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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

The uEXPLORER total-body PET scanner at UC Davis

Total-Body PET Imaging Takes a Look at Long COVID

Using total-body PET imaging to get a better understanding of long COVID disease is the goal of a new project at the University of California, Davis, in collaboration with UC San Francisco. The project is funded by a grant of $3.2 million over four years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

A petri dish with jelly ice that spells its name, being held by gloved hands

Reusable ‘Jelly Ice’ Keeps Things Cold — Without Meltwater

Presented at the American Chemical Society’s Fall 2025 meeting, jelly ice is a reusable, compostable cooling material made from gelatin that stays solid without meltwater. Developed by UC Davis engineers, it offers sustainable potential for food, medicine and biotech applications.

A portrait of Kevin Zhao

Fighting Disease with Disease by Engineering Viruses

Driven by a desire to cure diseases, Kevin Zhongchao Zhao joins UC Davis as a chemical engineering faculty member who aims to create targeted therapies for cancer by engineering virus-like nanoparticles.


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.