Using Machine Learning to Detect Coronavirus Threats

An artificial intelligence model has successfully identified coronaviruses capable of infecting humans, out of the thousands of viruses that circulate in wild animals. The model, developed by a team of biologists, mathematicians and physicists at UC Davis, could be used in surveillance for new pandemic threats. The work was published in Scientific Reports.

F. Javier Arsuaga and David Wittman Awarded 2023 Chancellor’s Fellowships for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

A mathematician working in the life sciences and an astrophysicist studying dark matter from the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis are among the recent cohort awarded Chancellor’s Fellowships for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The fellowships recognize exceptional contributions in supporting, tutoring, mentoring and advising underrepresented students and/or students from underserved communities. In letters to the recipients, Chancellor May cited their “commitment to reducing opportunity gaps.”

Psychology of a Pandemic

Researchers study the social and emotional toll of sheltering in place, and ways people cope.

After COVID-19 precautions shut down the campus last spring  — and with it most UC Davis laboratories — psychology professors turned their research upside down and shifted focus, fast.

Social scientists, in particular Professor of Psychology Paul Hastings, recognized the unprecedented human “experiment” presented by the pandemic and global efforts to “bend the curve.”

UC Davis Researchers to Track Evolution of Novel Coronavirus

To stay a step ahead of the virus, an interdisciplinary team of UC Davis researchers will use mathematics, data science and experimental biology to predict potential mutations of the novel coronavirus. The proposed research was recently funded by a $200,000 RAPID grant from the National Science Foundation.