Science & Technology

Jacob Roshgadol and his dog

Spotlight: Jacob Roshgadol, PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering Graduate Group

  • Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and interests. 

I grew up in a small modern-orthodox Jewish community outside Baltimore where I had access to amazing academic and employment opportunities. I studied mechanical engineering with a minor in global engineering leadership at the University of Maryland, and I applied the skills I gained from my training in places like the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and the tank development unit of the Israel Defense Forces.

Kim McAllister (right) served for eight years as the Center for Neuroscience director, a position that is now filled by interim director Marie Burns (left). (Jenevieve Bohmann/UC Davis)

Vision neuroscientist appointed interim director for Center for Neuroscience

Marie E. Burns, a professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, and Cell Biology and Human Anatomy in the School of Medicine, and a core faculty member at the Center for Neuroscience (CNS), has been appointed the CNS interim director, effective July 1, 2024. Burns succeeds A. Kimberley McAllister, who has served as the center’s director since 2016 and who is departing UC Davis to begin a new position as Vice Provost for Research, Scholarly Inquiry and Creative Activity at Wake Forest University in the fall.
Jonathon Schofield has been recognized with an NSF CAREER Award for his research. (Cody Duty/UC Davis)

Jonathon Schofield Receives NSF CAREER Award

Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Jonathon Schofield has been recognized for his research with a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development, or NSF CAREER Award — an accolade that supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department.
Day 3 neurites

Breaking Down the Gut-Brain Divide

Erkin Şeker, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Davis, and his lab have developed a microfluidic device that allows researchers to model the neuronal communication between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system, or CNS. It’s an essential advancement in an interdisciplinary, collaborative research initiative helmed by Şeker to understand the gut-brain axis — and eventually to improve outcomes for conditions related to the gut, like Crohn’s disease and mental health issues.
Ellis-Linton

Boosting Research for the Brain and Planet

Donors are advancing the College of Engineering’s Next Level strategic vision to create a better world for all through socially responsible engineering, inspiring education and transformative research. Alum Susan Ellis ’78 and her husband, Mark Linton, have given $1 million to the college to create graduate student fellowships at the Center for Neuroengineering and Medicine and for UC Davis’ Sustainable Cities, Sustainable Campuses initiative.
WearableFeatureIllustration

Improving Our Lives Through Design

by Greg Watry

Inside an L-shaped room in Cruess Hall, surrounded by workstations, 3D printers, sewing machines, tools and mannequins wearing prototypes, Gozde Goncu-Berk builds the future. It’s a future of many possibilities, but those possibilities share a common thread. They’re all based around humanity’s increasing use of wearable technology.

Erkin Şeker

Professor Erkin Seker Receives Distinguished Teaching Award – Graduate and Professional Teaching

by Dateline Staff

The Academic Senate and Federation have presented their top academic honors for 2024, and the faculty recipients are being showcased not just for their expertise, but also for their teaching, mentorship and public service.

In all, 15 faculty members have received awards from the two groups at UC Davis, including Center for Neuroengineering and Medicine Co-Director Erkin Seker, PhD. 

Charan Ranganath and Nora Wolf

Bestselling Book Blends Science and Storytelling to Explain How Memory Shapes Our Lives

by Alex Russell

Charan Ranganath admits he can be forgetful. This is true of most people, but most people are not leading experts on the neuroscience of human memory.

“Everybody knows I have a terrible memory,” said Ranganath, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Davis, “and yet I got a Ph.D. and I publish papers all the time. I'm totally functional, so maybe the expectations we have are just wrong.”

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