News & Events

After a decade of leadership marked by growth in research, student success and interdisciplinary advances, Mark Winey will step down as dean of the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences in 2026. A national search for his successor will begin this fall.

Winey, the college’s longest-serving dean, said he was first drawn to UC Davis by its uniquely expansive and collaborative biology community—and by the opportunity to serve on a broader scale.

Each year, more money is spent in the U.S. on musculoskeletal pain than on heart disease and diabetes combined. Exercise physiologist Keith Baar, a professor of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior and Physiology and Membrane Biology, is working to change that.

What makes the human brain distinctive? A new study published July 21 in Cell identifies two genes linked to human brain features and provides a road map to discover many more. The research could lead to insights into the functioning and evolution of the human brain, as well as the roots of language disorders and autism.

In the college, undergraduate students don’t just learn from textbooks—they actively contribute to new scientific knowledge through hands-on research. This experiential learning is a hallmark of a UC Davis education, especially in the life sciences.

For his outstanding commitment to ensuring undergraduate students have these meaningful and immersive research experiences, Chang‑il Hwang, an associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, has received a 2025 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research.

As jewelflowers spread into California from the desert Southwest over the past couple of million years, they settled in places that felt like home, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis. The work, published July 1 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that the ability of plants and animals to adapt to changing climates might be more limited than it appears.