• Kimberley McAllister studies the developing brain
• Part of her research focuses on why viral infection during pregnancy can increase the likelihood of a child developing autism and schizophrenia
• McAllister was named director of the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience in 2018, becoming the first female to occupy the role

Puzzles always fascinated UC Davis Center for Neuroscience Director Kimberley McAllister. They’re initially what attracted her to science.

To function daily, your body gleans energy from three food-derived macronutrients: carbohydrates, fats and proteins. How you divvy up those macronutrients in your diet is a matter of personal preference.

But what if you could train your brain to prefer one macronutrient over the other?

• Assistant Professor Lucas Smith studies neuromuscular disorders, like cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy
• Smith explores how scar tissue accumulation, which is seen in these conditions, affects muscle mechanics
• He wants to find ways to increase the expression of proteins that can alleviate overly stiff muscles

In debilitating neuromuscular disorders, like muscular dystrophies and cerebral palsy, the body’s muscles scar, turning fibrotic and stiff. These skele

• Researchers observed the effects of imidacloprid, a pesticide, on bumblebee behaviors within the hive
• To study this hidden world, they outfitted bumblebees with tiny QR code tags and tracked individuals with video
• They found imidacloprid disrupts nest behavior, causing reduced growth in exposed colonies 

A pesticide banned in the European Union but still in use in the United States is proving to have detrimental effects on pollinators.