Transfer Scholars Pathways (TSP) Majors and Career Exploration
2025-09-09 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
During this event, participants will have the opportunity to connect with academic advisors, faculty, and peer advisors to discuss:

major requirements
tips on how to smoothly transfer into the respective major
various career pathways alumni from their department have pursued

AI Business Practices Fall Info Session
2025-09-09 18:00
Practical AI for workplace automation
Discover how nontechnical professionals can harness the power of AI in everyday work. Join program chair Hien Luu for an inside look at AI Business Practices—a hands-on specialization designed to help you boost efficiency with free, easy-to-use AI tools and smart prompt strategies.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
Learn how to streamline tasks like presentations, reports, and project planning while gaining practical skills in prompt engineering, AI agent setup, and ethical AI use. This program is built for real-world impact—no coding required.
This fall info session is sponsored by the AI Business Practices Specialization.

Professional Certificates for International Students
2025-09-10 08:00
Interested in a professional certificate at UCSC Silicon Valley Extension?
A professional certificate is a fantastic way to develop your career, learn from industry experts, and experience Silicon Valley. We offer numerous exciting programs in technology and business.
Visit our International site for more information.
Prospective international students
Please click here to schedule an online meeting with an advisor.

Mondays, 5-7 p.m. (PT)
Wednesdays, 8–10 a.m. (PT)

Current international students
Already studying with us? Please email us: extensioninternational@ucsc.edu to meet with an international advisor in person or online.
Call: +1 (408) 450-4945 | extensioninternational@ucsc.edu

Doganyigit, K. (BMEB) - Reimagining the petri dish, automated incubator-free organoid culture system for long term organoid maintenance and disease modeling
2025-09-10 11:00
Organoids offer strong in vitro models for studying development and disease; however, traditional incubator-based culture methods hinder environmental regulation, elevate evaporation rates, and limit imaging and instrumentation access—restricting their effectiveness for prolonged, physiologically relevant research. To address these challenges, we created a compact, automated culture system that eliminates the need for an incubator by integrating microfluidic recirculation with gas exchange inspired by artificial lungs in intensive care medicine. The system employs a fluid impermeable gas-exchange membrane along with an aqueous buffer to passively stabilize oxygen, pH, and osmolarity. Automated media transfer and integrated sensing enable consistent, multi-week live imaging and accurate environmental control.

The First Aim of this proposal addresses the creation and execution of this organoid culture platform that does not require an incubator. In Aim 2, I validate the system utilizing mouse cerebral cortex organoids grown in the system, evaluating metabolic viability, tissue structure, and electrophysiological activity in comparison to shaker-incubator controls. I will also employ RNA sequencing to further analyze cell-type composition and transcriptional stress profiles. In Aim 3, I will modify the platform to simulate the prenatal stroke penumbra by incorporating spatially localized hypoxia and hypoglycemia through pressure-modulated perfusion. Combining real-time hypoxia imaging with transcriptomic analysis to facilitate investigation of ischemic damage and recovery within a regulated organoid model. Overall, this research seeks to create a flexible, and physiologically appropriate culture system that enhances experimental access and facilitates a better environment for new models of organoid development and disease research.
Event Host: Kivilcim Doganyigit, Ph.D Student, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics
Advisor: David Haussler

Research Lunch & Learn - Budgeting and Budget Management 101
2025-09-10 12:00
Comprehensive, timely, and accurate financial management is foundational for effective research portfolio support and decision-making. In this session, Office of Research and divisional experts will focus on ways to identify commonly missed budget items and how to better track variances from the budget. Join Jen Huber, OR Senior Research Accountant, Melissa DiOrio, Manager of Proposal Administration, and a divisional research accountant on September 10, 12-1 p.m., for a discussion about projection sandboxes that can be shared with PIs, as well as PI-centered ways to discuss spending.

Mavrogiannakis, A. (CSE) - Scalable Oblivious Databases and Systems
2025-09-10 14:00 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Modern applications are increasingly designed with a strong emphasis on scalability and performance, as systems are expected to process ever-growing volumes of data and deliver results with minimal latency. Techniques such as distributed architectures, in-memory computation, and optimized data structures are routinely adopted to meet these performance-driven demands. However, in the pursuit of speed and efficiency, security is often treated as a secondary concern or an afterthought. This oversight can lead to critical vulnerabilities, as even the most performant systems remain fundamentally insecure if sensitive information can be leaked or exploited. As data becomes more valuable and privacy regulations grow stricter, ensuring robust security measures is not merely desirable but strictly necessary—an essential requirement that must stand alongside scalability and performance as a first-class design goal.
To meet security requirements, many applications adopt end-to-end encryption to protect data stored in the cloud. While this prevents external adversaries from accessing sensitive information, prior work [CITE] has demonstrated that encryption alone is insufficient: an untrusted server can still exploit execution patterns and access behaviors to gradually reconstruct the underlying database in plaintext. As an alternative, other applications rely on Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), which offer strong guarantees through memory encryption, isolation, and integrity checks. TEEs are particularly appealing due to their ease of use and high performance, often approaching that of non-encrypted systems. However, TEEs are not without limitations [CITE]. They remain vulnerable to leakage-abuse attacks and side-channel vulnerabilities [CITE], which can undermine their security guarantees in practice.
In my research, I combine TEEs with oblivious computation to achieve stronger security guarantees without sacrificing practicality. Specifically, my work focuses on designing, analyzing, and implementing oblivious algorithms for databases and systems. A central theme of my research is bridging the gap between security and performance, developing scalable algorithms that approach the efficiency of plaintext execution. For example, in our first project, Obliviator (to appear at USENIX Security ’25), we introduced oblivious implementations of fundamental database operators—such as filtering, aggregation, and joins—in a shared-memory setting, achieving efficiency at scale on datasets up to hundreds of gigabytes. Building on this foundation, our subsequent work extends these operators to distributed environments, addressing challenges such as secure execution under weaker trust assumptions and reducing communication overhead, both in terms of rounds and data exchanged. We also introduced frameworks that enable parallelism in oblivious computation, further enhancing performance. My current work focuses on extending these techniques to multi-way joins, where combining multiple tables introduces new challenges in both efficiency and security. In parallel, I am exploring query optimization strategies tailored to the oblivious setting, with the goal of pushing oblivious database systems closer to the performance of traditional plaintext systems.
Event Host: Apostolos Mavrogiannakis, Ph.D Student, Computer Science & Engineering

California Earthworkers Summit
2025-09-11 16:30
The California Earthworkers Summit (CES) is a statewide gathering that brings together earthworkers to build regenerative futures through land-based collaboration, education, and innovation.
Through keynote sessions, panels, hands-on workshops, youth programming, and healing spaces, CES creates space for intergenerational learning, community care, and cross-sector exchange rooted in earth stewardship.
All are welcome and encouraged to attend—whether you're a gardener, artist, herbalist, teacher, student, community member, healer, entrepreneur, data analyst, water/air/fire/land steward, cowboy/cowgirl, horseperson, rancher, or beyond. Your role in shaping the future of our planet matters.
Dates: September 11–12, 2025
Location: UC Santa Cruz
Registration is required — visit www.earthworkerssummit.org to reserve your spot.
️ Hurry! Tickets are limited.
Follow us on Instagram: @EarthworkersSummit for updates, speaker announcements, and more!

Lydon, S. (SciCAM) - Magnetic Buoyancy Instabilities in Deep, Twisted Magnetic Layers
2025-09-12 11:00
In observing the solar magnetic field, possibly the most prominent features visible on the surface are sunspots, which emerge at different latitudes as the solar cycle progresses. Sunspot pairs are believed to be formed by concentrated bundles of mainly toroidal magnetic field (flux tubes) looping through the surface. These regions exhibit surprisingly ordered patterns of behavior such as the Hale's Polarity Law, Joy’s Law, and the Solar Hemispherical Helicity Rule (SHHR). The latter states that emerging flux in the Northern hemisphere generally has left-handed current helicity, whereas the Southern hemisphere has right handed. While there is magnetic field at all scales on the sun, the origins of these active regions and the connection between large-scale dynamo generated fields and active region scales is a long standing and difficult question. The flux tubes that form sunspots most likely originate from magnetic buoyancy instabilities that occur in the solar tachocline and then subsequently rise through the convective zone. Although there are many theories of the origin of the SHHR, the helicity content in the emerging flux is often claimed to be a direct result of the helicity (or angulation) in the originating dynamo field.
Magnetic buoyancy instabilities and their non-linear evolution have been studied and simulated by others in 2D and 3D, generally using magnetic slabs that possess infinite gradients at their interfaces, which guarantees that said instability occurs. In this work, we extend these ideas, allowing the initial conditions to have a gently varying interface between magnetic and non-magnetic layers with variable width (while still satisfying criteria to initiate the instability). We look for differences in the evolution of the instabilities in this new scenario. This setup allows us to then add a horizontal poloidal field component to the previous horizontal toroidal component, thereby creating a horizontal field that varies in direction over the depth of the magnetic interface. We study the instabilities of this setup and examine the emerging flux tubes for any resultant helicity in order to explore the relationship between helicity in emerging magnetic structures and that in the originating field.
Overall, we found that when the magnetic interface was wider, the instability proceeded in a distinctly different fashion depending on the particular aspects of the originating layer. In our setup, the fluid generally went unstable lower down in the transition layer and created different geometries of the magnetic structures and secondary instabilities due, at least in part to, the stronger buoyancy forces deeper in the layer and to the necessity of deformation of overlaying field. The instabilities are rapid and mix efficiently, reaching a stable end-state much faster in the deep layer cases than the shallow layer version.
Furthermore, when adding twist to the originating fields, we found that the resultant helicity in the emerging magnetic structures does indeed depend on the initial profile of the field. In general, a dominant outer helical layer of the flux tube is found, the chirality of which is directly dependent on the angle of poloidal and toroidal field at the point of maximum instability in the layer, even if the structure rose through field of the opposite angulation.
Event Host: Sean Lydon, M.S. Candidate, Scientific Computing & Applied Mathematics
Advisor: Nicholas Brummell

Get Certified in CPR, First Aid, and AED!
2025-09-12 12:00 | Scotts Valley Center
This Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED blended learning course equips you to recognize and care for various first aid breathing and cardiac emergencies involving adults, children, and infants. It is designed for individuals who need a certification that satisfies OSHA workplace or other regulatory requirements.
This class is taught in a blended learning format and the online portion must be completed before attending the Instructor-led skills session. A valid 2-year digital certificate for Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED is issued upon completion.
This training will be held on-site at the Scotts Valley Center. To register, please fill out the registration link.
For more information, please visit the Occupational Health Training website.
For questions or to schedule a training for your team, please contact Occupational Health Specialist, Elizabeth Tomlinson, at ektomlin@ucsc.edu.

Van Duker, N. (AM) - A Random Choice Hybrid Method for Resolving Shock Placement Errors in 1D Relativistic Hydrodynamics with Transverse Velocities
2025-09-15 10:00 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
This report presents a one-dimensional Random Choice-based hybrid method for simulating special relativistic hydrodynamics (SRHD) flow problems. The proposed scheme combines a high-order accurate method and a random choice method, selectively applying the first to smooth flows and the second to shocks and discontinuities. This hybrid approach addresses the issue of incorrect wave placements in the presence of significant transverse velocity, commonly encountered in one-dimensional SRHD shock tube tests. In support of this development, we present a modified shock/contact detection switch, specifically tuned for relativistic flows. We find that our method improves both the accuracy and computational performance when compared against existing methods on a well-known family of pathological shock tube problems. Our analysis of these pathological problems provides a path forward for further improving existing higher-dimensional methods.
Event Host: Nathan Van Duker, Ph.D Student, Applied Mathematics
Advisor: Dongwook Lee

Lei, K. (CM) - Designing for meaningful large-scale online communication, connection, and collective insight
2025-09-15 14:30
Digital technologies have made large-scale online interaction a central part of how people communicate, connect, and work together. Yet scaling often comes at the cost of depth, and interactions can become superficial and chaotic, drifting away from the richer interactional contexts of small-scale or in-person settings that support trust and meaningful exchange, and that make it possible for participants to respond to and build constructively on one another’s ideas. Although recent advances such as large language models have opened new possibilities for shaping online interaction, there has been relatively little exploration of how to design interaction mechanisms that take advantage of large-scale engagement while fostering interactions that are engaged, authentic, connected, and generative.
In this dissertation, I explore how large-scale online systems can be designed to support engaged and meaningful interaction at scale from three distinct angles: 1) creating few-to-many conversation structures that enable broad participation while maintaining coherence and a high level of engagement; 2) fostering authentic self-expression in ways that build connection; and 3) designing mechanisms that allow participants to interpret and constructively build on one another’s contributions to generate collective insight. I begin by designing a chat-based interface that organizes conversations through multi-person conversational units, enabling one or a few mentors to effectively mentor a large-group of students. I then examine how to design a gratitude-focused online community that supports authentic and positive expressions of gratitude, cultivating positive cycles of reflection and connection. Finally, I introduce a large language model–powered survey platform that blends qualitative depth, quantitative structure, and collaborative interaction, enabling respondents to engage with and build on each other’s ideas while providing survey creators with richer and more interpretable results. My work demonstrates how technological affordances and large-scale participation can be combined to create interaction mechanisms that support the move from isolated contributions toward shared understanding, offering unique forms of engagement that small-scale or in-person settings cannot provide.
Event Host: Kehua Lei, Ph.D. Candidate, Computational Media
Advisor: David Lee

Communicating Climate Solutions Symposium
2025-09-15 17:00 | Seymour Marine Discovery Center, 100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060
Timely, effective and culturally appropriate communication is needed to encourage development and adoption of sustainable climate actions that mitigate the impacts of climate change. Toward this effort, our symposium will bring together journalists, researchers, community leaders, local officials and politicians to identify opportunities and best practices for developing and communicating climate change solutions with diverse communities. Our goal is to build networks, share knowledge, and broaden opportunities for effective climate solution communication through a California lens. This event is free for students but space is limited.
Hosted by the UCSC Science Communication Program and the UCSC Center for Coastal Climate Resilience

Mental Health First Aid Certification
2025-09-16 10:00
Be prepared to support those around you by getting certified in Mental Health First Aid. Mental Health First Aid teaches the skills needed to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges, as well as how to provide someone with initial support until they are connected with appropriate professional help. In the course, you learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies to help someone in crisis and non-crisis situations, and where to turn for help.
We encourage all staff and faculty to take advantage of this opportunity. Whether you work directly with students or behind the scenes, your participation in MHFA training is a crucial step in building a resilient and supportive campus community.
To register, please fill out the registration link.
For more information, please visit the Occupational Health Training website.
For questions or to schedule a training for your team, please contact Occupational Health Specialist, Elizabeth Tomlinson, at ektomlin@ucsc.edu.

Kickstart your Internship Search
2025-09-16 15:00
Are you looking to land an internship for the Summer of 2026? Believe it or not, now is the time to start preparing! Join us for a practical webinar designed to help you kick start your search with confidence.
Whether you’re gearing up for your first application cycle or looking for new tips, this session will walk you through the essential first steps:

Building a strong resume
Where to look
How to apply

You’ll come away with insider tips on what employers are really looking for, how to leverage your existing skills and projects, and where to focus your energy to be as efficient as possible in this process.
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

Silicon Valley - Building a Sustainable Talent Acquisition Function and Strategy
2025-09-16 17:30 | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
Join Extension partner, the National Human Resources Association, as they explore how to build a talent acquisition function grounded in capacity, capability, and technology, with a focus on how AI can serve as a complement to the recruiter’s role rather than a replacement. The session will also cover how to build and equip a talent acquisition team with a strong Employer Value Proposition (EVP) that engages candidates across three key dimensions—resulting in higher offer acceptance rates and reduced attrition. These insights will be illustrated through a real-world success story from work done at Rockwell Automation.
Learning objectives

Learn how to build a strong and scalable talent acquisition function.
Explore how to design a compelling, customized value proposition to support long-term talent retention.

Agenda
5:30 PM IN-PERSON NETWORKING (dinner included)
6:00 PM VIRTUAL SESSION BEGINS
6:05 PM LEGAL UPDATES
6:15 PM PROGRAM
7:15 PM Q&A
This event is co-sponsored by the UCSC Silicon Valley Professional Education's Human Resource Management Certificate program.

Insights from AI & Semiconductor Leaders
2025-09-16 18:00
Join us for two dynamic online panels with industry professionals from top Silicon Valley companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, Cerebras, and Altera. You’ll hear firsthand from leaders shaping the future of AI and semiconductor innovation, with dedicated discussions on each field.
Schedule:
6:00–7:00 PM – Semiconductor Panel
7:00–8:00 PM – AI Panel
No matter where you are in your career journey, this is your chance to dive into cutting-edge tech and gain tools to thrive in the future of work.

2025 Fall Move-In Weekend
2025-09-18 08:00
The campus’ large Fall move-in will take place September 18 – 21 to welcome new residents to the UCSC campus. Each day’s move-in process happens between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. at multiple locations, with students arriving at the east and west side parking lots before proceeding to their residences. The current full Move-in Schedule can be found here.

BIPOC Outdoors: Garden of Eden Hike
2025-09-20 10:00
BIPOC Outdoors is a series that aims to bridge the gap between marginalized students and outdoor recreation while simultaneously fostering community with one another. This includes a beginner to moderate, mostly flat (some incline/decline) 1.5 hr hike from Stevenson College to the Garden of Eden (a rocky swimming hole nestled along the San Lorenzo River). Lunch will be provided and we would love to enjoy a fun day in the sun and the water with you all, before hiking back to campus! This supports the PoCSC's goal of providing students of color with community-building opportunities and representing BIPOC sustainability practices.
Please RSVP beforehand, it's required for this event! Meet outside the Stevenson Fireside Lounge (near the wood piece) by 10 am, this is where we will leave from and return to!

How to Find a Job On Campus (Virtual Session #1)
2025-09-22 11:00
Do you need a job? Learn how to find jobs on campus and how Career Success can help you through the process! All students are welcome. The presentation will last 30 minutes, followed by a 15-minute Q&A.
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

Cornucopia 2025
2025-09-22 14:00 | Upper East Field
Cornucopia—the annual student organization and resource fair—is happening Monday, September 22, 2025, on the East Field, and booth registration is now open! This is a great opportunity to connect with thousands of new and returning students, promote your organization or department, and help launch the academic year with energy, visibility, and community.
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.

CRES Major Presentation
2025-09-22 14:30
Join us for an engaging major presentation about the UCSC Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Program!
This is your chance to discover what makes our program unique, hear from the Undergraduate Director, Undergraduate Advisor, and Faculty Chair, and get answers to your burning questions.
What to expect:
Major presentation with Interactive Q&A session and a chance to meet current CRES faculty
Insights into our curriculum, extra curricular opportunities, and community
A chance to learn more about how to declare the major.
Who should attend:
This is for newly admitted Fall 2025 UCSC students or continuing UCSC students who haven't yet declared a Major. This presentation is required for all incoming students who are declared in CRES.

Computational Media Orientation
2025-09-23 12:00
Orientation for incoming Computational Media students to introduce them to the program, help them understand program requirements, and have the opportunity to ask any questions.

How to Find a Job On Campus (Virtual Session #2)
2025-09-23 13:00

New Admit Class Photo 2025
2025-09-23 15:15 | Upper East Field
Be part of tradition! All new Banana Slugs are invited to join us on East Field for the official UC Santa Cruz 2025 New Admit Class Photo.

Head to East Field to grab your free t-shirt! After the photo, celebrate with your classmates and enjoy free ice cream. Don’t miss this chance to make memories, meet fellow Slugs, and start your UCSC journey in style.

You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.

Get Experience: Student Employment and Work-Study Fair
2025-09-24 10:00 | Quarry Plaza, Student Union, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Looking for an on-campus and/or work-study role? Network with on-campus departments actively searching for new student employees, including a key focus on employers offering work-study positions. Students from all class levels and disciplines are encouraged to attend.
Please contact slugtalent@ucsc.edu if you need accessibility support at least two weeks prior to the fair date.
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.

2025 Student Employment & Work-Study Fair
2025-09-24 10:00 | Quarry Plaza, Student Union, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Here is a chance to meet on-campus recruiters in person!
Looking for an on-campus and/or work-study role? Network with on-campus departments actively searching for new student employees, including a key focus on employers offering work-study positions. Students from all class levels and disciplines are encouraged to attend.
PLEASE NOTE: You are encouraged to check in at the student registration table in order to participate in the career fair. Bring your student ID.
Want more support?

Visit a peer coach during drop-in hours
Schedule a career coaching appointment with a Career Engagement Specialist
Stay in the loop by following Career Success on Instagram

You will receive registration and additional information in your email from Career Success via Handshake. Please make sure to check your junk/spam folder if you are not receiving any communication.
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.
Questions? Send to csuccess@ucsc.edu or visit Career Success at Hahn 125 East Entrance.
Need accessibility support? Let us know at slugtalent@ucsc.edu at least two weeks prior to the fair date.

International Fall Welcome
2025-09-24 20:00 | Colleges Nine and John R. Lewis College Multi-purpose Room, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Celebrate the start of the year with our international community! All students, scholars, staff, and faculty are welcome to join us for an evening of activities and refreshments. Student organizations will also be present to connect with new students.
No RSVP needed.

First Day of School Photos
2025-09-25 09:00
Staff from the Division of Student Affairs and Success will be out on campus to celebrate the first day of classes with treats and photo opportunities. Stop by one of the locations below to grab a sweet treat and take your First Day of School photo!

Science & Engineering Library and general Science Hill area
Humanities/Cowell/ Stevenson Area
Quarry Plaza/Classroom Unit 2
McHenry Library
Kresge Academic Building

Tailor Your Resume for Success (Drop-in Session)
2025-09-25 10:00
Join us to receive feedback on your resume and gain tips on tailoring it for success. You will get 1-on-1 feedback from our Career Success team. If you don't already have a resume, join us to learn how to get started.
While you're here, you can enjoy snacks in our open house to learn more about programs and services that support your career journey from day one. It’s never too early to start planning for your future.
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

BME 280B Seminar: Applying a translational research framework to understand PFAS exposures and health risks
2025-09-25 11:40 | Physical Sciences Building, Physical Sciences Building, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Dr. Max Aung, Assistant Professor of Environmental Health, USC Keck School of Medicine
Description: Per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of industrial chemicals that are ubiquitous in the environment and in humans. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, have identified PFAS as an important environmental risk factor for various chronic health conditions, including cancer and metabolic disorders. Contaminated drinking water is one source of human PFAS exposure, specifically for communities within East and South Los Angeles (LA) that have multiple point sources of PFAS (e.g. metal plating facilities and textile industries). Importantly, the CalEnviroScreen 4.0 indicates that many neighborhoods in East and South LA have high pollution burden overlapping with high PFAS contamination in public water systems.
This presentation will highlight key translational environmental health projects in our USC ShARP Superfund Research Center that have been instrumental for increasing knowledge of PFAS exposures and health risks and strengthening community engagement for science and policy translation. I will outline how our team has utilized basic experimental models to complement epidemiologic studies, leveraging multi-omics data integration to uncover biological mechanisms. Building on this, I will illustrate how we have developed community and multi-sector partnerships to inform exposure assessment and science translation to address local PFAS contamination.
Bio: Max Aung is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health at the USC Keck School of Medicine. He holds leadership roles as Director of the Translational Research Core in the USC Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center and as Director of Community Engagement in the USC ShARP Superfund Research Center and the USC Center for Translational Exposomics Research. He is also a current Harvard JPB Environmental Health Fellow. Max’s research program focuses on investigating biological mechanisms linking environmental exposures to maternal and child health outcomes. He uses translational approaches to advance environmental health research, including experimental models, epidemiological studies, community-engagement, and science communication and policy translation.
Hosted by: Marina Ramon, Director of Genomics Training Programs for the Genomics Institute
