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Advancing Human Health

We improve population health and healthcare through the development of advanced technologies, devices for personalized health monitoring and health informatics.

As we face the global health challenges of a growing and aging population, our ability to design bioinspired, bioresponsive, and biologically integrated devices and therapeutics is evolving rapidly. From wearable monitors to advanced imaging technologies, from pandemic responses to regenerative medicine, we learn from humans to design treatments that improve the health of all. 

Connecting Humans and Machines

Through the new UC Davis Center for Neuroengineering and Medicine and projects funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation, mechanical and aerospace engineering faculty members Sanjay Joshi, Jonathon Schofield and Steve Robinson are pushing the boundaries of the developing field of neuroengineering and finding new ways for humans and machines to work together.

A challenge in neuroengineering is that every human and every situation is different, so devices need to be adaptable. Signals the body produces can change with time, and the body can also change after using new devices like the ones Joshi, Schofield and Robinson are developing.

Human and a supernumerary robotic arm

Research in Action

A portrait of a man wearing a suit against an all blue background

Bitter Side of Sweet: Professor Explores How Cells’ Sugary Coat Influences Health, Disease Formation

Matthew Paszek, a new professor of biomedical engineering at UC Davis, researches at the forefront of glycoscience, a developing field that explores glycan, the sugary third chain of life. Paszek’s research has shown that glycan is a major contributor to the development of aggressive forms of cancer.

Plant material in petri dishes

Cheaper, Sustainable Plant Biomanufacturing on Earth and in Space

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have been awarded a $3 million National Science Foundation grant to develop new technologies and workforce training programs to grow plants in low-resource environments both on Earth and in space.

Yang wears PPE and holds the mini microscope device

Engineers Create Mini Microscope for Real-Time Brain Imaging

UC Davis researchers have created a miniaturized microscope for real-time, high-resolution imaging of brain activity in mice. The device is a significant step toward revolutionizing how neuroscientists study behavior and perception in the brain.


Read more research in action

Engineering a better world calls for solutions of a different caliber, demanding innovation across disciplines using a design-centric approach.

We employ and develop intelligent systems and automation, tools at the nano-and-micro- scales and engineering for all that will revolutionize energy systems, strengthen climate resilience, advance human health and transform mobility to bring a sustainable, healthier and more resilient world within reach.