Rebecca Delafield appointed to Fielding Presidential Chair in Health Equity
Rebecca Delafield, whose research aims to fill major gaps in maternal and perinatal health research in order to improve health and healthcare outcomes for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities, has been appointed the Jonathan and Karin Fielding Presidential Chair in Health Equity at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her current research, funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, aims to understand the shared challenges and distinct needs of NHPI mothers related to pregnancy and birthing. ► Read more
Olivia Jung honored with Best Health Care Management Theory to Practice Award
Research led by Olivia Jung, assistant professor in the department of health policy and management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, has been recognized as among the best in the field in 2025 by the U.S.-based Academy of Management. She co-authored “The Dynamic and Multisource Nature of Support for Frontline-Led Innovation Teams,” which was published in Medical Care Research and Review. The team conducted a 24-month study of six frontline-led innovation teams at federally qualified health centers. ► Read more
Stuart Soroka named 2026 Andrew Carnegie Fellow
Stuart Soroka, a UCLA professor of communication and political science, has been named a 2026 Carnegie Fellow. He is among 24 fellows selected to receive a $200,000 research stipend from the Carnegie Corporation for their work exploring the causes of political polarization and to identify possible solutions. Soroka’s project, “Political Polarization and the News Media Ecosystem,” will examine how changing media technologies and market pressures produce polarizing news content. He expects to use his Carnegie Award fellowship to publish a book. ► Read more
UCLA Library awards grants to 8 faculty and student music projects
UCLA Library has announced the 2026 recipients of the Hugo and Christine Davise Fund for Contemporary Music, awarding grants to eight UCLA faculty and student music projects, including “Liminality of Timbral Composition” from ethnomusicology lecturer Robert Reigle, who will present a concert by the ensemble Intangible. The selected projects span a wide range of creative activity, including new operas, cross-genre compositions, experimental collaborations and community-oriented performances. Each will receive funding between $1,000 and $3,500. ► Read more
Richard Shemin appointed chair of clinical advisory panel for cardiovascular care
Dr. Richard Shemin, the Robert and Kelly Day Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, has been appointed chair of the California Department of Health Care Access and Information’s clinical advisory panel. Shemin, chief of the division of cardiac surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, has served on the panel since 2013, providing clinical expertise as well as governance and organizational leadership. He is also a distinguished professor of surgery and co-director of the UCLA Cardiovascular Center at the medical school. ► Read more
Christopher Tarnay, Aparna Sridhar recognized for advancing women's healthcare
Drs. Christopher Tarnay and Aparna Sridhar have been recognized by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for their outstanding contributions to women’s health care. Tarnay received the International Service Award, which honors an ACOG Fellow whose work has advanced women’s health in global settings. His recognition reflects nearly two decades of partnership and clinical work in Uganda. Sridhar, who is advancing equitable reproductive care through innovative education and international collaboration, received the Outstanding Distinguished Service Award. ► Read more
Nasim Annabi, Jun Chen named AIMBE fellows for engineering advances
UCLA Samueli School of Engineering faculty members Nasim Annabi and Jun Chen have been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering’s College of Fellows. Annabi, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, was cited for her “outstanding contributions to the development and clinical translation of biomaterials for surgical repair, regenerative medicine and targeted drug delivery.” Chen, an associate professor of bioengineering, was recognized for “pioneering the discovery of giant magnetoelasticity in soft material systems and advancing its application in novel magnetoelastic bioelectronics.” ► Read more
Onyebuchi Arah named interim chair of UCLA Fielding's department of epidemiology
Dr. Onyebuchi “Onyi” Arah, professor in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology for more than 15 years, will serve as interim chair of the department beginning July 1. Arah, also a professor in UCLA’s Department of Statistics and Data Science and co-director of the university’s Practical Causal Inference Lab, will succeed Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang, the current department chair, who will step down after five years of exemplary service and transition full time to his role as distinguished professor of epidemiology. ► Read more
UCLA Library to welcome 2026 senior fellows cohort
UCLA Library will host 17 of the nation’s most promising top managers of academic libraries for the 2026 UCLA Library Senior Fellows program. The biennial summer program brings together emerging leaders for an immersive experience that emphasizes peer learning, collaboration and leadership development focused on the evolving role of academic libraries. The longest-running leadership development program in the academic library profession, the three-week hybrid program includes two weeks onsite at UCLA. Since its founding in 1982, more than 300 fellows have participated in the program. ► Read more
Animal spirit tales transmit historical trauma, resistance in Dominican Republic
UCLA historian Robin Derby’s second monograph, “Bêtes Noires: Sorcery as History in the Haitian-Dominican Borderlands” explores the baka/bacá (Haitian Creole and Spanish spellings, respectively): errant spirits on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola that turn humans into animals through sorcery. The first monograph from the Dr. E. Bradford Burns Professor in Latin American Studies and former director of the UCLA Program on Caribbean Studies was “The Dictator’s Seduction: Politics and the Popular Imagination in the Era of Trujillo.” ► Read more
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris named dean of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, who has served as interim dean of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs since January 2023, has been appointed the school’s permanent dean, effective June 1. In her interim role, Loukaitou-Sideris,a distinguished professor of urban planning, has provided strong and principled leadership and oversight during challenging times. During her tenure, the Luskin School has launched several new curriculum initiatives and degree programs, including a master’s in real estate management and a master’s in global public affairs. ► Read more
