KTLA-TV reported on a clinical trial led by UCLA’s Dr. Donald Kohn that resulted in FDA approval of the first gene therapy for severe leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I, a rare and often fatal immune disorder. The treatment developed by Rocket Pharmaceuticals uses a patient’s own stem cells to restore immune function and reduce the risk of life-threatening infections. All nine children in the trial survived without needing a bone marrow transplant, marking a significant advance in gene therapy research. Read more about UCLA in today’s ABC News and The Hill.
More highlights from UCLA in the News: April 2, 2026
LA County student homelessness has surged, study finds | Los Angeles Times
The number of homeless students in Los Angeles County is surging, with thousands more unhoused in the span of a single school year. The number of students experiencing homelessness in the county rose by 28% — from 47,689 in the 2022-23 school year to 61,249 in 2023-24 — according to a pair of studies from the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools. It is the largest increase the county has experienced in the last five years, according to researchers. (UCLA’s Mayra Cazares-Minero, Joseph Bishop, and Adriana Jaramillo Castillo were quoted. Also: KCRW 89.9-FM.)
More than 14,000 ICE arrests in LA area in 2025 | Southern California News Group
Arrests by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the greater Los Angeles area more than tripled in 2025 compared to the year prior, with fewer than half of those detained having a past criminal record, according to data published by the Deportation Data Project. Researchers from UCLA and UC Berkeley obtain federal data through Freedom of Information Act requests, analyze it and publish it online through the project’s website.
President Trump delivers primetime address on Iran | KNBC-TV
“There’s two issues there. Number one, President Pezeshkian and the Iranian system is not empowered, really, to do anything. At this point now, it’s a military committee, a military leadership, based on the IRGC commanders, and then the supreme leader, if he’s alive, if he’s functioning … we don’t even know,” said UCLA’s Benjamin Radd.
Iran regime weaker, more radical after U.S.-Israel assassination campaign | ABC News
“Nobody’s getting their wish list,” Dalia Dassa Kaye of the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations said during this week’s Crisis Group briefing. In the meantime, the battlefield costs will rise and geopolitical implications deepen across the Middle East. “Even if this ends tomorrow,” Kaye said, the costs have already been paid. “It’s going to take years to recuperate the damage.” ”This is not something you put back in a box,” she added.
Trump ramps up war on mail-in voting ahead of midterms | The Hill
Rick Hasen, an election law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, called the president a “total hypocrite” on voting by mail. ”He says that it’s prone to fraud and yet he and his family use it regularly. It’s just a talking point. It’s not backed by reliable evidence,” Hasen told The Hill in an interview just before Trump’s Tuesday announcement.
Californians say state should enact voting rights protections | Los Angeles Times
“Now it has come to the point where the president has tried to convince people that somehow equal voting rights is bad, because, in his words, ‘The wrong people are voting right,’” said Matt Barreto, faculty director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project, referring to Trump. “You have super majorities, very large percentages of Californians, who want the state to do more to protect voting rights, I think, because of the very tenuous climate right now, with the president constantly going after states for vote by mail and trying to get their voter rolls and these other sorts of things.”
A year after ‘Liberation Day,’ what did Trump’s tariffs achieve? | Los Angeles Times
“Even after the court ruling, the Trump administration continues to wield tariffs in a haphazard and ill-conceived fashion,” said Kimberly Clausing, a professor of tax policy and law at UCLA School of Law. “One year in, Trump’s tariffs have only generated higher prices, economic disruption, frayed alliances, and manufacturing job loss.”
Citizenship order mulled by justices | Associated Press
If, as some legal experts said, Trump was trying to intimidate the justices, the tactic is unlikely to work. Adam Winkler, a constitutional law professor at UCLA, said justices “pride themselves in their independence, even if some agree with much of Trump’s agenda.”
Hubble shows ‘farting’ comet reversing its spin for the first time ever | Live Science
By comparing the Hubble images to data collected by ground-based telescopes, study author David Jewitt, an astronomer at UCLA, estimated the changes in 41P’s rotation throughout 2017. He found that by May of that year, the comet’s spin had slowed to around one rotation every 46 to 60 hours, which was around three times slower than it was spinning in March 2017. But by December 2017, the comet was completing a rotation once every 14 hours, which was a much quicker return to form than previously realized, according to Live Science’s sister site Space.com. (Jewitt was quoted.)
Artemis II launches | KTTV-TV
“I was born after Apollo, so it has always been this giant achievement that our nation managed. So seeing the return is really just an exciting time for everybody,” said UCLA’s Steven Furlanetto.
Experts share insight on colorectal cancer control | Ebony
New research shows colorectal cancer is increasing among adults under 50, raising urgent questions about prevention, symptoms and access to screening … Despite The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force lowering the recommended screening age to 45, a UCLA study found that less than 1 in 4 eligible younger adults have been screened.
When should parents stop being naked around their kids? What experts say | Parents
“There’s nothing inherently wrong with being nude with members of your family,” says Paul Abramson, professor of psychology at UCLA focusing on human sexuality. Research is limited but one old study found exposure to parental nudity had no harmful effects for kids age 3 to 6.
LA considers waiving part of local sales tax for Palisades Fire victims | LAist
Zhiyun Li, a UCLA Anderson School of Management economist, said the waiver could help some homeowners justify the additional cost of rebuilding more fire-safe structures. “Homeowners must typically pay out of pocket to upgrade to IBHS+ standards, which are more stringent,” Li said. “The tax waiver could encourage upgrading to IBHS+ standards or investing more in mitigation, thereby reducing future risk and improving the likelihood of maintaining insurance coverage.”
