surgery

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 human diversity 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 woman in lab gear leans over a workbench

Seeing Light in 'Impossible' Places

Biomedical engineers at the University of California, Davis, have developed a fast and cost-effective microscopy system capable of imaging depths previously impossible to reach in scattering tissues, such as bone and the brain.

Someone blowing smoke out of their mouth

Analyzing Breath Shows How Smoking, Vaping and Marijuana Affect Airway Health

UC Davis engineering researcher Cristina Davis and UC Davis Health scientists used breath analysis to uncover how smoking, vaping and marijuana affect lung inflammation. Their findings reveal unique biological markers for each substance, offering a noninvasive tool to monitor airway health.

A man in a button up leans on a workbench

Q&A: How Tech Foundry Hopes to Have an Impact at Aggie Square

Dateline UC Davis sat down with Tech Foundry Director Steven Lucero about the development facility’s focus and how a second location at Aggie Square will open new possibilities.


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.