5 new UC ‘geniuses’ recognized for creativity that could change the world

Two UC faculty, two former postdocs and an alumnus are among this year's 20 MacArthur fellows, the latest recognition that UC researchers' and artists' work is pushing boundaries in science, medicine and culture.

Why it matters:

• MacArthur fellowships, awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, are commonly known as "genius grants."

• Fellows receive "no-strings-attached" awards of $800,000 to give them the freedom to pursue their creative visions.

• Fellows are selected for their outstanding originality and ability to impact society.

• Past fellows include UC Berkeley Nobelist and biochemist Jennifer Doudna, whose development of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology is allowing for previously unthinkable cures for genetic diseases including sickle cell anemia.

• To date, 104 UC faculty have been awarded MacArthur "genius grants," making UC one of the country's most prolific MacArthur institutions.

This year's fellows:

Liangfang Zhang, UC San Diego chemical and nanoengineering professor, creates innovative technologies for drug delivery that allow nanoparticles to pass through the membranes of cells and more effectively deliver treatments for all kinds of ailments.

The result is a new kind of medicine that can potentially treat disease without having to rely on conventional drugs such as antibiotics and antifungals. The approach could be less vulnerable to the problem of drug resistance.

"This honor means a great deal to me," Zhang said to UC San Diego Today. "It recognizes 16 years of work by my team to take cellular nanoparticle technology from an early discovery to a platform that has influenced the field and may ultimately benefit patients."

Rodney McMillian, UCLA art professor and head of the campus sculpture department, is a master at repurposing everyday objects and historical materials to tell stories.

Across his work - which has been exhibited throughout the country, including at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Studio Museum in Harlem and the University of Pennsylvania's Institute of Contemporary Art - McMillian has repeatedly revisited places, institutions and political language through which history continues to resonate, excavating issues of race, class, power, and the promises and contradictions of American life.

"For people encountering my work for the first time, I hope that they'll think about the histories that they know and maybe question some of those things," McMillian told UCLA Newsroom. "I think that would be a wonderful outcome."

Ariel Ron, UC Berkeley alumnus and historian, writes about how agriculture in the United States has influenced American history. His book, "Grassroots Leviathan: Agricultural Reform and the Rural North in the Slaveholding Republic," explores the often overlooked role Northern agriculture played in the 19th century economy and federal government.

Holly Jean Buck, a former UCLA postdoctoral fellow, now an interdisciplinary social scientist at the University of Buffalo, studies how clean energy adoption can be accelerated. Her recent work, the MacArthur Foundation writes, "elevates voices and ideas that might otherwise go unheard but are essential to mitigating climate change at scale."

Song Lin, a former UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow, is a Stanford chemistry professor working on the frontier of electrochemistry, a field that uses electricity to create chemical reactions. Lin's research seeks to bridge electrochemistry and the life sciences, ultimately offering more efficient, sustainable ways to synthetically create drugs.