UC Irvine School of Medicine Research Advanced to Top Eight in 2026 STAT Madness Competition

Research from the UC Irvine School of Medicine advanced to the top eight in this year’s STAT Madness, an annual bracket-style competition by STAT that brings together the nation’s best biomedical from the past year.

The study on reversing age-related vision decline, led by Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD, was selected as one of 64 entries from institutions across the country. It advanced through multiple rounds before falling in Round 4 to the University of Michigan Health's Frankel Cardiovascular Center, which went on to win this year’s STAT Madness 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. Her study 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.