Center for Neuroscience

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Vision Neuroscientist Marie Burns Appointed New Director of the Center for Neuroscience

  • by Kimberly Cummings

Vision neuroscientist Marie E. Burns has been appointed the sixth director of the Center for Neuroscience (CNS), effective July 1, 2025, after serving as interim director for the past year.

A professor with joint appointments in the departments of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, and Cell Biology and Human Anatomy in the School of Medicine, Burns brings more than 20 years’ leadership experience to the role.

Jennifer Whistler

Researchers Identify a Potentially Safer Approach to Opioid Drug Development

  • by Kimberly Cummings
(SACRAMENTO) — Opioids are powerful painkillers but their use is hindered because patients become tolerant to them, requiring higher and higher doses, and overdoses can cause respiratory depression and death.

A recent study from researchers at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience contradicts existing thinking about how opioid drugs cause tolerance and respiratory depression, and suggests a new, balanced approach to developing safer analgesics.

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