Major Cross-Campus Initiatives

Life-changing inspiration will be business as usual in Aggie Square—the thriving innovation ecosystem UC Davis is creating in Sacramento. Aggie Square will connect UC Davis ingenuity with industry expertise to build vibrant, resilient communities—from new therapies that bring hope and healing, to education and training programs that create new opportunities for the jobs of the future.

Spanning 25 acres on the Sacramento campus, Aggie Square will bring together UC Davis scholars across the disciplines to engage their students in community-based work and collaborations with business and industry. Through their ideas, innovations and partnerships, Aggie Square will become the epicenter of regional vitality and global impact—the nexus where biotech startups, clinics and cutting-edge labs coexist seamlessly with urban marketplaces, cultural venues and interactive learning environments for students of every age and interest.

Living with Autism: Improving Quality of Life through Autism Research and Treatment. One in 59 children is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) – almost triple the number in 2000. Early intervention creates a more positive trajectory for affected children. Yet autism remains a lifelong condition and challenge. Many adults with autism are unable to find meaningful employment, form lasting friendships or live independently. The UC Davis MIND Institute is the world's leading autism research center, with more than 50 faculty and staff across five schools and colleges. We have a vision to pioneer a first-of-its-kind lifespan approach relevant to everyone living with autism.

Through building partnerships with the communities we serve, driving innovation in affordable and accessible technologies, and training doctors, nurses, teachers, employers, and family members, we will create new ways of advancing science and helping people with autism. Harnessing UC Davis' unique strengths in telehealth, neuroscience, engineering, education and social sciences will enable us to help rural, urban, low-income, and other underserved families. In doing so, we will empower people with autism to create meaningful, rewarding and happy lives.

Brain Health Across the Lifespan. The loss of brain health commonly associated with aging can be devastating. Beyond the personal toll on patients and their families, deteriorating cognitive and mental health affects all of us and represents a substantial challenge to our healthcare system and communities. Now is the time to change how science and society think about aging, cognitive and mental disease, focusing on what we are calling lifelong brain fitness. This kind of cognitive training has the ability to prevent neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease and Dementia. UC Davis has a bold vision of a society where everyone has a chance to have a healthy brain and a healthy mind.

Breaking down traditional barriers between neuroscience research and practice, and uniting our strengths across the university, the UC Davis Healthy Brain Aging Initiative will advance novel approaches to optimize brain health from birth. We will drive new discoveries in the science of brain development and aging that translate to game-changing early interventions and treatments to improve brain health across the lifespan. With targeted education and outreach programs, UC Davis will be the go-to resource for understanding and enhancing brain power throughout life.

The agricultural, industrial and computer revolutions have changed virtually every aspect of human life, and we are now at the beginning of a new neuroscience revolution that will have an equally profound impact on how humans experience and interact with the world. The “X” in Neuro-X represents our intersectional approach, which brings our outstanding neuroscience community together with our deep social and physical sciences departments and our world-class biomedical engineering and health sciences. 

Neuro-X is a new initiative focused on a socially-embedded, whole-organism approach to neuroscience fostered by closely interacting teams of scientists working across all levels and fields. The next generation of advances will depend on integrating expertise across these levels and across traditional disciplinary boundaries. The Neuro-X initiative will make leaps in understanding, assisting, treating and preventing disorders of the mind and brain. And it will lead to advances in AI, education and policy to increase the quality of life. Through promoting entrepreneurship and ties to industry, Neuro-X will serve as the R&D powerhouse that fuels Aggie Square.