Sept. 23, 2024

UC IRVINE NEWS

UCI Podcast: UC Irvine’s esports dynasty

Over the past nine years, esports director Mark Deppe has built one of the best programs in the country. Now he’s recruiting some of the nation’s best players to become Anteaters. For players, it doesn’t hurt that among colleges and universities with major esports programs UC Irvine is the highest ranked academically. In this episode of The UCI Podcast, Aaron Orlowski speaks with Deppe to learn more about what makes UC Irvine such a special esports environment.

Chancellor Gillman’s welcome message

Chancellor Howard Gillman welcomed new and returning students to campus today in a message reminding the campus community of the university’s mission. This mission is to embrace and sustain “a scholarly culture committed to academic rigor, excellence and integrity” and to uphold “traits such as curiosity, integrity, intellectual humility and tenacity” as embodied in “The Anteater Virtues.” “As we begin this year, we find ourselves in a world marked by terrible and even horrific circumstances and in a country where domestic politics remain bitterly divided,” wrote Gillman. “We cannot, and should not, be unaffected by these conditions or remain silent about them. Have your say. Advocate for what is important to you. But while doing so let us also keep in mind the primary and most fundamental reason we have gathered together to be part of this scholarly community: to serve humankind by pursuing, achieving and sharing deeper knowledge.”

The skinny on ‘cortisol face’

Contrary to claims making the rounds on social media, cortisol from daily stress is likely not the cause of most people’s puffy eyes, puffy face or acne. UCI Health endocrinologist Dr. Mehboob Hussain weighs in with the facts about the stress hormone.

UC NEWS

Latinx Resource Center’s director featured in Spotlight

UCNet’s monthly Spotlight celebrates the UC locations, teams and individual staff members who are helping to make UC a great place to work. This issue features UC Irvine’s adelí durón, who shares news about the progress of the Latinx Resource Center and her experience as its leader, in recognition of the center’s fifth anniversary.

#IamUCI

Professor uses interactive research to build trust and sharpen data

Karen Lincoln, a professor of environmental and occupational health, is an expert in the social determinants of health disparities. Lincoln establishes trust with participants in her studies and in the African American community. As director of the Center for Environmental Health Disparities Research, part of the Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health, Lincoln understands the barriers that exist in recruiting study participants and collecting biomedical samples, especially from Black people. “For many African Americans, men in particular, DNA samples are collected when law enforcement is trying to find a suspect,” she says. “We let participants know that they’re on the cutting edge of science, and we see how proud they are to hear that they’re pioneers in this work. We tell them, ‘Because of your participation and because you trusted us, we now know this.’”

#UCIconnected spotlights interesting updates from the UC Irvine community. #IamUCI spotlights profiles of students, faculty, staff and alumni. Send submissions via email or post on social media with the #UCIconnected or #IamUCI hashtags.

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