UC Merced Magazine | Volume XVIII, Issue IV

Health Sciences Research Institute Tackles Variety of Pressing Issues The Health Sciences Research Institute (HSRI) at UC Merced brings together nearly 100 faculty members from across the university’s three schools to address the health sciences questions that affect the region, nation and the world. HSRI was established in May 2012 as the second Organized Research Unit (ORU) at UC Merced. “When we first started, we had about 30 or 40 faculty members who signed on as supporters of the proposal for HSRI to become an ORU,” said Executive Director Trevor Hirst. “We asked, ‘Where are the gaps?’ ‘How do you want us to assemble?’ Because health sciences is such a broad topic, how do we present what we do to the outside world?” Researchers have tackled such vital issues as air pollution, Valley fever, nicotine and cannabis policy and health equity, and have worked with community partners to deliver vital information to those who need it. One of the latest highlights that enables more inclusiveness of the Central Valley and more diversity among research subjects is the Translational Research Center. The center is designed to help faculty members and graduate students conduct research that is relevant to the community and to disseminate the results of this research back into the community. The center works with promotoras, or community health workers, to get vital information out to the people who will most benefit from it. “There are massive amounts of varied research with so many members across all of these different schools,” Hirst said. The HSRI includes faculty from the School of Engineering, the School of Natural Sciences, and the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts. “We have a lot of young, interesting people who are coming to UC Merced, joining HSRI and pursuing interesting and different lines of inquiry,” Hirst said. “It’s exciting to see people coming in with these fantastic new ideas.” What follows here are just a few of the many projects being conducted through HSRI.

add 11.3 per 100,000 people. Firearms were the most common mechanism for suicide, and Caucasian men were the most likely to kill themselves.

Many Suicides Could be Linked to Injuries Sustained Through Violence If you’ve shown up at the emergency room with an injury due to violence, you’re more likely to attempt suicide later. That relationship is established in new research by public health Professor Sidra Goldman-Mellor and a partner at the University of Oslo, using anonymized population-based Norwegian register data collected by the government. “Violently injured people are about 10 times as likely as their non-injured peers to subsequently attempt suicide, and about five times as likely to actually die by suicide,” said Goldman-Mellor, who is working to publish her findings. Of course, “we definitely can’t say that our results show causality” — both could stem, for instance, from underlying mental health issues. But the data do suggest that suicide prevention interventions may be appropriate when patients seek treatment for injuries sustained through violent means. Goldman-Mellor has been interested in the phenomenon of suicide since she worked with her Ph.D. advisor on research on the effects of economic downturns on health. She has published extensively on mental health issues, including research on suicide among post-partum mothers. She presented her findings at a conference in October. Suicide, she noted, is “highly stigmatized” around the world in most instances. In the United States, it’s the 10th leading cause of death. She chose to study Norway because the government’s aggregation of individuals’ lifelong data makes connecting the dots easier but noted: “Norway’s suicide rate is about the same as California’s.” In California, suicide is the leading cause of violent death, and self-harm is the third leading cause of injury-related emergency department visits, after unintentional and assault injuries, according to the California Department of Public Health. As of 2021, there were 10.4 suicides per 100,000 people in California, a decrease from 2018, when the suicide rate peaked

Easy-to-use Silk Films Ready for Human Trials Molecular and Cell Biology Professor Patricia LiWang has developed silk melt-away films that prevent the sexual spread of HIV. They are shelf-stable up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit, and stay viable for up to six months, which could be a game-changer in countries in Africa, where refrigeration is uncommon, people often cannot see a doctor on a regular basis and AIDS remains at epidemic levels. LiWang’s lab also unveiled a way to make the films more marketable — fun colors and interesting shapes. “The idea is to make these attractive to the people who are at risk,” she said, “and people who aren't necessarily planning ahead.” In the past, her lab has shown that the films can be loaded with several different types of HIV inhibitors that can be time released over a month. More recently, the group has developed a biocompatible mild adhesive that will hold the film in place while it slowly degrades and releases the inhibitors. The films have undergone primate testing to make sure they work, are safe and do not cause inflammation, which the HIV virus feeds on, and now may be ready for human trials. However, clinical work in this area is delayed while the group finds funding (the National Institutes for Health has prioritized other areas for funding, such as the ongoing search for an HIV vaccine). In terms of prevention, there are effective monthly injections and daily pills to prevent HIV. LiWang said people should have as many tools available to them as possible. “The current medications are great for adults who are in relationships and can go to the doctor and say that they want protection, which they should do,” she said. “But there are millions of people who cannot go to the doctor ahead of time or who act spontaneously and put themselves at risk of acquiring HIV. I think those people should have the option of an insertable protective device like our silk films.”

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