The social impact of research refers to the verifiable benefits and changes that research generates in society beyond academia, such as improvements in health, the economy, the environment or quality of life. Research becomes socially impactful when it informs and influences policy, practice and decision-making, leading to tangible societal improvements.
The School of Medicine celebrates the art of science with a quarterly research image competition. This exposes a wider audience to the unique beauty of laboratory work.
The grand prize-winning image of 2024 was selected during the annual Research Celebration in October 2024.
The awardees were neurosurgeon Cameron Sadegh and his lab members Olga Chechneva, Tarek Bacha and Yuxin Ren. Taken by Bacha, the winning picture is a microscopy image depicting a sub-millimeter piece of human choroid plexus tissue that was incubated with an adeno-associated virus to simulate a gene therapy treatment for a disorder of brain fluid homeostasis, called hydrocephalus.
Their award was $1,500 from the School of Medicine for the purchase of laboratory supplies.
Health Connections, Conexiones de Salud, presented by UC Davis Health, is a permanent exhibit space at the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity (MOSAC) that showcases the interconnected nature of health and well-being.
The gallery explores physical, mental, emotional and social health topics through interactive exhibits that engage the body and mind and encourage reflection.
Exhibits have included art from the UC Davis department of neuroscience, replicas of UC Davis biomedical innovations and the Brain Bar, that teaches about healthy brain functions with hands-on activities.
This 45-foot-long clinic-on-wheels went into action in 2025. The MobileMammo+ bus serves marginalized and hard-to-reach rural communities to increase access to breast cancer screening. Its services include mammograms, multilingual care and health education.
The mobile clinic also serves as a data collection hub for health equity research led by Diana Miglioretti, breast cancer researcher and UC Davis biostatistics division chief.
Over a five-year period, data collected on MobileMammo+ will help build a repository of long-term data on breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment.
The Fruit and Vegetable Foundation provided a $10 million gift to UC Davis Health. This gift establishes the "Dr. Douglas S. L. Howard Endowed Chair in Nutrition for Transformative Healthcare" and supports the development of the corresponding program. The UC Davis Nutrition for Transformative Healthcare Program will promote infrastructure, research and outreach into Whole Food Nutritional Health with the goal of expanding the knowledge and understanding of how fruits and vegetables play an important role in supporting good health.