An international study published in the March 25 New England Journal of Medicine showed what researchers call a clinical breakthrough in one of the greatest unmet needs for patients with advanced liver disease.

More than 250 diverse young women from 20 area high schools will attend a special summit exploring issues that impact their health and goals. The Young Women’s Health Leadership Summit (YWHLS), sponsored by the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health in collaboration with the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), was developed by a committee of young women, ages 16-18.

Learning and memory are possible thanks to the strengthening of synapses between nerve cells. UCSF’s Roger Nicoll has identified molecules and mechanisms responsible.

UCSF and SEEK Development, a global health and development consulting group based in Berlin, Germany, have launched an international partnership that aims to improve global health by helping to turn scientific evidence into policy and action. The Evidence-to-Policy Initiative, or E2Pi, officially launches this week in San Francisco and Berlin, Germany.

Roger Nicoll’s skill and drive to discover have led to a rare degree of success and recognition among his fellow neuroscientists, who judged him worthy of the National Academy of Sciences’ Neuroscience Award. Read about Nicoll and his research on Science Café.

Seth Berkley, president and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, will talk about the global hunt for a vaccine at UCSF on April 5.

If you sing, dance, play an instrument, tell jokes or juggle, UCSF is looking for you to audition via YouTube for a live talent show. Video entries are due on April 8.

The campus community is invited to a fundraising dinner on April 2 to benefit the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

UCSF plans to begin construction of the new 289-bed children’s, women’s and cancer hospital complex at Mission Bay this year, says CEO Mark Laret.