Sculpture of the anatomical insides of a human body, made entirely out of pieces of colorful plastic.

Health

The Plastic Inside Us

Tiny fragments, many too small to see with the naked eye, have infiltrated our bodies. What does that mean for our health?

Insights & Advice

Illustration of an older woman playing a brain-shaped piano.

Ask the Expert

Can Music Benefit Our Brains?

Here’s how music may help flex our neurons.
Grae Davis leans against a white board with his arms crossed.

Ask the Expert

Why Is Discovery Research So Important?

A neuroscientist unpacks why public understanding of science matters.
Illustration of a marijuana joint setting a photograph of a human heart on fire.

Mythbuster

How Does Marijuana Affect Our Bodies?

What scientists are learning might come as a surprise.
Illustration of an woman with glasses with a butterfly perched on her finger. The butterfly’s wings are patterned with purple, pink, and yellow pills.

Ask the Expert

Should Women Take Hormones to Manage Menopause?

UCSF gynecologists cut through the confusion.

Recent Features

Photograph of a silver box on a conveyor belt. The box has a flap on one side, a red light flashing on top, an injection pen and needle pointing to the left on a dial, and a label that reads "GLP-1". On the left side of the box on the conveyor belt is a large iced tea in a plastic cup and a large order of french fries in a red and white cardboard fast-food fry container. On the right side of the box on the conveyor belt is a small version of the iced tea, french fries, and a tiny green apple.

Health

Are the New Weight Loss Drugs Too Good to Be True?

The real answer isn’t “yes” or “no.” Here are six things you need to know.
Illustration in a dreamy style, of the side profile a woman with her eyes closed and her hands to her chest, looking calm and meditative. Behind her is a window frame with blue and purple skies and pink and red flowers blooming.

Human Interest

The Power of Deep Rest

A truly restorative state that alters our bodies at the cellular level can counter stress.
A hand holds up a white model of a brain in front a an image of a MRI scan of a human brain.

Science

The Future of Neuroscience: Building a Silicon Brain

A digital twin of a human mind? It isn’t science fiction.
Illustration of the silhouette of a cyclist flipped upside down, falling from a bicycle against a backdrop of stylized, colorful rolling hills with a vibrant yellow sky.

Health

On the Rise

The trending threats you may not know about.
Painting depicts the evolution of man from ape to human, with several side profile figures walking in a line in front of a blue sky and grassy day landscape. The figures are apes, hominids, a Neanderthal, and humans. The first human is nude and holds a primitive tool; the following human is a female, early 20th-century nurse; the next is a man in a white doctor's coat, holding a model of a DNA double-helix; the final human is a woman wearing modern clothes and a virtual reality headset.

Science

On the Origin of Diseases

Insights from human evolution could change how we understand and treat illness.
Illustration of two scientists studying viruses under a microscope.

Science

How HIV Changed Medicine Forever

HIV research not only tamed AIDS, it also transformed science and health care.
Painted illustration of an older man sitting on a staircase, his head leaning down, with shadows of trees in the background.

Health

A Prescription for Loneliness

What a tiny grassroots program is teaching doctors about healing through human connection.
Photo realistic collage illustration of an older man, fractured with cut out shapes and half a face of an older version of himself.

Science

The Road to Rejuvenation

UCSF researchers are finding out whether we can cancel – or at least delay – old age.
Portrait of a female neuroscience clinic team

Science

How a Team of Brain Detectives Is Cracking the Hardest Cases

A new diagnostic clinic for mysterious nervous-system disorders is giving patients answers they can’t find anywhere else.

 

Alumni Stories

Read more

Illustrated portrait of Maria Lopez
  • Alumni Stories

Community Pharmacy Pioneer

Maria Lopez, PharmD ’01, didn’t just want to own a pharmacy – she wanted to rede¬fine what one could be. “I wanted to create something different, something more personal,” says Lopez, the 2025 Alumni Humanitarian Service Award winner.

UCSF News

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