University of California Video Podcasts (Video)

The Undergraduate Research Hub empowers undergraduates seeking to become integrated in the UC San Diego research community. Cristian Fuentes Hernandez shares how being involved in research has impacted his college journey as well as how it can benefit grad school applications and entering the job market. Series: "Education Channel" [Education] [Show ID: 38065]

As a young child, Ximena Gonzalez moved with her family from Mexico to Santa Clarita, California. School was initially difficult as she tried to learn a new language and find ways to connect with her classmates. Through extracurricular activities like sports and choir, she found her voice and her passions. When it came time to chose a college, she found a place that let her explore not only her academic pursuits, but a well rounded personal life as well. Gonzalez shares her journey as well as advice for future college freshmen. Series: "Education Channel" [Education] [Show ID: 38635]

Michelle B. Blakely shares a personal and professional passion for early intervention programs and the importance of developmental screening. She discusses her experience as a director of an early intervention program, serving infants, toddlers, and families with special needs and emphasizes the need for access and reducing barriers to developmental screening in communities of color. Blakely shares personal anecdotes about her family and their brother's journey with a mental health disorder that could have been identified earlier. She aims to inspire inquiry and conversation to develop strategies to support children's development and to work collaboratively. Series: "Developmental Disabilities Update" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 38867]

Dr. Brian Skotko, who has a sister with Down syndrome, discusses improving healthcare access for Black and Spanish-speaking individuals with Down syndrome. In collaboration with colleague Albert Pless, Jr., they embarked on a journey to understand the clinical needs of underrepresented minorities in the Down syndrome community. They discovered that the majority of people with Down syndrome lack access to specialty clinics, and this disparity may be even greater among those from underrepresented backgrounds. Through interviews, focus groups, and surveys with caregivers and primary care physicians, they gathered data to drive their recommendations. Their goal is to create tangible solutions and implement change to address the barriers faced by these communities. Join them as they share their findings and discuss the steps taken to improve healthcare for individuals with Down syndrome. Series: "Developmental Disabilities Update" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 38868]

In this enlightening conversation, Ray Santisteban, director and producer of the documentary "Time of the Phoenix: The First Rainbow Coalition," shares his insights on activism, coalition politics, and social change. Santisteban delves into his journey of making the documentary and how it marked the beginning of his filmmaking career. He highlights the unique power of documentary filmmaking which enables him to address important social issues that Hollywood often overlooks. Exploring the historical context of revolutionary movements, including the influential role of the Black Panthers, Santisteban emphasizes the significance of building diverse and uncomfortable coalitions to achieve transformative progress. Don't miss this inspiring dialogue on realizing revolutionary possibilities and the untapped potential of documentary filmmaking. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38821]

For more than 20 years, Reality Changers has been an example to San Diego and beyond, illustrating the transformative power of higher education. By providing academic assistance, mentorship, and numerous other resources, they help first generation college students reach their goals - in and out of the classroom. President and CEO Tamara Y. Craver joins Morgan Appel to discuss the program's impact on families, communities, and educational equity. Series: "Education Channel" [Education] [Show ID: 38853]

While exercise helps us stay healthy, what is happening on the molecular level? Matthew A. Romero, Ph.D., shares his work to understand how muscle in general and other cells specifically are transcriptionally regulated by exercise and how this affects their general behavior and how this is impacted by diseases such as obesity.

Series: "Stem Cell Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 39033]

As part of the 2023 Developmental Disabilities Conference, Dr. Clarissa Kripke shares valuable insights on understanding and managing challenging behaviors in individuals with disabilities including aggression and self injury. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing that not all behaviors are intentional or purposeful, but rather a result of underlying factors such as limbic system responses or obsessive behaviors. Kripke highlights that addressing challenging behaviors requires a holistic approach that considers the caregiver's needs and support as well. She explains the difference between meltdowns and tantrums, providing practical strategies for deescalation and crisis management. She also explores the significance of identifying medical issues that may contribute to problem behaviors and offers a helpful mnemonic to aid in recognition. With a trauma-informed perspective, Kripke encourages focusing on improving individuals' quality of life and providing them with better ways to meet their needs. Series: "Developmental Disabilities Update" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 38871]

Having a skilled primary care clinician will go a long way to maintaining your health and wellness. In this program on primary care basic, Dr. Nicole Appelle discussed the latest best practices in preventing common and rare diseases with safe and effective vaccines for adults.

Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 38793]

This series on artificial intelligence explores recent breakthroughs of AI, its broader societal implications and its future potential. In this presentation, Sergey Levine, associate professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UC Berkeley, discusses AI reinforcement learning methods. Levine asks what it would take to create machine learning systems that can make decisions when faced with the full complexity and diversity of the real world, while still retaining the ability of reinforcement learning to come up with new solutions? He discusses how advances in offline reinforcement learning can enable machine learning systems to learn to make more optimal decisions from data, combining the best of data-driven machine learning with the capacity for emergent behavior and optimization provided by reinforcement learning.

Levine received a BS and MS in Computer Science from Stanford University in 2009, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University in 2014. He joined the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley in fall 2016. His work focuses on machine learning for decision making and control, with an emphasis on deep learning and reinforcement learning algorithms. Applications of his work include autonomous robots and vehicles, as well as applications in other decision-making domains. His research includes developing algorithms for end-to-end training of deep neural network policies that combine perception and control, scalable algorithms for inverse reinforcement learning, deep reinforcement learning algorithms, and more.

Series: "Data Science Channel" [Science] [Show ID: 38857]