Shelter animal welfare

A program at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine dedicated to improving the health and well-being of shelter animals has received a $1 million gift from Koret Foundation Funds of San Francisco. The UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program — as it will be known during the course of Koret's five-year funding commitment — is the nation's first program to emphasize shelter medicine as a veterinary specialty.

In addition to preparing veterinarians for careers in shelter medicine, Koret's support will provide expanded consultation services nationwide and allow shelter medicine specialists to pursue scientific research that will improve the welfare of animals in shelters.

Graduate student grant

Hoping to spark rapid advancements in biotechnology and nurture young researchers from diverse fields of study, the UC Systemwide Biotechnology Research and Education Program has awarded 11 new training grants to graduate students and their faculty mentors at UC Davis and four other UC campuses.

The $50,000-per-year Graduate Research and Education in Adaptive bioTechnology (GREAT) training grants are among the highest individual awards given for graduate education and training anywhere in the nation. They will fund biotechnology-related research into such areas as nanoscale bio-imaging, stem cells, biological molecular machines and nerve-tissue engineering, which incorporate cross-disciplinary training that spans all fields of science, engineering, medicine and agriculture.