UC Irvine School of Medicine Competes in STAT Madness for Sixth Year in a Row

For the sixth year in a row, UC Irvine School of Medicine competed in STAT Madness, an annual competition by STAT that brings together the best biomedical research from the past year. Research from institutions across the country face off against each other in a bracket-style matchup in which votes determine the winner.

This year, Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD, and her research on reversing age-related vision decline were selected for the annual competition. Skowronska-Krawczyk is an associate professor in the Departments of Physiology & Biophysics, Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, and part of the Brunson Center for Translational Vision Research. 

Voting for Round 1 began on March 2, 2026. To vote, participants must set up a free STAT account using an email address and password. The public can vote once per day for as long as the round is open. 

UPDATE: After making it through multiple rounds, all the way to the top eight teams, UC Irvine lost in Round 4 to the University of Michigan Health's Frankel Cardiovascular Center.

EXPLAINING AGE-RELATED VISION LOSS: Researchers at UC Irvine analyzed the connection between changes in lipid metabolism and vision. Using samples from mice, they showed that fewer long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in the retina are correlated with a decline in eyesight. They also identified the enzyme, ELOVL2, which helps regulate fatty acid expression, and showed that mice without ELOVL2 enzymatic activity have premature visual dysfunction. These findings could fuel additional research on treatments for age-related macular degeneration, researchers said.