UCLA recognizes faculty making a lasting global impact on public issues

What does it mean to be a public research university? At UCLA, it means turning insight into action - from predictive data that keeps Angelenos housed to renewable energy mapping that helps California plan equitably, from trauma-care partnerships in Cameroon to a weaving project that sustains a Greek village's heritage.

Through the annual Public Impact Research Awards, presented by the UCLA Office of Research and Creative Activities starting in 2022, the university has recognized faculty whose scholarship delivers measurable good in the world and reflects the university's enduring commitment to service.

"The Public Impact Research Awards call attention to UCLA's goal to serve the public good," said Roger Wakimoto, UCLA's vice chancellor for research and creative activities. "At a time when the public is questioning the importance and relevance of university research, these awards highlight how we have made important contributions to communities."

This year's honorees are:

California Policy Lab

Janey Rountree, executive director

Till von Wachter, professor of economics and faculty director

The California Policy Lab, a nonpartisan research institute at the University of California, works closely with government partners to translate data into action. By analyzing issues including poverty, labor markets and homelessness, the lab helps policymakers design and evaluate programs with real-world impact.

One of its most innovative contributions has been the development of an AI model that allows Los Angeles County to identify residents at the highest risk of becoming homeless. Coupled with intensive case management from county partners, the program provides early intervention before people fall into crisis - a first-of-its-kind effort that other jurisdictions are now closely watching.

"In the past year, CPL worked with our L.A. County partners to develop the quantitative performance metrics associated with Measure A, a new tax levy to fund homelessness services," said Janey Rountree. "These metrics are a big step forward and will help voters understand who is being served by these programs and whether they are effective."

Till von Wachter underscored the importance of grounding public decisions in research.

"Our research also helped track the economic impact of the pandemic and, more recently, showed that the job impacts from the L.A. wildfires were felt across the county," he said. "Without the kind of data-based research CPL produces, even the best-intentioned policymakers are left to make major decisions without enough information."

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Sharon Gerstel

Professor, Byzantine art and archaeology
George P. Kolovos Family Centennial Term Chair in Hellenic Studies
Director, UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture

In 2022, Sharon Gerstel took a group of UCLA students to the village of Geraki in southern Greece, seeking ways to use their scholarly interests to benefit the community. After learning about a local weaving workshop, they went to meet some of the craftspeople, most of whom are women.

The next day, the scholars met with the president of the village's cultural society, who invited Gerstel and her team to collaborate on what would eventually become an impressive 288-page book - published in 2024, in English and Greek - cataloging textiles produced by Geraki's weavers. About 800 copies of the volume have been sold to date, with proceeds benefiting the Cultural Society of Geraki and the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture in Athens.

Using the book as a launching pad, Gerstel now oversees a multifaceted initiative that is not only documenting the village's cultural heritage, but is also empowering Geraki's skilled craftspeople and supporting economic development there. The weavers are developing plans for a brick-and-mortar shop and a combined exhibition space and learning center, which they hope will attract tourism to the region.

"Seeing how our presence in the village has expanded opportunities for the women and seeing their confidence grow has been really gratifying," Gerstel said, adding that the benefits for her UCLA students has perhaps been even more meaningful to her.

"The most rewarding part of this project has been seeing how our students have matured, given this chance to get out of the library, interact with people in the village and see the outcome and effects of their work," she said.

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Catherine Juillard

Professor in residence, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Holder of the Marjorie Fine Professor in Clinical General Surgery
Co-director, Program for the Advancement of Surgical Equity
Director, Surgical Critical Care/Trauma and Emergency Surgery Fellowship

Dr. Catherine Juillard has dedicated her career to ensuring that access to lifesaving surgical care is not determined by geography. At UCLA, she co-founded the Program for the Advancement of Surgical Equity, which investigates disparities in surgical outcomes and works to close those gaps in the U.S. and globally.

Through a 17-year partnership with the University of Buea in Cameroon, Juillard has helped strengthen trauma care in a region where road traffic injuries and violence are among the leading causes of death. The collaboration has resulted in new models of patient care, stronger trauma care systems and groundbreaking research that supports Cameroonian faculty and trainees in shaping and advocating for their nation's medical priorities.

"True partnership - across cultures, borders and often oceans - is really where you find the ultimate genesis of innovation," Juillard said. "I am inspired every time my partners and I collaborate on something, and I always learn so much from them."

She said global health work should not be seen as charity, but as a shared exchange. "In so much of scientific discovery, we really don't know what we don't know," she said. "Keeping that open, creative mindset is the way to discover truly novel breakthroughs."

In 2024, Juillard founded the UCLA Healing, Empowering and Liberating Trauma Program at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. The program connects survivors of violence and injury with resources to heal both physically and emotionally, while reducing the risk of reinjury.

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Stephanie Pincetl

Professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Founding director, California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA

For more than a decade, Stephanie Pincetl has led research to ensure California's transition to renewable energy is both effective and equitable. She and the California Center for Sustainable Communities created the UCLA Energy Atlas, a first-of-its-kind resource that links utility data with demographics and geography to reveal patterns of energy use.

The atlas has supported sustainability planning in Los Angeles County and the Bay Area, revealed how building growth affects energy efficiency, and guided state agencies in identifying obstacles to electrification in underserved neighborhoods. The tool also helps answer questions such as how to proceed toward gas decommissioning. Pincetl and her team have also worked closely with LADWP to shape its commitment to a 100% renewable energy future by 2035, ensuring equity is central to the transition.

"Our work has been most helpful for local governments with their climate and greenhouse gas programs, but also for many community-based organizations advocating for climate justice," she said. "If this type of research is not supported, transparency in the energy system and the need for transition are lost, and residents are left with an insufficient understanding of the disparities in energy consumption and the opportunities for reducing greenhouse gases."

Pincetl has also led the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability, a network of more than 100 members that brings together local governments, utilities, nonprofits and businesses to share research and strategies for building climate resilience across the region.

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Aradhna Tripati

Professor, Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences
Founding director, Center for Diverse Leadership in Science

Aradhna Tripati's work bridges science, equity and community empowerment. As a climate scientist, she partners with organizations like Esperanza Community Housing to document how rising temperatures affect Los Angeles neighborhoods, particularly low-income communities that are most vulnerable to displacement. Her research highlights how environmental, racial and economic justice are deeply connected - and how collaboration can drive change.

Through UCLA's Center for Developing Leadership in Science - the first academic center of its kind in the nation - Tripati and her team have supported more than 350 fellows, including students, faculty and community partners, in building careers in environmental science. The center's work has contributed to major environmental justice victories, including the successful campaign to end neighborhood oil drilling in Los Angeles and statewide legislation to create buffer zones around drilling sites.

"My goal for this work is to catalyze community-driven science for a more just world," Tripati said. "The consequence of this work is that in the face of threats, including climate change and inequality, we can build a future where everyone can have their basic needs met."

She added that the work ahead is about expanding access and collaboration.

"I imagine a future where Indigenous stewards have access to environmental genomics and carbon monitoring tools to care for land, raise revenue and uphold their sovereignty, where environmental justice communities can hold polluters accountable, and all can access predictive models to navigate climate impacts," she said. "This kind of work is an investment in our health and futures - now and in the decades ahead."