-12 test scores and behavior records as well as surveys of teachers and students to shed light on classroom experiences and child development, they said.

UC NEWS

4 UCI science fellows named

Thirty-seven UC scholars were named 2023 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, part of the organization’s 150th anniversary class. Four UC Irvine scholars received the honor: Filipp Furche and Jenny Yang, professors of chemistry; Daniel Gillen, a professor of statistics; and Timothy Tait, a professor of physics & astronomy.

#IamUCI

Political science major to work on White House initiative

When she arrived at UC Irvine, Haley Tran ’24 had no intention of pursuing a career in politics. But after internships with a local congresswoman and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, she’s heading back to Washington to pursue a career with the federal government. Tran graduated from high school in 2020, amid the nationwide rise in anti-Asian discrimination during COVID-19. “Since the pandemic, AANHPI communities have been in the spotlight like never before, and that has opened up so many different opportunities,” she says. “Now my focus is just bringing about as much change as possible for AANHPI communities.”

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