Health & Wellness

November 20, 2025

Why UCSB students feel seasonal depression differently: The science of sunshine, coastline and campus culture

By Aria Khaitan

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) can be especially overwhelming for collegiate students, but the neurological benefits of sunshine, ocean and community can help combat stress hormones at UCSB.

October 2, 2025

Science-based ways to start off the school year

By Saanvi Tiwary

With Week 1 of fall quarter nearly behind us, science editor Saanvi Tiwary shares three scientifically-backed strategies for Gaucho success in the classroom and beyond.

May 1, 2025

Meghan Morrissey: Bringing creativity to cancer research

By Isabella Barragan

At the beginning of 2025, UC Santa Barbara assistant professor in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Meghan Morrissey was granted the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award for her research behind a new form o...

February 20, 2025

The cost of a virus: the politics of the U.S. bird flu outbreak and its public health implications

By Roxanna Reid

Amidst growing fears of human-to-human transmission, “bird flu” is no longer just a grocery store problem — it’s exposing instability in our new administration’s approach to public health. So, how can we contex...

October 17, 2024

New UCSB study conducts first-ever mapping of the human brain across pregnancy

By Kaitlin Lee

While we have long understood the profound changes that the human body undergoes during pregnancy, the transformation of the maternal brain has for the most part remained a mystery — until now. Researchers at UC Sant...

August 29, 2024

Simply Stated: What are the effects of performance-enhancing drugs on an athlete’s body?

By John Cho

Like virtually all of its kind that precede it, the 2024 Summer Olympics has been rife with doping scandals. Chinese Olympic swimmer Pan Zhanle was the subject of doping accusations after he secured his team a gold medal...

August 29, 2024

Simply Stated: What’s the science behind the mental strength of Olympic athletes?

By Saanvi Tiwary

The mind of an Olympic athlete is a finely tuned instrument where focus, resilience and neurological efficiency converge to produce peak performance. While Olympians’ physical prowess is the result of years of rigorous...

July 13, 2024

OPINION: My journey through topical steroid withdrawal, a failure of the medical community

By Kaitlin Lee

I am struggling with a condition called topical steroid withdrawal (TSW), a diagnosis that has yet to be officially recognized by the National Health Service. This debilitating condition was caused by the very medication...

February 15, 2024

Simply Stated: Are aphrodisiacs a hoax?

By Olivia Gil de Bernabe, Katharine Chi

What is an aphrodisiac? An aphrodisiac is a substance or food that can provoke arousal, sexual desire, behavior and even pleasure. There are three typical usage types for aphrodisiac foods: increasing libido (sexual desi...

January 18, 2024

Data sheds light on what COVID-19 is like for inmates at CDCR institutions

By Nicole Xu, Collin Tran, Sophia Zhu

Due to the recent continuous drop in COVID-19 cases in CDCR institutions and the high vaccination rates among the population throughout the state’s prisons, their reopening guidelines have loosened.

November 22, 2023

Simply Stated: Do “guilt-free” prebiotic drinks actually make you healthier?

By Leah Cierzan

Have you found yourself grabbing a Poppi or Olipop prebiotic drink from the Arbor before class, reassured with the prebiotic labeling, or adding that free “gut health” supplement into your Blenders smoothie of choice...

October 5, 2023

Santa Barbara County Public Health Department releases STI data

By Sindhu Ananthavel, Olivia Gil de Bernabe

The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department released updated data on five sexually transmitted infections within the county this month. Key county trends SBCPHD made note of in the press release were that chlamydia...

August 25, 2023

Simply Stated: What’s actually in my supplements?

By Meenakshi Manoj

A July 17 report revealed that an alarming number of sports supplements contain incorrect amounts of ingredients, traces of prohibited compounds, and missing ingredients that are reported on the labels. Sports suppleme...

August 11, 2023

Simply Stated: Is my phone damaging my eyes?

By Samarah Paulino

Time and again, we have been warned about how this heavy usage of mobile devices can affect our eyes — specifically, how blue light, the main source of light that most digital devices emit, can cause permanent damage. ...

July 11, 2023

FDA makes history, approves Elevidys to treat pediatric Duchenne muscular dystrophy

By Meenakshi Manoj

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Elevidys in June, making it the first gene therapy designed to treat pediatric Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a life-threatening genetic disorder of progressive muscular weakn...