The field of bioethics developed in the 1960s as a response to a lack of accountability around the use of human and animal subjects in scientific research. Today, bioethics encompasses a broad range of perspectives. These range from contemporary public policy issues (such as the ethics of gene …
Women’s Health
Gender inequities in health prevail in most countries throughout the world, despite ongoing attempts to eliminate them. Across the globe, prospects for good health among women are limited by social norms, practices, and policies that are rooted in gender discrimination and bias. The 1985 United …
Immunology & Vaccines
Vaccines save lives and play a key role in contributing to global health. Through vaccination, humanity has largely eliminated diseases such as polio and has completely eradicated smallpox. The rapid development of vaccines to combat Covid-19 is helping the world to reopen following a year of …
Migration & Health
Despite the fact that migrants tend to be healthier than is normal for both the countries that they leave and the countries to which they move, immigration is associated the world over with illness and health insecurity. Whether this is due to racist and xenophobic cultural discourses that blame …
Child & Youth Health
Child and youth health includes physical well-being as well as social and emotional health, all of which are integral for positive academic outcomes. UCSC faculty are especially interested in schools as the primary institutions in the US that serve children and youth in ways that can promote good …
Infectious Disease
As COVID has underlined anew, infectious disease presents a huge health threat both globally and locally. The World Health Organization estimates that infectious diseases are responsible for about 1 out of every 5 years of healthy life lost due to disease or disability. This burden falls most …
Drug Development
Biomedical innovation over the last half century has improved health and extended lifespan globally. The molecular understanding of disease, along with sophisticated automation and screening technologies, have ushered in a new era of drug discovery. However, many infectious diseases, including ones …
Toxicology
Human activities over the past several centuries have not only profoundly modified the physical environment that we live in, but also the chemical environment, such that many chemical toxins are now ubiquitous throughout the Earth’s biosphere. Toxicology is the study of how exposure to …