Briefs

UCLA professor elected to national science
academy

UCLA Electrical Engineering Professor Eli Yablonovitch was
elected to the National Academy of Sciences on April 29. This is
the first time a professor from UCLA’s engineering school has
become a member of the prestigious academy.

Earlier this year, Yablonovitch was one of three UCLA
engineering professors to be elected to the National Academy of
Engineering. Some of his research interests include
optoelectronics, high-speed optical communications, high-efficiency
light-emitting diodes, and quantum computing and communication.

Yablonovitch graduated with a Ph.D. in applied physics from
Harvard University in 1972. He is a fellow of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Optical Society of
Electronic Engineers, and the American Physical Society.

Students: No more diets

Diets don’t work, say students from the Student Welfare
Commission and Student Nutrition (& Body Image) Action
Committee.

To commemorate the third annual International No Dieting Day,
students will hand out flyers outlying the dangers of diets at
Westwood Plaza today between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

The day is meant to raise awareness about eating disorders,
chronic dieting, weight preoccupation and disordered eating and
also aims to create a healthier mind-set for students.

Undergraduate research honored on Capitol
Hill

Three UCLA undergraduates in UCLA’s College of Letters and
Science are among 72 college students selected nationally by the
Council on Undergraduate Research to present their original
research on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Diana Libuda, a molecular, cell and developmental biology
student with a minor in music history, will present research on the
role of a molecule in spinal cord development. Her research will be
a step toward developing treatments for spinal cord injuries.

Kayvan Zainabadi, a molecular, cell and developmental biology
student, conducts research on cervical cancer, one of the leading
causes of death among women, affecting 500,000 worldwide and 13,000
in the United States annually.

Zainabadi has identified a gene which could play a role in not
only cervical cancer, but also liver and kidney cancer. His
research will help in the early detection of cervical cancer.

Heather Coleman, a marine biology and atmospheric sciences
student, studied the damage caused to coral reefs by sewage,
over-fishing and hurricanes.

In the future, Coleman hopes to work in the fields of non-profit
conservational ecology and marine biology.