Researchers Work to Reverse Cognitive Decline as People Age

Daniela Kaufer, professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, shared progress toward addressing another cause of cognitive decline: dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier ordinarily protects the brain, but Kaufer’s work shows that when the barrier falters, itself a sign of aging, proteins can enter brain cells called astrocytes, which causes inflammation in the brain and leads to cognitive impairments.

In Memoriam: Roberta Park

Last week, the campus community lost an esteemed colleague as IB Professor Emerita Roberta “Robbie” Park passed away peacefully at the age of 87. Roberta had been an invaluable member of the Physical Education program for more than sixty years, from her time as an undergraduate to her service as a faculty member and department chair of the Department of Physical Education (later Human Dynamics, which merged with Integrative Biology in 1997).

Podcast: A biology prof on growing up gay in rural Minnesota

Noah Whiteman, an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley, has always known how to survive. He moved to Sax-Zim, a rural area in Minnesota, when he was 11 and spent the next seven years learning to fish and hunt with his naturalist dad and hiding that he was gay. When a boy he’d been friends with started to bully him at every chance he got, Noah knew it was time to get out.

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