Office of Research OR Research Units - Office of Research

OR Research Units

The Office of Research promotes interdisciplinary research by overseeing organized research units, special research programs, IMPACT Centers and research instruments & central facilities listed below. For more information on the Office of Research’s research units please contact Research Units Administration.

Organized Research Units

Air Quality Research Center

Air Quality Research Center

The Air Quality Research Center provides support for teams of collaborative researchers to conduct scientific, engineering, health, social and economic research that educates and informs planning and regulations for air quality and climate change. The center educates and informs through conferences, outreach, scholarly publications and training grants.

Director: Anthony Wexler
Learn more about Air Quality Research Center

Bodega Marine Laboratory

Coastal and Marine Science Institute/Bodega Marine Laboratory

The Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute is a comprehensive unit that coordinates and catalyzes the research, educational, and outreach programs in marine science and policy on the main campus and Bodega Marine Laboratory. As an institution, UC Davis has distinguished research centers that link the key iconic features from California’s Sierra Nevada, central valley, the San Francisco Bay watershed and the coastal ocean.

Interim Director: John Stachowicz   BML Director: John Largier
Learn more about Coastal and Marine Science Institute

California National Primate Research Center

California National Primate Research Center

The California National Primate Research Center is a part of the National Primate Research Centers Program and is dedicated to improving human and animal health. Research projects conducted at the primate center are contributing in substantial ways to health care and are developing a better understanding of, and new treatments for, a wide range of human health problems including asthma, HIV/AIDS, childhood illnesses, Alzheimer’s disease, and environmental toxins that impact our health.

Director: John Morrison
Learn more about California National Primate Research Center
Primate Center Frequently Asked Questions

Comprehensive Cancer Center

Comprehensive Cancer Center

In 2002, the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center became the nation’s 61st National Cancer Institute center. According to the NCI, its designated centers “are the major sources of new knowledge relating to the nature of cancer and of new and more effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis and therapy.”

Director: Primo Nery Lara, Jr.
Learn more about UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center

Center for Healthcare Policy and Research

Center for Healthcare Policy and Research

The Center for Healthcare Policy and Research facilitates research activities in the areas of health policy, healthcare delivery, quality, and comparative effectiveness. The center is a valuable resource to researchers in these areas who need assistance in grants development, project implementation and management, or financial administration.

Director: Courtney Lyles
Learn more about Center for Healthcare Policy and Research

Institute of Transportation Studies

Institute of Transportation Studies

The Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis is a multi-faceted, internationally recognized program. The institute assembles teams of academic faculty, research faculty and graduate students to collaborate on research projects. These projects are organized within three primary research areas: travel behavior and transportation systems modeling; environmental vehicle technologies; and climate change, air quality and other environmental impacts.

Director: Daniel Sperling
Learn more about Institute of Transportation Studies

Institute of the Environment

Institute of the Environment

The Institute of the Environment supports innovation and discovery aimed at solving real-world environmental problems. The institute’s faculty are committed to strengthening the scientific foundation for environmental decision making through collective entrepreneurship, a team-oriented approach that recognizes the complexities of environmental problems and the societal context in which they occur.

Director: Isabel Montañez
Learn more about Institute of the Environment


Special Research Programs

Artificial Intelligence Institute for Next Generation Food Systems

Artificial Intelligence Institute for Next Generation Food Systems

The Artificial Intelligence Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS) aims to solve the world’s biggest challenges to crop and food production facing our planet, ensuring a sustainable, nutritious, efficient and safe food supply while mitigating the impacts of climate change.

Director: Ilias Tagkopoulos
Learn more about the Artificial Intelligence Institute for Next Generation Food Systems

Biotechnology Program

Biotechnology Program

The Biotechnology Program is the administrative home for the DEB (Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology) and ADP (Advanced Degree for Corporate Employees) graduate programs, several campus-based research consortia, and educational programs that link academia to biotechnology industries, government agencies and the global community.

Director: Denneal Jamison-McClung
Learn more about Biotechnology Program

Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society

Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society

The Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) creates information technology solutions for society’s most pressing challenges. CITRIS leverages the research strengths of University of California campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Cruz, and operates withing the greater ecosystem of the University and the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley. The institute was created to “shorten the pipeline” between world-class laboratory research and the development of applications, platforms, companies, and even new industries. CITRIS facilitates multi-partnerships and collaborations among more than 300 faculty members, thousands of students and researchers from over 60 corporations and institutions.

Director: Saif Islam
Learn more about Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society

Energy and Efficiency Institute

Energy and Efficiency Institute

One of the 21st century’s biggest challenges is transitioning to a sustainable energy future. The UC Davis Energy Institute combines research, education, and outreach programs in energy science, technology, management, and policy to help facilitate this transition and provide new energy solutions.

Director: Kelly Kissock
Learn more about UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute

Feminist Research Institute

Feminist Research Institute

The Feminist Research Institute (FRI) is a collaborative, trans-disciplinary hub for exploring how gender, sexuality, race, and other social structures inform the design, execution, and interpretation of research.

Director: Dawn Sumner
Learn more about Feminist Research Institute

Center for Spaceflight Research

The Center for Spaceflight Research team integrates proven engineering, groundbreaking research, and diverse team-member expertise in systems automation, machine learning, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, robotics, and human-crewed spacecraft design to develop new paradigms for the design of NASA’s deep-space habitats.

Director: Stephen Robinson

Innovation Institute for Food and Health

Innovation Institute for Food and Health

The Innovation Institute for Food and Health (IIFH) makes uncommon connections between sectors and disciplines to catalyze innovation across food, agriculture, and health. Its vision is to accelerate deployment of products and processes that enable safe, sustainable, and secure nutrition for all. They work with partners to identify systemic issues as the basis for collaborative programs. The IIFH strategically coordinates both top-down (partner driven) and bottom-up (investigator initiated) approaches to formulate solutions.

Director: Justin B. Siegel
Learn more about Innovation Institute for Food and Health

The Institute for Diversity, Equity and Advancement

Institute for Diversity, Equity and Advancement

The Institute for Diversity, Equity and Advancement (IDEA) supports programs, projects and research related to diversity and equity at UC Davis. Our commitment to these efforts is a demonstration of the campus-wide goal of making sure all students and faculty don’t just feel included, but have tangible opportunities for advancement.

Director: Rachel Jean-Baptiste
Learn more about Institute for Diversity, Equity and Advancement

Institute for Global Nutrition<

Institute for Global Nutrition

The Institute for Global Nutrition coordinates research and training activities concerning human nutrition problems of low-income countries, and of ethnic minorities and disadvantaged groups in the United States. The program provides technical assistance to national governments and international agencies concerned with food and nutrition policies of developing countries.

Director: Christine Stewart
Learn more about Institute for Global Nutrition

Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy

Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy

The Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy leverages world-class university expertise and engages policy makers and stakeholders to identify policy and research priorities, synthesize existing knowledge, and deliver timely and relevant information to the policy process. The institute focuses on subjects where UC Davis has world-class expertise including: sustainable mobility, clean energy, energy and water efficiency, climate, agriculture, and ecology, including air and water quality.

Deputy Director: Colin Murphy
Learn more about Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy

Tahoe Environmental Research Center

Tahoe Environmental Research Center

UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center is dedicated to interdisciplinary research and education to advance the knowledge of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and their interactions within natural and developed Earth systems, and to communicate science-informed solutions worldwide.

Director: Geoffrey Schladow
Learn more about Tahoe Environmental Research Center


IMPACT Centers

Gene Therapy Center

Gene Therapy Center

The Gene Therapy Center targets genetic diseases through multidisciplinary research, education and manufacturing. The center brings together a growing network of expertise and equipment at UC Davis, leveraging these resources and investing in strategic opportunities that will help create new therapies with the potential to provide cures, as opposed to the costly ongoing treatment of symptoms.

Director: Jan Nolta
Learn more about Gene Therapy Center

Global Migration Center

Global Migration Center

Global migration is one of the most important and pervasive societal issues of the 21st century, yet there is limited knowledge of the phenomenon in a holistic and global frame. The Global Migration Center is a focal point for interdisciplinary research focused on migrants, particularly vulnerable and at-risk migrants. The center also acts as a critical hub for the translation of this research into policy advice, action and support of immigrant communities.

Director: Giovanni Peri
Learn more about Global Migration Center

Perinatal Origins of Disparities Center

Perinatal Origins of Disparities Center

Despite the incredible advances in health care technology, health outcomes are.ru often more dependent on zip code than DNA code. The Perinatal Origins of Disparities (POD) Center traces the origins of these health disparities back to the perinatal period — pre-conception to infancy — and develops ways to prevent them before they begin. This multidisciplinary group examines biological, social, behavioral and community-level data simultaneously to develop, test and share prevention strategies and tools.

Directors: Janine LaSalle and Leigh Ann Simmons
Learn more about Perinatal Origins of Disparities Center


Research Instruments and Central Facilities

Campus Mass Spectrometry Facilities

Campus Mass Spectrometry Facilities

The Campus Mass Spectrometry Facilities provides open access, high quality, and cost-effective mass spectrometry services for the entire UC Davis community. The facility is focused on providing quality resources in mass spectrometry to meet the research needs of the campus, in line with the university’s service mission as an academic institution.

Director: Carlito Lebrilla
Learn more about Campus Mass Spectrometry Facilities

Controlled Environment Facility

Controlled Environment Facility

The Controlled Environment Facility consists of 151 plant growth chambers at two locations. Chamber controls include light intensity, temperature, relative humidity, photoperiod and plant irrigation systems. The facility contains many specialized units, such as a dew chamber for virus and pathogen inoculation, 15 chambers that control CO2 levels within the chamber up to 2500 parts per million, 1 chamber is available for low temperature [-10C]: experiments, 1 chamber with a M10 fluorescent / incandescent lamp canopy and another chamber is equipped with a chemical air drier for low humidity studies.

Director: Julin Maloof
Learn more about Controlled Environment Facility

High Performance Computing Core Facility

High Performance Computing Core Facility

The High Performance Computing Core Facility specializes in high-performance computing (HPC) systems for research and education. The facility manages UC Davis research compute environment that stretches to multiple colleges, departments, and laboratories across the university, and, typically, responsible for most or all aspects of the cluster systems, including design, procurement, implementation, maintenance, and administration. Services include hardware design and acquisition; cluster installation and maintenance; operating system and HPC software maintenance; system and data security; storage services; consulting on HPC code optimization, data transfer and access; consulting and assessment of HPC needs; cloud-ready research applications; and information to national resources.

Director: John Conway
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Interdisciplinary Center for Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Interdisciplinary Center for Plasma Mass Spectrometry

The Interdisciplinary Center for Plasma Mass Spectrometry is a facility for trace element and isotope analyses with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The facility is comprised of two laboratories: Quadrupole ICP-MS/Laser Ablation instrumentation & Multiple Collection (MC) ICP-MS/Laser Ablation instrumentation.

Director: Kari Cooper
Learn more about Interdisciplinary Center for Plasma Mass Spectrometry

McClellan Nuclear Research Center

The McClellan Nuclear Research Center operates a 2 MW TRIGA type nuclear reactor and was originally developed by the US Air Force to detect low-level corrosion and hidden defects in aircraft structures using neutron radiography. Since then, services at the center have expanded to include computer tomography (three-dimensional neutron radiography), silicon doping, isotope production, neutron activation analysis, and radiation effects testing.

Director: Wesley Frey
Learn more about McClellan Nuclear Research Center

Mouse Biology Program

The UC Davis Mouse Biology Program (MBP) is an academic resource providing scientific expertise and consultation, technological assistance, dedicated infrastructure, and educational support to the academic community in the development, application, and use of genetically-altered mice for biomedical research on diseases, behavioral abnormalities, and developmental disorders.

Director: Kent Lloyd, D.V.M.., Ph.D.
Learn more about the Mouse Biology Program

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility

The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility provides qualified researchers in the biological, medical, and physical sciences access to state-of-the-art instrumentation for spectroscopy and imaging. At present the facility operates 10 spectrometers of varying purposes and capabilities. All of the spectrometers are multinuclear and a large variety of liquids, solids, surface, and imaging coils are available for use.

Director: James Ames
Learn more about Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility