Medical Education 

Health sciences and medical education programs in the UC system are built upon outstanding research programs in basic and applied sciences as well as innovative curricula. Stellar biomedical and clinical research programs attract the best faculty and students. Such programs spark the advances that lead to better understanding of the causes, treatment and prevention of human diseases. Biomedical and clinical research at UC Merced will be developed under the umbrella of the Biomedical Sciences Research Institute. The Institute will build upon academic resources for health sciences that evolve at UC Merced and it will leverage clinical research conducted at UCSF Fresno, UC Merced and other community partners.

An inter-disciplinary, cross-school faculty task force in consultation with UC Merced's Dean of Natural Sciences, Maria Pallavicini, developed the concept for the proposed BSR Institute. The Institute is envisioned to have a faculty director, 12-15 core faculty and a larger number of affiliated faculty members with research interests that fall within the Institutes mission. The Institute will be built around technologic centers of innovative research and instrumentation that can be accessed by faculty and students campus-wide and by collaborators at other institutions. Centers of excellence that support the clinical and translational research for health and biomedical sciences may also be a part of the Institute.

The development of the BSR Institute is an essential component of building health sciences and medical education programs for the San Joaquin Valley.