The UC Riverside School of Medicine welcomed 91 medical students and five biomedical sciences students at the annual White Coat Ceremony at the Student Recreation Center on Friday, August 8, 2025. This was the 13th White Coat Ceremony in the school's history and the culmination of five days of orientation...

While returning to UC Riverside to serve as the keynote speaker for the 2024 graduation ceremony, UCR alumnus Peter Igarashi, MD, paused to reflect on his experiences as a student in the Division of Biomedical Sciences at UCR, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. Igarashi, who grew up in...

A few months ago, a patient at the Coachella Valley Free Clinic had an uncommon reaction to a routine blood pressure test. Seeing the high blood pressure reading, the patient began hyperventilating until UC Riverside biomedical sciences master’s student Valeria Barrientos spoke to her in Spanish, helping to calm her...

Marina Joseph: Overcoming Self-Doubt to Thrive in Medical School A few days before Marina Joseph’s very first final exam as a medical student, her bag containing her laptop, iPad, and all her notes was stolen. At the time, Joseph, a member of the UCR School of Medicine Class of 2025...

Isaac Owusu-Frimpong, financial administrative officer in the Division of Biomedical Sciences, was named the recipient of the UCR School of Medicine Values in Action Award (VIAA) at the quarterly Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. Owusu-Frimpong was honored for his "unwavering commitment to the SOM values," and for...

At a community presentation in San Diego several years ago, Declan McCole, PhD, a professor of Biomedical Sciences at the UC Riverside School of Medicine, recalled speaking to a patient about his work on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) when the patient’s husband approached. “He had tears in his eyes, and...

On Monday, the UCR School of Medicine hosted the Biomedical Sciences 50th Anniversary Symposium, marking the culmination of the department’s yearlong anniversary celebration. The event welcomed alumni, former faculty and staff, and current faculty, staff, and students to reflect on the impact of Biomedical Sciences over the years while looking...

In early March, researchers from UC Riverside visited Washington, DC, with an important message: If the United States loses its position as a global leader in science, other nations will take its place--and may withhold new discoveries impacting public health, security, and other vital areas. The visit, led by Scott...

Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Sciences David Lo, MD, PhD, of the UC Riverside School of Medicine has been appointed to the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants. The appointment is for a three-year term. The panel meets quarterly and is charged with reviewing proposed...

UCR School of Medicine has announced the recipients of the 2025 Dean's Collaborative Seed Grants. The grant provides funds up to $25,000 in seed grant funding for collaborative interdisciplinary research projects between faculty in the Division of Biomedical Sciences and UCR as a whole, aimed at developing proposals and preliminary...

The UCR School of Medicine presented the 2024 UCR SOM Faculty Achievement Awards during its quarterly Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, December 3. The awards covered categories including teacher of the year, mentor of the year, research achievements, clinical faculty awards, and more. “I’d like to take the opportunity to...

UC Riverside School of Medicine Professor of Biomedical Sciences Scott Pegan, PhD, has been named associate dean for preclerkship medical education beginning Sept. 2, 2024 In his new role, Pegan will work closely with Sherif Hassan, MD, the executive associate dean for pre-clerkship medical education to enhance the pre-clerkship medical...

Meera Nair, PhD, has been appointed as the new associate dean for biomedical research at the UC Riverside School of Medicine. In the position, Nair will provide strategic leadership to support, enhance, and expand biomedical research at the school and will be responsible for oversight and operations of research facilities...

Three cadets from the US Military Academy at West Point will be conducting research internships in the University of California Riverside School of Medicine’s Biomedical Sciences program as the inaugural participants in a new program designed to build research-based bridges between the institutions. Scott Pegan, PhD, a professor in the...

The UC Riverside Office of Research and Economic Development (AVC-RED) has named School of Medicine Biomedical Sciences researcher Djurdjica Coss, PhD as associate vice chancellor. Her official start date is slated for September 1, 2023. With a profound dedication to advancing knowledge, Coss currently leads an NIH-funded laboratory at UCR...

With the end of the 2022-23 academic year now upon us, the UC Riverside School of Medicine hosted several awards ceremonies for students, faculty and staff members. Listed below are the award recipients. Congratulations to all of our honorees. Staff and Faculty Awards Lunch These awards were presented at the...

Several mornings each week, Isaac Owusu-Frimpong rises with the sun to complete a morning run before heading to work at the UCR School of Medicine. But these are no leisurely jogs. The Division of Biomedical Sciences FAO recently completed two marathons in six weeks and is training for more. In...

UC Riverside School of Medicine Biomedical Sciences Professors Meera Nair and Erica Heinrich are hosting a COVID-19 Community Chat on Saturday, April 15, 2023 at the Multidisciplinary Research Building on the campus of UCR. The chat is free and open to the public, but space is limited to the first...

Declan McCole, PhD, of the Division of Biomedical Sciences pulled off a remarkable accomplishment as he was named recipient of three separate awards in recognition of his variety of work at the UC Riverside School of Medicine. McCole was named recipient of the 2022 Research Achievement Award in Biomedical or...

During one of the first meetings after Stephanie Guardado joined the UC Riverside School of Medicine’s Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program from Cal Poly Pomona in 2016, one of her faculty members casually mentioned that there was a chance that the students might be sitting in the room with their future...