Nov. 25, 2025

Students walk under a canopy of fall leaves on Ring Road near Engineering Hall. (Photo by Steve Zylius / UC Irvine)

UC IRVINE NEWS

ANTrepreneur Center unveils new Santora Pitch Lab

The ANTrepreneur Center serves as the central hub for entrepreneurship and innovation on campus, encouraging students to learn, build and launch ideas that will shape the future. This innovative spirit is the catalyst for the new Santora Pitch Lab – made possible through the generosity of longtime UC Irvine supporters Kathleen and Mark Santora. The lab will feature modular studios, immersive displays, professional recording equipment and AI-powered feedback tools designed to help students move their ideas from inspiration to execution.

Forging a brilliant future

The fall 2025 issue of UC Irvine Magazine, highlighting the close of the university’s Brilliant Future campaign, is now available online. The campaign generated a record $2.4 billion for student support, pioneering research and patient care, making it the largest fundraising effort in UC Irvine’s 60 years and of any organization in Orange County’s history.

Long-term benefits of youth arts programs

A new report by Kylie Peppler, professor of education and informatics, is reframing how we understand the power of youth arts programs. It introduces a new “taxonomy” that categorizes long-term outcomes – from personal growth and confidence to career development and community connection – and highlights specific program features that make those outcomes possible. “Adopting this framework gives organizations a shared language to learn from each other and collaborate more effectively,” Peppler said. “It also strengthens their ability to speak with one voice to policymakers and funders, showing the lasting impact community arts have on young people. Our goal is to make these programs’ contributions visible, valued and accessible to all.”

Gastric cancer survivor credits clinical trial therapy

In the fall of 2023, Mauricio Alvarez was given no more than a year to live after being diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer. Two years later, he has beaten the odds, thanks to a novel clinical trial developed by UCI Health gastric cancer specialists. Today the 61-year-old mechanical engineer is cancer-free. Alvarez has a very good chance of extended, progression-free survival, said surgical oncologist Maheswari Senthil, co-principal investigator of the clinical trial with medical oncologist Farshid Dayyani at the UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Dr. Senthil and Dr. Dayyani," said the father of seven and grandfather of 10. “I want the world to know how great these doctors are. They are always looking to innovate, to find treatments that can help others."

Reminder: There will be no UC Irvine Digest on Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving! See you on Monday, Dec. 1.

UC NEWS

UC is No. 1 in worldwide ranking of highly cited researchers

According to the 2025 Highly Cited Researchers List from data analytics firm Clarivate, the University of California is the global leader in influential, high-impact science. UC experts make up 4.2 percent of the world’s most highly cited researchers. James T. Randerson, the Ralph J. and Carol M. Cicerone Professor of Earth System Science, was specifically lauded for spearheading research in environment and ecology as well as geosciences.

#IamUCI

Beyond the books

At a time when debates over book bans and public funding are heating up across the country, Jacob Sutherland is paying close attention. The political science Ph.D. student is researching how public libraries, and the communities they serve, navigate this new era of political contestation. “Jacob has an uncanny ability to understand the big picture while also figuring out how the constituent parts of the puzzle create the big picture,” said Charles Anthony Smith, professor of political science. “He has a maturity in his approach to research and scholarship that you would expect in a midcareer professor.”

#UCIconnected spotlights interesting updates from the UC Irvine community. #IamUCI spotlights profiles of students, faculty, staff and alumni. Send submissions via email or post on social media with the #UCIconnected or #IamUCI hashtags.

UC IRVINE NEWSMAKERS

Note: Some news sites require subscriptions to read articles. UC Irvine Libraries offers free subscriptions to The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Orange County Register and The Washington Post for students, faculty and staff.