Friday

Kara Cooney, Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art & Architecture

Who were the women who once ruled the richest and most successful state of the ancient Mediterranean and African Bronze Age? Ancient Egypt’s female kings ruled against all odds of the patriarchy in which they lived with real, unadulterated power. Yet many of these female leaders were judged harshly for taking power or erased from the historical record by the men who followed them, leaving them elusive historical figures surrounded by mystery and myth. In this lecture, Prof. Kara Cooney, Egyptologist and author of When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt, will go beyond the myths and shed light on these powerful female kings and their historical legacy.

Mackenzie Day, Associate Professor, Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences

Wind shapes dunes wherever sand is present, including on six different bodies within our Solar System. On Earth, over 40% of the global population resides in arid regions where dunes and dune fields are a common feature. In this lecture, we will delve into how dunes provide insights into local environments, their applications in engineering, and how the similarities and differences among deserts and dunes across various planetary bodies reveal the fundamental principles of physics. Join us to explore Mars, Venus, Titan, Comet 67P, Pluto, and Earth through the lens of UCLA’s cutting-edge research in sand, wind, and geology.

Mireille Kamariza, Assistant Professor, Bioengineering

We present innovative approaches to tuberculosis (TB) drug testing that leverage environment-sensitive probes for rapid and accurate results. We will discuss the development and application of these probes, which can detect subtle changes in the cellular environment to determine drug susceptibility. By focusing on real-time phenotypic responses, this method offers a faster, more reliable alternative to traditional TB testing, which often requires extended culture periods. Insights from the underlying technology has the potential to revolutionize TB diagnostics, with broader implications for global health. This approach not only accelerates the path to effective treatment but also supports more targeted therapy, ultimately improving patient outcomes and reducing the spread of drug-resistant TB strains.