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COVID-19 Vaccine
COVID-19 vaccine information and FAQs for media outlets.

COVID-19 Research
By the time California implemented a stay-at-home order in March 2020, UC San Diego scientists were already collaborating to learn more about the novel coronavirus virus SARS-CoV-2 and quickly translating their findings to help prevent and treat what we now call COVID-19.

Compassion
Empowered by a generous gift from South Dakota businessman and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford, the Institute for Empathy and Compassion at UC San Diego will explore the neurobiology of compassion, transform medical education and address the epidemic of physician burnout.

Organoids
Our researchers are developing human organoids — miniaturized, 3D versions of an organ produced from reprogrammed stem cells in the lab — to study biological functions, diseases and treatments more realistically and in greater detail.

Cannabis
With cannabis now legal for medicinal and recreational use in California, scientists and doctors at the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research are investigating its effects and potential in a variety of disease treatments, including autism and anorexia nervosa.

Suramin and Autism
A small, randomized clinical trial showed that a single intravenous dose of the century-old drug suramin transiently improved core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

 Phage Therapy
Scientists and physicians successfully used an experimental therapy involving bacteriophages (phages) — viruses that target and consume specific strains of bacteria — to treat a patient near death from a multidrug-resistant bacterial infection.

Quantified Surgery
In a unique case, doctors used Big Data, sophisticated computer modeling and 3D imaging to personalize a patient’s procedure before entering the operating room, revealing new possibilities for the future of surgery.

Cancer Immunotherapy
Doctors and researchers at Moores Cancer Center are working at the leading edge of immunotherapy, a treatment approach that boosts a patient’s own immune system to better fight his or her cancer.