When the UCR School of Medicine received preliminary accreditation in 2012, Djurdjica Coss, PhD, was immediately interested in a faculty position. “That was big news; you can't create a medical school every day,” recalled Coss, who earned her PhD from UCR in 2000. “When they started hiring, I applied right...

The UCR School of Medicine will host the 41st Annual LMSA-West Regional Conference on February 7-8, 2025. The conference’s theme will be “Cultivando Comunidad: Seeds of Justice in Healthcare.” This will be UCR’s first time hosting the conference for the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) West Region, which includes 12...

As a 15-year-old patient, Michelle Bholat, MD, MPH often found herself sitting for hours in Los Angeles County waiting rooms. “Nobody was checking in with you; it was like a cattle call,” she recalled. “That struck me then, as a teenager, and I thought, ‘No, this isn't okay.’” The experience...

Faculty at the UCR SOM are often hesitant to pursue a promotion out of concern that they’re not ready. Fortunately, the SOM’s Office of Academic Affairs is there to guide them through the review process and any others they will encounter as faculty. Wydette Morales, a senior academic affairs analyst...

Growing up in Moreno Valley, Carla Urmeneta witnessed local health issues like poor air quality in her hometown. After earning her MBA in healthcare administration and management from Cal Baptist University, she was accepted into the UCR School of Medicine’s Administrative Fellowship program, allowing her to learn more about regional...

UC Riverside alumna Carolyn Russo, MD, will return to her alma mater on November 21 to present during the School of Medicine Grand Rounds--but as a high school student, she never envisioned a career in medicine. Growing up in West Covina, Russo, now medical director of the Affiliate Program and...

Recently, a patient advised UCR Health psychiatrist Jami Woods, MD, DPh to dream bigger. “He said, ‘If people are not laughing at your dream, you're not dreaming big enough,’” she recalled. “That was from a patient--that wasn't from a psychotherapist; that wasn't from a PhD psychologist.” Woods, who is accepting...

For the second year in a row, a sold-out crowd attended the UCR SOM’s Celebration of Medical Education Gala to support the school’s Mission Award Scholarship. Monica Carson, PhD, chair of the Division of Biomedical Sciences and S. Sue Johnson Presidential Endowed Chair in Glial-Neuronal Interactions, welcomed the attendees, noting...

For UCR Health physician Janet Cruz, MD, the best part about working with patients is conducting their postoperative visits, when she can compare their condition before and after surgery and see their reactions. For one patient with advanced endometriosis, “the before and after was night and day,” Cruz said. Her...

The UCR School of Medicine Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion hosted the second annual National Latino Physician Day celebration on September 28 to honor the contributions of Latino/a/e/x physicians and work to improve quality of care for Latino populations in the U.S. According to Michael Galvez, MD, creator of...

Recently, a first-time foster mother visited UCR Health with two neglected and withdrawn children. Pediatrician Tejal Khandhar, DO, worked with her to provide nutrition guidance, updated vaccinations, speech therapy, and additional resources. Within a few months, Khandhar recalled, the children acted healthy and playful on their visit—and the foster mother...

On Tuesday, the UCR School of Medicine hosted the 2024 Celebration of Women in Medicine & Science, honoring women's contributions to science while looking to the future. The annual event, which was held in a remote, online format this year because of smoke from the nearby Line Fire, featured a...

As a local community activist, Jorge Delos Santos, director of Community Health Programs at Riverside-based nonprofit TruEvolution, heard rumors about a new master of public health (MPH) program at the UC Riverside School of Medicine. Yet despite his interest and qualifications, Delos Santos initially lacked the confidence to apply when...

The UCR School of Medicine’s 2024 White Coat Ceremony, held on Friday, August 9, welcomed 87 new medical students and five PhD candidates in biomedical sciences. The annual event presents each incoming class with white coats to symbolize the beginning of their journey into medicine. Deborah Deas, MD, MPH, the...

As a postdoctoral researcher, Emma Wilson, PhD, a professor of biomedical sciences at UCR and associate dean for Graduate Division, recalled being in a male-dominated science environment. “I think at the time, I wasn't fully aware of what a boys club I was in,” she recalled. “I did well there...

The first time Madison Critcher, a cadet at the United States Military Academy (West Point), made gels to visualize proteins in a UC Riverside lab, they didn’t work. But to her surprise, no one was upset. “We just learned how to do it and tried again, and were much more...

As a child, Sika Zheng, PhD, founding director of the Center for RNA Biology and Medicine and a professor of biomedical sciences at the UC Riverside School of Medicine, was fascinated by the cycle of life and death. While he initially planned to become a physician, his curiosity about the...

The UCR School of Medicine class of 2024 began their medical school journey online during the COVID-19 pandemic, but finished it on Friday surrounded by cheering family and friends. 66 students received their degrees in the ceremony, which was held on May 31, 2024 in the Student Recreation Center on...

Growing up as an undocumented immigrant, Violeta Covarrubias feared going to the doctor with her family in case the visit led to deportation. After obtaining her American permanent residency as a teenager, Covarrubias enrolled at UCLA as an undergraduate, where she volunteered in hospitals and noticed patients in similar situations...

When Keziyah Yisrael, biomedical sciences class of 2024 began working on PhD research focused on the Salton Sea, she had no idea that the project would become an enduring passion and the likely basis for her career. Yisrael majored in microbiology at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia with...