Dec. 16, 2024

A fiery display of leaves partially obscures the campus water tower. (Photo: Steve Zylius/UC Irvine)

UC IRVINE NEWS

2024: A year in motion

2024 has been a year of extraordinary growth and transformation at UC Irvine. UCI Health marked a historic acquisition, and the first graduating cohort of UC Irvine’s pioneering LIFTED program heralded a significant milestone in higher education. We celebrated the 20th anniversary of PRIME-LC and hosted vibrant community events like the Lunar New Year festival and the Anti-Cancer Challenge. Those and other important highlights make up quite a list of accomplishments.

Research lab invents surgery-avoiding heart valve

Ph.D. candidate Nnaoma Agwu, (above left with Dr. Arash Kheradvar, a professor of biomedical engineering), has been instrumental in the Kheradvar lab’s invention of a minimally invasive pulmonary heart valve that can be enlarged as children and their hearts grow and mature. Designed for patients as small as 17 pounds, the Iris Valve can be deployed at its minimum diameter size of 12 millimeters and then, as the child grows and his or her blood flow demands increase, the balloon-expanded in increments up to its maximum size of 20 millimeters.

Year of Scholarly Values highlights exemplary scholarship

“The importance of scholarly values shines through in the intellectually virtuous activities of UC Irvine’s exemplary scholars,” says Duncan Pritchard, a Distinguished Professor of philosophy and chair of the Year of Scholarly Values, which acknowledges the importance of academic excellence and integrity to the university's mission. The 2024 Year of Scholarly Values includes a recommended reading list available at UCI Libraries.

Study uncovers racial disparities in living donor kidney transplants

Researchers analyzed data from more than 111,000 adult first-time, pre-dialysis kidney transplant candidates between 2001 and 2020 and uncovered significant racial disparities. UCI Health’s Dr. Fawaz S. Al Ammary and his team found that over every time period in the study, Black, Hispanic and Asian patients were less likely than white people to receive a living donor transplant, even when considering socioeconomic factors. “These findings underscore the need for interventions to support patients from racial-ethnic minorities throughout the transplant process, ensuring that all candidates receive similar opportunities, resources and timelines, while also tailoring culturally sensitive donor recruitment efforts,” Al Ammary said.

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Great Minds Think Together ad campaign launch

The newly launched Great Minds Think Together brand campaign features some of our renowned faculty and their groundbreaking research. The advertising campaign highlights UC Irvine as a worldwide epicenter of collaborative discovery, where asking different questions to solve difficult problems is more than encouraged – it’s expected. Together, we’re changing lives in Orange County, throughout Southern California and beyond.

#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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