Oct 01, 2026 | Irvine Standard

Built for Breakthroughs and Excellence

From pioneering cell therapies for Huntington's disease to developing the first FDA-cleared stem cell treatment for spinal injuries, UC Irvine School of Medicine researchers are driving breakthroughs in neurobiology research.

Sep 10, 2026 | Brain & Behavior Research Foundation

Predictive Biomarkers Tested in Clinical Trial Corresponded With 66% Improvement in Antidepressant Response Rate

Researchers led by UC Irvine’s Diego A. Pizzagalli, Ph.D., identified biomarkers that may predict antidepressant response, potentially improving treatment selection and advancing precision psychiatry for depression.

Aug 31, 2026 | PsyPost

Blood Markers Reveal Two Separate Inflammatory Pathways Driving Alzheimer’s Disease

“There is growing evidence that inflammation and the brain’s immune response play an important role in Alzheimer’s disease, potentially well before symptoms emerge. But the literature has been somewhat inconsistent,” said study co-authors Michael A. Yassa, the James L. McGaugh Endowed Chair, and director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California, Irvine.

Aug 25, 2026 | AARP

Bill Ritter, Captain Sully, Danny Glover and the New Reality of Alzheimer’s

“We often only talk about or see people who are in more advanced stages, where it’s quite obvious that they’re impaired. But there are lots of people who are still [in] very mild [stages] and still functioning well in society and able to do most of their day-to-day activities without too much difficulty,” says Hayley B. Kristinsson, a [UCI Health] neuropsychologist and Alzheimer’s researcher at the University of California, Irvine.

Aug 10, 2026 | Medical Xpress

Different Inflammatory Processes Tied to the Same Alzheimer's Disease-Related Brain Shrinkage and Memory Loss

"We keep talking about Alzheimer's as though it is one disease with one cause, but the biology is much messier than that," said senior author Michael A. Yassa, PhD, professor and James L. McGaugh Endowed Chair in Neurobiology and Behavior and director of UC Irvine's Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory.

Aug 06, 2026 | Parade

Why Quitting Antidepressants 'Cold Turkey' Causes a Shock To Your Body, says Psychiatrists

Dr. Bryan Shapiro, MD, is a board-certified UCI Health psychiatrist. He explains that when you take antidepressants for months or years, the brain adapts. “Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Zoloft or Lexapro increase brain serotonin levels, and in response, serotonin receptors become less sensitive over time (a process called downregulation),” he says.

Jul 30, 2026 | PsyPost

Scientists are Using Biological Markers to Take the Guesswork Out of Depression Treatment

“Treating depression still involves too much trial and error: only about 30-50% of patients respond to the first antidepressant they receive, and it can take several weeks to determine whether a medication is working,” said Diego A. Pizzagalli, founding director of UC Irvine’s Noel Drury, M.D. Institute for Translational Depression Discoveries and distinguished professor of psychiatry and human behavior, neurobiology and behavior, and biomedical engineering.

Jul 13, 2026 | NeurologyLive

Inside the World's First Stem Cell Trial for Huntington's Disease

The trial is the result of more than 12 years of research and eight years of clinical planning at the University of California, Irvine, supported by a $12 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.