Centers and Institutes

The Center for Neuroscience is the hub of interdisciplinary neuroscience research and training at UC Davis. Teams of world-renowned scientists work to better understand all levels of brain development, function and dysfunction. Their discoveries provide the foundation for improvements in health and new therapies for disease.

The MIND Institute (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) is an international, multidisciplinary research organization, committed to the awareness, understanding, and treatment of the challenges that can be associated with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Research programs focus on specific neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism, Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome.

The Center for Mind and Brain is a research and training unit dedicated to understanding the nature of the human mind from interdisciplinary perspectives. CMB scientists are interested in a wide range of fundamental questions about how minds are organized, addressing questions using interdisciplinary approaches from social science (anthropology, economics, linguistics, philosophy and psychology), biological science (behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, physiology), engineering science (biomedical and electrical engineering, computer science), and medical science (neurology, psychiatry and medical imaging).

The California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC) is improving health and advancing science with interdisciplinary programs in biomedical research on significant human medical conditions throughout the lifespan. Research at the CNPRC is leading to new diagnostics, therapeutics, and clinical procedures that enhance quality of life for both humans and animals.

The mission of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center is to advance the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias through comprehensive patient evaluations and cutting-edge research. The UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center brings together an interdisciplinary group of dedicated researchers, clinical staff (neurologists, geriatric psychiatrists, geriatricians, neuropsychologists, psychometrists, social workers, and nurses) to conduct basic and clinical research, including clinical trials, clinical evaluations, community outreach and education, professional education and research training.

The Behavioral Health Center of Excellence builds research innovation that leverages the strengths of UC Davis in basic, translational and clinical neuroscience and enhances its impact on patient care, public policy and the lives of all Californians affected by mental health challenges and their loved ones.

The UC Davis Imaging Research Center supports human imaging science research and promotes the use of modern imaging methods in basic science and clinical investigations of the brain and body. Located at the UCD Medical Center campus in Sacramento, the IRC houses two research-dedicated whole-body MRI scanners, a 1.5T GE Signa MRI System and the new 3T Siemens Trio MRI System. A satellite facility, the MRI Facility for Integrative Neurosciences, is located in Davis and houses a  Siemens 64-channel 3-Tesla "Skyra" MRI System

UC Davis is home to one of the largest and most successful assemblies of Vision Research faculty and Ophthalmic Care providers in the nation. Faculty are drawn from 16 departments in 5 schools and colleges and represent a wide array of expertise- molecular biologists, psychologists, physiologists, neuroscientists, mathematicians, engineers, and clinical ophthalmologists from both human and veterinary medicine. The Center for Vision Science was created to catalyze interactions between and among researchers and clinicians from different disciplines to advance our understanding of the visual system, and how to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases of the visual system.

The UC Davis CounterACT Center of Excellence is dedicated to identifying improved medical countermeasures for chemical threat agents that cause seizures in humans. The Center aims to improve medical approaches to seizure to prevent brain damage and improve survival and long-term outcomes of those exposed to chemical agents and to protect the frontline workers responding to these emergencies. Work is conducted as a collaborative effort between the School of Veterinary Medicine, the School of Medicine, the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and the College of Engineering.

The Center for Neuroengineering & Medicine promotes neurological health and extends human capacity, through research, stakeholder engagement, and education into discovery and translation of systems that interface with the brain and the body, to benefit society.

The Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine (IPRM) is a collaborative initiative of the UC Davis School of Medicine and the Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California (SHCNC). The IPRM carries out basic and translational/clinical research, with the aim of helping children with spinal cord dysfunction, orthopaedic disorders and burns.

The Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics was established to advance our understanding of the basic neurobiology of psychedelics and translate this knowledge into safe and effective therapeutics.