UCNI 2023-24 Annual Impact Report

BERKELEY | DAVIS | IRVINE | SAN FRANCISCO | SANTA BARBARA UC Noyce Initiative

ANN S. BOWERS

1937 - 2024

Honoring Legacy. Building the Future. The Making of a Movement in Women’s Brain Health

PLUS

Lighting the Way for Quantum Innovation Protecting Your Digital Life Rethinking Health Through Advanced Computing

2023-24 IMPACTREPORT

UCNoyce.org

THE POWER OF FIVE UC NOYCE INITIATIVE ADVANCES DIGITAL INNOVATION

By Sarah Colwell On December 12, 2023, the University of California (UC) system internally announced the public launch of the UC Noyce Initiative, a consortium uniting five UC campuses—Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, San Francisco and Santa Barbara—in a collaborative effort to drive digital innovation. Established through a generous gift from the Robert N. Noyce Trust in 2020, the Initiative honors the legacy of Robert N. Noyce, the co-founder of Intel and inventor of the microchip, and his late wife Ann S. Bowers. Often hailed as the “Mayor of Silicon Valley,” Noyce's groundbreaking work laid the foundation for modern computing. He and Bowers’ commitment to innovation continues to inspire technological advancement. The UC Noyce Initiative embodies the Power of Five, leveraging the unique strengths and expertise of each participating campus to address pressing challenges in digital innovation. Current research priorities include computational health, cybersecurity, and quantum computing. By fostering cross- campus collaborations, the initiative aims to accelerate discoveries and translate them into solutions that benefit society. Since its pilot phase in the 2021-22 academic year, the Initiative has funded more than three dozen research projects, engaging multi-campus teams, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students. This collaborative approach not only advances research but also cultivates the next generation of innovators, reflecting Noyce's enduring legacy of mentorship and support for emerging talent. The announcement marks a significant milestone in the UC Noyce Initiative's mission to harness collective expertise and drive digital innovation for the public good.

Impact Report 2023 - 24 | UC NI

The UC Noyce Initiative’s mission is to advance research collaborations in critical areas of digital technology and innovation to drive informed, ethical and timely discovery for the public good.

2023-24 Awardees

COMPUTATIONAL HEALTH Kristofer Bouchard (UC Berkeley) Steven Brenner (UC Berkeley) Peter Chang (UC Irvine) Coye Cheshire (UC Berkeley) Chen-Nee Chuah (UC Davis) Mark D'Esposito (UC Berkeley) Brittany Dugger (UC Davis) Nikil Dutt (UC Irvine) Miguel Eckstein (UC Santa Barbara)

Adam Ferguson (UCSF) Soheil Ghiasi (UC Davis) Cathra Halabi (UCSF) Herman Hedriana (UC Davis) Emily Jacobs (UC Santa Barbara) Wilsaan Joiner (UC Davis)

Michael Keiser (UCSF) Jung-Ah Lee (UC Irvine) Andrew Li (UC Davis) Anu Manchikanti Gomez (UC Berkeley) Geoffrey Manley (UCSF) Nina Miolane (UC Santa Barbara) Adeline Nyamathi (UC Irvine) Clifford Pereira (UC Davis) Isabel Rodriguez-Barraquer (UCSF) Jonathon Schofield (UC Davis)

Sanjit Seshia (UC Berkeley) Yasser Shoukry (UC Irvine)

Yun Song (UC Berkeley) Craig Stark (UC Irvine) Geoffrey Tison (UCSF) William Wang (UC Santa Barbara) Sook Wah Yee (UCSF) Lara Zimmerman (UC Davis) CYBERSECURITY & PRIVACY Hao Chen (UC Davis) Hany Farid (UC Berkeley) Shafi Goldwasser (UC Berkeley) Christopher Kruegel (UC Santa Barbara)

Javad Lavaei (UC Berkeley) Shaista Malik (UC Irvine) Athina Markopoulou (UC Irvine) Amir Rahmani (UC Irvine) Zubair Shafiq (UC Davis) Somayeh Sojoudi (UC Berkeley) Gene Tsukik (UC Irvine) David Wagner (UC Berkeley) QUANTUM SCIENCE Marina Radulaski (UC Davis) Irfan Siddiqi (UC Berkeley)

Stock images

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BERKELEY | DAVIS | IRVINE | SAN FRANCISCO | SANTA BARBARA UC Noyce Initiative

Image credit: Matt Perko

UCNI LEADERSHIP 05 UCNI NAMES 06

MATTER OF THE MIND 23 AI & TBI 24

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Q&A WITH PRAMOD KHARGONEKAR

CRACKING THE CODE: AI AND ALZHEIMER’S

MIMICKING THE MINDS OF M.D.S

UCNI FUNDING IMPACT

THE MAKING OF A MOVEMENT IN WOMEN’S BRAIN HEALTH

UCNI AWARD HIGHLIGHTS

COMPUTERIZED CARE COMPANION

THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF ANN S. BOWERS

REVOLUTIONIZING STROKE REHABILITATION

RETHINKING HEALTH THROUGH ADVANCED COMPUTING

A NEW ERA IN DEMENTIA CARE

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MACHINES HELPING HUMAN ABILITIES

MAKING PROSTHETICS MORE LIFELIKE ILLUMINATING THE PATH TO SIGHT

Image credit: Matt Perko

PROTECTING OURSELVES FROM DEEPFAKES AND MISINFORMATION

YOUR DIGITAL LIFE 50 STUDY SHOWS ALEXA INVADES PRIVACY 52 THE SILENT GUARDIAN 54

THE BATTLE AGAINST DEEPFAKES

THE VIRAL THREAT 68

DEFENDING AGAINST A DIGITAL THREAT

SAFEGUARDING PRIVACY 56 POWERFUL PROTECTION 58

UCNI AND QUANTUM 73 LIGHTING THE WAY FOR QUANTUM INNOVATION 74 QUANTUM WORKSHOP 77

Image courtesy of UC Davis

PUBLICATIONS 78

DETECTING DISEASES 60 DECODING DISEASES 61 CRACKING THE CODE OF EPIDEMICS 63

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Sarah Colwell Editor-in-Chief

Graphic Designer Shaine Lutsky

Content Manager Sky Zhang

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Image courtesy of UC Berkeley

Image courtesy of Elena Zhukova

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR It is with great enthusiasm that I step into the role of Executive Director for the UC Noyce Initiative (UCNI) during this transformative year. Over the past fiscal year, UCNI has made significant strides in advancing groundbreaking research across our five participating UC campuses—Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, San Francisco and Santa Barbara. The Initiative continues to support interdisciplinary, high-impact research at the intersection of quantum science, computational health, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI). Through our competitive awards program, we have funded projects that push the boundaries of discovery, from AI-powered medical diagnostics to quantum computing, all with the goal of shaping the future of science and technology through digital transformation. The strength of UCNI lies in the collaboration between these world-class research institutions. By bringing together experts across multiple disciplines, we are leveraging the Power of Five to drive meaningful innovation that addresses some of the most pressing challenges of our time. Our researchers are not only making strides in their respective fields but also fostering a culture of shared knowledge, mentorship and interdisciplinary exploration. Whether developing next-generation cybersecurity measures, pioneering new approaches to women’s brain health research, or revolutionizing rehabilitation technologies, UCNI is committed to breaking new ground in scientific inquiry and real- world application. As we look ahead, I am eager to further strengthen UCNI’s role as a catalyst for bold ideas and scientific discoveries. Our future lies in continuing to expand opportunities for collaboration, securing sustainable funding for innovative research and ensuring that our work makes a lasting global impact. I extend my gratitude to the forethought and generosity of Ann S. Bowers to establish the UC Noyce Initiative through the Robert N. Noyce Trust, the work by our researchers, students and partners who have contributed to the success of UCNI this year. I look forward to the breakthroughs that the coming years will bring. Together, we will continue to lead the charge in advancing knowledge and shaping a better future through the power of research.

Bryan Kerner Executive Director, UC Noyce Initiative

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BERKELEY | DAVIS | IRVINE | SAN FRANCISCO | SANTA BARBARA UC Noyce Initiative

LEADERSHIP

Katherine Yelick. Ph.D. Vice Chancellor of Research UC Berkeley

Simon Atkinson, Ph.D. Vice Chancellor of Research UC Davis

Pramod Khargonekar, Ph.D. Vice Chancellor of Research UC Irvine, UCNI Chair

Harold Collard, M.D. Vice Chancellor of Research UC San Francisco

Scott Grafton, M.D. Associate Vice Chancellor of Research UC Santa Barbara

Bryan Kerner Executive Director UC Noyce Initiative

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The UC Noyce Initiative Names Executive Director B y Sarah Colwell On May 1, 2024, the UC Noyce Initiative (UCNI) executive committee announced the appointment of Bryan Kerner as executive director of the UC Noyce Initiative. Kerner is the first person to hold this position since the Initiative's public launch on December 12, 2023. As executive director, Kerner will oversee a consortium of five University of California campuses dedicated to supporting research and development collaborations in digital technology and innovation. These efforts are focused on advancing the public good, with an emphasis on areas such as quantum information science and computing, computational health and cybersecurity. UCNI was established through the generosity of the late Robert N. Noyce, co-founder of Intel, and his wife, Ann S. Bowers. The five UC campuses involved in the Initiative are UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Francisco and UC Santa Barbara. Kerner expressed his excitement in leading UCNI, highlighting its focus on addressing complex challenges through research and innovation. He praised the researchers associated with the Initiative and expressed pride in leading such a worthwhile endeavor. “It is such an honor to be leading the UC Noyce Initiative, which is centered on harnessing the Power of Five remarkable universities to pursue research and innovation that is focused on addressing some of the most pressing and complex challenges of our time,” he said. Michael Groom, trustee of the Robert N. Noyce Trust, commended Kerner's leadership and ability to foster valuable relationships to advance common goals. "Throughout his career, Mr. Kerner has continually proven himself as a high-performing professional who fosters valuable relationships in a way that is both authentic and also advances a higher, common goal of the funder and the institution he serves," Groom said, emphasizing the Noyce Trust and Kerner's shared vision for UCNI. "We look forward to the opportunity to work together to realize this grand vision." Prior to his role as executive director, Kerner served as the Director of Development for the sciences at UC Santa Barbara. He played a key role in launching the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative, a brain imaging consortium focused on women's brain health across the UC system. Before his career in higher education, Kerner worked in financial and estate planning, as well as development director for a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit supporting families with children with cancer. He also is active in volunteer leadership roles in his community, including serving as president of the board of directors for the Children’s Creative Project and board member of Explore Ecology. Kerner holds a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Connecticut State University and a Nonprofit Management Certification from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. ◆

IT IS SUCH AN HONOR TO BE LEADING THE UC NOYCE INITIATIVE, HARNESSING THE POWER OF FIVE REMARKABLE UNIVERSITIES TO PURSUE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION THAT IS FOCUSED ON ADDRESSING SOME OF THE MOST PRESSING AND COMPLEX CHALLENGES OF OUR TIME.

UCNI Executive Director Bryan Kerner

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Q&A Pramod Khargonekar, Ph.D.

Vice Chancellor of Research, UC Irvine Chair, UC Noyce Executive Committee

Reflecting on leadership, collaboration, and the future of the UC Noyce Initiative

By Sarah Colwell

Image courtesy of UC Irvine

Vice Chancellor of Research at UC Irvine, Pramod Khargonekar, has played a key role in shaping the UC Noyce Initiative since its founding having served on the executive leadership committee since 2019 and then as chair from 2023-2025. Now, as he prepares to step down from both his role with UCNI and his position as vice chancellor in June 2025, he shares his thoughts on what the Initiative has accomplished and his hopes for the future.

Q: What motivated you to support UC Irvine in getting involved with the UC Noyce Initiative? A: When I was approached about the UC Noyce Initiative from its very early beginnings, the name "Noyce" immediately appealed to me. Bob Noyce, the co-founder of Intel, is a legend in electrical engineering and a pioneer in semiconductor technology. Given my background in electrical engineering and my work on semiconductor manufacturing, I felt a strong connection to Noyce's legacy. I saw the UC Noyce Initiative as a great opportunity to get involved in building something that would honor his pioneering work and impact. Q: How did the Noyce Legacy influence your leadership as chair of the executive committee? A: For me, leading the UC Noyce Initiative came with a deep sense of responsibility. I felt we had to live up to Noyce's legacy and build something that he would be proud of. This has driven my work on the initiative, as I've strived to provide creative leadership, collaborate effectively with my colleagues across the UC campuses, and work closely with the trustees to realize the vision that Noyce and the Noyce Trust have set forth. It's been a privilege to be entrusted with honoring Noyce's pioneering contributions to the field of electrical engineering and digital technologies.

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Q: You have a strong history of fostering collaborations throughout your career. With that in mind, why do you think five UC campuses working together through the UC Noyce Initiative is so powerful? A: Collaboration is so important because the problems we face in society don't come with a discipline written on them. To make progress on big societal challenges, we need to bring together people from different disciplinary expertise who can leverage their unique tools, techniques, and ways of thinking. An engineer thinks differently than a physicist or a social scientist, and synthesizing these diverse perspectives is where powerful innovations can occur. The UC Noyce Initiative taps into this power of collaboration, not just across disciplines, but across the five UC campuses. Each campus has deep pools of expertise in different fields, and by bringing these teams together, we can tackle complex problems in ways that draw on the breadth and depth of knowledge within the UC system. This multi- campus collaboration is a unique strength of the initiative, allowing us to make the most of the UC's world-class resources to drive transformative solutions. Q: Why UCNI? Why now? A: The UC Noyce Initiative is uniquely positioned for success due to California's special history and ecosystem in the digital revolution. California has been at the forefront of major innovations in this space, including the founding of Intel by Bob Noyce himself. The five UC campuses involved in the initiative have world-class expertise and a proud legacy in this domain. Additionally, the significant endowment Q: Is there an aspect of UCNI’s mission—to advance digital innovation for the public good—that speaks most to you? A: Absolutely. Digital technologies powered by semiconductors have been the single greatest force for progress in our society over the past 50-70 years. These technologies have transformed communication, education, healthcare, and economic growth in ways that have greatly benefited people's lives, especially in developing parts of the world. While there are also negative impacts to be mindful of, the opportunity to harness digital innovation for the public good is immense. This is precisely what the UC Noyce Initiative aims to do - maximize the positive impact while understanding and minimizing the negative.

provided by the Noyce Trust puts the UC Noyce Initiative in a tremendous position to bring these five campuses together and continue to lead California, the nation, and the world in emerging technology directions like AI and quantum computing. This generational opportunity, combined with the unique collaboration among the campuses and the trustees' engagement, makes the UC Noyce Initiative a truly special initiative poised for transformative impact.

Image courtesy of UC Irvine

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Q: What are you most proud of in your involvement with the UC Noyce Initiative? A: What I'm most proud of is the progress we've made in becoming a high-functioning, tightly integrated team executing on the initiative. We've gone from a loose collaboration to a truly collegial and productive relationship between the campuses and the trustees. I'm also very proud of the foundations we've built in major technology directions that have tremendous scope for positive impact, like computational health, quantum computing, and cybersecurity. And I'm proud of the transparent and responsible decision-making we've established for every aspect of the UC Noyce Initiative. Q: What parting words would you say to those who are or were considering getting involved with the UC Noyce Initiative? A: To those who have been funded by the UC Noyce Initiative, my parting words would be: Remember the responsibility you have to live up to Dr. Noyce's name and legacy. The work you do through this initiative must strive to achieve the excellence and impact that Noyce himself embodied. To our institutional leaders who continue to support the UC Noyce Initiative, I would say: Keep supporting this unique collaboration, as it holds tremendous potential to realize the highest aspirations set forth by the Noyce Trust's investment. The foundations we have built together as a team of campus leaders, the executive director, and the trustees are primed for long-term success. And to any researchers considering getting involved, I encourage you to look for opportunities to participate. If you have ideas that align with the initiative's mission of leveraging digital technologies for societal good, reach out to us. We remain open to new directions and innovative proposals that can make a real difference. Ultimately, my parting message is one of pride and inspiration. I'm proud of what we've accomplished so far, and I'm deeply committed to seeing the UC Noyce Initiative succeed in honoring the legacy of its namesake. I will continue to be a steadfast supporter, even as I step away from my leadership role. ◆ Q: Why is philanthropic support so important for research and innovation? A: Philanthropic support is singularly important for fostering groundbreaking innovation and research. Industry funding tends to be more short-term and risk-averse, while federal government funding can also be conservative and focused on lower-risk projects with existing data. This leaves a gap for truly innovative, unproven ideas that have not yet generated sufficient evidence for federal funding. Philanthropic support, like the Noyce Trust's investment in the UC Noyce Initiative, allows us to fund new, collaborative ideas that have not yet been tried. This provides the critical initial funding to build the foundations and get initial results, which can then be used to secure larger pools of funding from federal agencies. Philanthropy plays an indispensable role in enabling the kind of high-risk, high-reward research that has the potential to change the world.

Pramod Khargonekar and fellow founding members of the UCNI Executive Committee, 2022

From Left: Dan Lowenstein (UCSF), Prasant Mohapatra (UC Davis), Chancellor Henry Yang (UC Santa Barbara), Pierre Wiltzius (UC Santa Barbara), Michael Groom (Noyce Trustee), Pramod Khargonekar (UC Irvine), Kathy Yelick (UC Berkeley), and Timothy Hopkins (Noyce Trustee).

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BERKELEY | DAVIS | IRVINE | SAN FRANCISCO | SANTA BARBARA UC Noyce Initiative

Year in Review July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024

Did You Know? UCNI’s current fund allocation for multi-campus collaborative research in these areas across...

Computational

Quantum

45% Health

35%

Science

University of California Campuses 5

20% Cyber

Security

Collaborating Researchers 170 21 Research Projects

$9.2M UCNI Research Seed Funding

Leveraged into $27.7M New Funding

10 Impact Report 2023 - 24 | UC NI

Research Publications 61

3 Quantum Research Grand Challenges Computing Sensing Simulation

WBHI Brain Bank

1000 Brain Scans +

LAUNCH PROGRAM

Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI)

Uniting 6 UC Campuses

UCNI Researchers # of

Post Docs 10%

Faculty Researchers 37%

65 Faculty Researchers 17 Post Docs 46 Grad Students

Grad Students 26%

35 Undergrad Students 7 Research Staff Research Staff 7% UCNoyce.org Learn more at

Undergrad Students 20%

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UCNI 2023-2024 AWARD HIGHLIGHTS

Many UC Noyce Initiative researchers are top experts in their field, often earning prestigious accolades for their research, scholarship and academic accomplishments. Here is a list of some of the UC Noyce Initiative researchers who were were honored with prestigious awards between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, in recognition for their significant contributions to their respective fields:

Yoshimi Fukuoka, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N, was named one of UC San Francisco's “24 People to Watch in 2024.” According to the UCSF article, Professor Fukuoka explores the power of AI to combat today’s urgent health issues. With funding from the UCNI, Fukuoka is developing a fully automated, AI chatbot called HeartBot to provide women with educational resources about heart disease — the leading cause of death in the United States.

In April 2024, Gene Tsudik, Ph.D., a distinguished professor of computer science at UC Irvine and a UCNI- funded researcher, was awarded a 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship . This esteemed fellowship acknowledges his extensive research in computer security, privacy, and applied cryptography, including his recent focus on enhancing malware resistance in Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices.

For her groundbreaking work, Isabel Rodríguez-Barraquer, M.D., Ph.D., was honored with the 2024 Teri Liegler Young Scientist Award, a prestigious recognition of her contributions to computational epidemiology and infectious disease modeling. Her research is not only expanding the frontiers of science but also helping public health leaders make data-driven decisions that could save millions of lives.

On April 18, 2024, Chen-Nee Chuah, Ph.D., at UC Davis was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This lifetime honor recognizes her significant advancements in science and its applications, underscoring her impactful research contributions. Chuah also was honored with the Outstanding Senior Faculty Award for 2024. This award recognizes her outstanding research, mentorship and leadership in advancing cutting-edge innovations in engineering and technology.

Andrew Li, M.D., a co-investigator with the UC Noyce Initiative, received the UC Davis College of Engineering Next Level Research Award on July 10, 2023. This award supports his collaborative efforts between engineers and clinicians at UC Davis, aiming to catalyze the translation of accessible bionic prostheses.

In 2024, Zhengfeng Lai, Ph.D. received the ECE Anil Jain Memorial Award for Best Dissertation and the 2024 UC Davis College of Engineering Excellence in Graduate Student Research Award. His work focuses on the generalizability of deep learning frameworks for amyloid beta deposit assessment, contributing to advancements in computational health.

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Brittany Dugger, Ph.D. was named one of the 2024 Chancellor's Fellows for UC Davis. Dugger was one of nine early career academics who were given this title in recognition of doing exemplary work. Dugger is an associate professor in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at the UC Davis School of Medicine.

Ziad Obermeyer, Ph.D., a professor at UC Berkeley, was honored as a member of the 2023 TIME100 AI List, which recognizes the world’s most influential figures shaping the future of artificial intelligence. His groundbreaking work focuses on applying AI and machine learning to improve healthcare, particularly in predictive diagnostics and equitable healthcare delivery.

Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UC Davis, Jonathon Schofield, Ph.D. has been recognized for his research with a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development — an accolade that supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department.

In 2024, Anu Manchikanti Gómez, Ph.D., M.Sc., associate professor at UC Berkeley's School of Social Welfare and director of the Sexual Health and Reproductive Equity (SHARE) Program, received the Society of Family Planning's Beacon of Science Award. Her work has significantly influenced programs, policies, and practices in sexual, reproductive, and maternal health.

Javad Lavaei, Ph.D., a UC Berkeley professor, has been recognized as a 2024 Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Control Systems Society. This prestigious honor acknowledges his exceptional contributions to the fields of control theory, optimization, and power systems. As a Distinguished Lecturer, Dr. Lavaei will share his expertise with global audiences, advancing knowledge in computational methods for large-scale systems and optimization-driven control.

The Association for Computing Machinery has announced the recognition of Amir Rahmani, Ph.D., a professor of nursing and computer science with UC Irvine’s Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing, for his outstanding contributions to the field of health technology. Rahmani is among the 52 members honored as part of the ACM Distinguished Members program for significant achievements in computing.

Adey Nyamathi, Ph.D., the founding dean of the UC Irvine Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, crowned a stellar career in fall of 2023 by achieving the status of “Living Legend,” the American Academy of Nursing’s highest honor. The Academy’s Living Legend designation is granted to a small number of fellows each year in recognition of “extraordinary contributions to the nursing profession, sustained over the course of their careers.”

Geoffrey Manley, M.D., Ph.D., at UCSF, a leading neurosurgeon, was honored with the 2023 William Fields Caveness Award by the Brain Injury Association of America in October 2023. This prestigious award recognizes his groundbreaking contributions to traumatic brain injury (TBI) research which has advanced the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of brain injuries. Manley’s work has significantly shaped clinical care and improved outcomes for TBI patients, reinforcing his impact as a pioneer in neuroscience and brain health.

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THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF

By Sarah Colwell Ann S. Bowers 1937 - 2024

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Ann Schmeltz Bowers, a technology industry executive pioneer and longtime philanthropist who inspired the founding of the UC Noyce Initiative, died on January 24, 2024, at her home in Palo Alto, California. She was 86. Bowers was a business executive who served as the first director of personnel for Intel Corporation and the first vice president of human resources for Apple, Inc. She also was the wife of the late Robert N. Noyce, Ph.D., who was the co- founder of Intel and inventor of the integrated circuit, which fueled the personal computer revolution and gave Silicon Valley its name.

From a Blue-collar Town Onto Cornell Born in Pennsylvania on November 27, 1937, Bowers grew up in the blue-collar town of Oakmont and spent her summers near Long Island Sound where she learned to sail and play the piano. Known for her small frame, quick mind and blunt manner, Bowers attended Cornell University and served as her dormitory’s president and a yearbook editor. She graduated in 1959 with double majors in English and psychology. She would later earn an honorary Ph.D. in public service from Santa Clara University in 2000.

A Trail Blazer in Tech Bowers was a trail blazer in tech in her own right by being one of the only female executives in the semiconductor industry during the founding of the tech industry in the 1960s. She became head of personnel for Intel in 1969 when she was in her early 30s. In this position, Bowers oversaw recruitment, benefits, salary, training and performance reviews as Intel grew from 200 to 2500 employees. She helped lead Intel through several attempts by outside entities to unionize the company. Her efforts helped create a lasting culture at Intel and, indirectly, at tech companies throughout Silicon Valley of employees receive competitive compensation packages – a benefit that many in the tech industry enjoy to this day. Bowers’ first job out of college was working as a management trainee at the Macy’s store in Union Square. Bowers was drawn to a career in retail because she observed that “it was one of the few businesses in which women wielded any real authority,” according to a 2004 interview with Leslie Berlin, author of The Man Behind the Microchip. Bowers worked for three years as the head of personnel at a small, laser and medical equipment startup and two years as a teacher in San Jose before joining Intel.

“Ann was a forward-thinking leader who dedicated much of her life to fostering and creating environments where technologists and innovators could thrive,” said Kavita Bala, the inaugural dean of Cornell University Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, in a Cornell University press release. “Her commitment to building a culture of creativity, excellence and collaboration will forever be remembered.” Marrying Robert Noyce Bowers met Noyce while working at Intel and the couple were married on November 27, 1975 as part of the Noyce family’s Thanksgiving dinner and on Bowers’ 38th birthday. The two were married for about 15 years until Noyce passed away from a stroke on June 3, 1990. An Entrepreneur then Apple Soon after marrying Noyce, Bowers left Intel to start her own human resources consulting firm. She also co-founded the California Electronics Association to help small electronics companies with

Ann Bowers and Robert Noyce

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A Visionary Philanthropist After Noyce’s passing, Bowers became a very involved and active philanthropist. In 1990, Bowers worked with other members of the Noyce family to establish the Noyce Foundation in honor of her late husband. Bowers was chair of the board and co-founding trustee of the nonprofit that focused on improving math and science instruction and learning in K-12 public schools. She was an influential philanthropist at her alma mater Cornell having gifted more than $100 million to the university during her lifetime, including a naming gift to create the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. Bowers also generously supported endowed professorships for faculty and research scholarships for students at Cornell in the liberal arts, science, technology, computing, engineering and math. their human resources needs. One of Bowers' first clients was a small startup company called Apple, led by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. It was through Bowers that Noyce and Jobs forged a friendship and mentorship relationship. Bowers joined Apple as the vice president of human resources in August of 1980 just a few months before Apple went public.

Ann Bowers and Robert Noyce

She also served on numerous influential advisory and leadership boards for the university and was given the Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award in 2013 in recognition of her long-term volunteer service to Cornell and the broad spectrum of alumni organizations. Bowers also generously gave her time to serve in numerous key leadership roles for universities and organizations throughout California and in other parts of the U.S. She served on the boards of San Francisco State University; Grinnell College (Iowa); the American Conservatory Theater (San Francisco); EdVoice, of Sacramento, California; the Exploratorium, of San Francisco; El Camino Hospital; Investment Company of America; CoGenerate (formerly encore.org), of San Francisco; and Technology Center of Silicon Valley, of Sunnyvale, California. She gave the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center the largest individual gift in its history in support of its CMS Two residency program, which was renamed the Bowers Program.

She also was a board member and past board chair of the Tech Interactive in San Jose, and an active member of 100Kin10, a network that sought to train and retain 100,000 excellent STEM teachers by 2021. As a former member of the board of the Silicon Valley Joint Venture Education Initiative, Bowers helped Silicon Valley schools redesign educational programming for the 21st century. She was named Philanthropist of the Year by the Golden Gate Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2005. “We look at philanthropy the way [venture capitalists] VC’s look at their investment opportunities,” Bowers said. “We use the same criteria a VC would: leadership first, idea second, and a well-conceived plan to carry out the idea third.”

Ann Bowers

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UC Noyce Initiative Beginning in 2019, The Robert N. Noyce Trust and Bower's own separate property trust, began making donations to the University of California system to launch the UC Noyce Initiative to honor the legacies of Bowers and Noyce. The initiative brings together five UC campuses—Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, San Francisco and Santa Barbara—by supporting collaborative research projects focused on using digital innovation to advance the public good. One of the multi-campus research initiatives to come out of the UC Noyce Initiative funding is a brain imaging consortium named the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative (see page 29). This project now includes researchers from Cornell, Stanford among others - all of whom are working on advancing the study of women's brain health through deeply collaborative science. They are integrating research activities across campuses and bringing together world-class expertise in neuroimaging, computer science/artificial intelligence and healthcare with the hope of expanding our knowledge of the female brain, especially as it relates to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, the latter of which afflicted Bowers during her final years.

Ann Bowers and Smudge

“I believe strongly that Ann Bowers would be proud of this work,” said Katrina Stevens, president and CEO of the Tech Interactive, which is a partner of the Bowers WBHI and UC Noyce Initiative. “She always believed that we should get great minds together to be able to change the world and I believe that this work is going to do exactly that, especially for women.” ◆

“We look at philanthropy the way VC’s look at their investment opportunities. We use the same criteria a VC would: leadership first, idea second, and a well-conceived plan to carry out the idea third.” -- Ann S. Bowers

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COMPUTATIONAL HEALTH

Rethinking Health Through Advanced Computing UCNI researchers are at the forefront of reshaping the future of health leveraging the power of advanced computation to transform every stage of the healthcare continuum.

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From decoding the complexities of human biology to accelerating drug discovery, modeling disease pathways and building intelligent diagnostic tools, UCNI scientists are driving breakthroughs that move seamlessly from bench to bedside. Their work spans the full spectrum of health innovation—from fundamental research that deepens our understanding of disease, to applied technologies that personalize treatments, optimize clinical decision-making, and improve patient outcomes. By harnessing vast datasets, machine learning and high-performance computing, UCNI is building a new paradigm for health—one where care is not just reactive but predictive, precise and proactive. Through this visionary work, UCNI is advancing the science of computational health and shaping a healthier, smarter and more equitable future. ◆

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COMPUTATIONAL HEALTH

Babies Breath

ACE: Accurate, Computationally-Enhanced and Equitable Intrapartum Fetal Monitoring

By Sarah Colwell

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Soheil Ghiasi, Ph.D. Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering UC Davis

Herman Hedriana, M.D. Professor School of Medicine, ObGyn UC Davis

20 Impact Report 2023 - 24 | UC NI

The dim glow of the hospital room cast flickering shadows as Soheil Ghiasi, Ph.D., gripped his wife’s hand. The rhythmic beeping of the fetal monitor filled the air, punctuated by the quiet murmur of nurses and the occasional contraction-induced groan. He had spent his career solving complex engineering problems, but none of that prepared him for this moment—the birth of his first child. “I’m concerned about your daughter’s heart rate. I’d like to consider a C-section,” the doctor said, his voice calm but firm. Ghiasi’s heart pounded. He looked at his wife, exhausted but resolute. Within the hour, their daughter was delivered safely via Cesarean section. Relief flooded through him. Mother and child were fine—but the reality of the major surgery meant a long and difficult recovery for his wife. In the weeks and months that followed, Ghiasi couldn’t shake the thought that there had to be a better way. “I was new to this. I did some research and connected with colleagues at UC Davis Health who work on the obstetric side as well as those working with animal models. There’s a large body of research about fetal oxygen levels,” he later recalled in a UC Davis interview. What he discovered stunned him. Non-reassuring fetal heart traces—like the one that led to his wife’s C-section—are common, yet often unreliable indicators of fetal distress. In the United States, nearly one-third of all births occur via C-section, a rate significantly higher than most developed countries, despite no corresponding improvement in maternal or neonatal health outcomes. For Ghiasi, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Davis, this revelation sparked a mission. He envisioned a world where doctors had access to precise, real-time data on fetal well-being, reducing unnecessary interventions while ensuring babies in distress received timely care. That vision became the foundation of his UC Noyce Initiative-funded research.

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Engineering a Breakthrough Fetal monitoring today relies on heart rate tracing, a method that has remained largely unchanged for decades despite its well-documented shortcomings. It is an indirect measure of fetal distress, prone to misinterpretation, and has led to an increase in unneeded surgical births. “Today’s approach is inaccurate for detecting babies at risk of birth asphyxia. A large number of women undergo medically unnecessary C-sections, which are expensive for the healthcare system and can lead to inferior outcomes compared to safe vaginal births,” Ghiasi explained in a UC Davis interview. Determined to develop a better solution, Ghiasi and his team focused on non-invasive fetal blood oxygen saturation measurement—an arguably better indicator of fetal distress. Their research led to a pioneering technology that employs advanced sensing systems and computational modeling to provide real-time fetal oxygen saturation data. The prototype device, validated in preclinical models, is now undergoing pilot testing at the UC Davis Medical Center.

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The Promise of a New Standard of Care The potential impact of this technology is profound. By providing accurate, real-time insights into fetal health, ACE monitoring could transform the standard of care in labor and delivery rooms across the world. “Our research promises to reduce the rate of medically unnecessary interventions, such as emergency Cesarean sections, which are expensive and tend to have inferior maternal and neonatal health outcomes,” Ghiasi said. In addition to improving childbirth outcomes, this technology may assist in obtaining critical insights into human development, placental function and the causes of preterm labor.

THIS SUPPORT HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN ADVANCING OUR TECHNOLOGY FROM CONCEPT TO PATIENT CARE. IT HAS SIGNIFICANTLY DE- RISKED THE TECHNOLOGY AND PROVIDED A CLEARER ROADMAP FOR

From Lab to Real-World Impact Thanks to funding from the UC Noyce Initiative, Ghiasi and his collaborator, Professor Herman Loscin Hedriana, a maternal- fetal medicine expert at UC Davis School of Medicine, were able to demonstrate the viability of their approach in a clinical setting. “This support has been instrumental in advancing our technology from concept to patient care. It has significantly de-risked the technology and provided a clearer roadmap for stakeholders and potential partners,” Ghiasi emphasized. The success of this research has attracted additional funding, including grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), totaling more than $4 million. Additionally, Ghiasi has co-founded Storx Technologies, a UC Davis spin-off company dedicated to commercializing the transabdominal fetal oximetry (TFO) technology. Ghiasi and Hedriana’s team has grown to include seven Ph.D. engineering students and two maternal-fetal medicine fellows. Their collaborative work has led to multiple peer-reviewed publications, four issued patents and three pending patent applications (one of which was filed during the UCNI project period), reinforcing the scientific community’s recognition of their breakthrough.

STAKEHOLDERS AND POTENTIAL PARTNERS.

Image courtesy of Soheil Ghiasi

A Future Without Unnecessary C-Sections For Ghiasi, the driving force behind his work is deeply personal. He still remembers the anxiety of that hospital room, the uncertainty of his daughter’s birth, and his wife’s long recover. His goal is simple yet ambitious: to give every expectant mother access to precise, reliable fetal monitoring, so that critical decisions during labor are made with confidence and clarity. “With this technology, we are not just improving patient care,” said Ghiasi, whose daughter is now nine years old, “we are redefining what’s possible in maternal-fetal medicine.” ◆

22 Impact Report 2023 - 24 | UC NI

COMPUTATIONAL HEALTH

MATTER OF THE MIND

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AI & TBI Bringing artificial intelligence to the forefront of traumatic brain injury research

Geoffrey Manley, M.D., Ph.D. Professor Neurosurgery UC San Francisco

By Sarah Colwell

A child’s sledding accident. A bad football tackle. A wartime explosion near a service member. These are just a few of the ways traumatic brain injuries can occur, upending a person’s life in an instant. Every year, nearly 2.8 million people in the U.S. suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI), a condition that can have life- altering consequences. From emergency department visits to long-term rehabilitation, the challenge of diagnosing and treating TBI remains complex and, at times, imprecise. The reason being, our current understanding, ability to accurately diagnose, and treatment of this condition remains, largely, understudied. With support from the UC Noyce Initiative, a multidisciplinary team of researchers from three University of California campuses—Berkeley, Davis, and San Francisco— are developing cutting-edge, machine learning that is paving the way for a new era in TBI diagnosis and prognosis. Together, the team of computational sciences and physician- scientists are working to tackle a crucial problem: how to harness vast amounts of medical data, particularly CT scans, to improve patient outcomes. From Data Overload to Actionable Insights TBI diagnosis often begins with a head CT scan of the brain, yet these scans are typically classified in a binary fashion: positive (indicating hemorrhage) or negative (showing no visible trauma). However, these images contain a wealth of underutilized information that could significantly refine diagnoses and predict patient trajectories.

Lara Zimmerman, M.D. Assistant Professor Neurological Surgery and Neurology UC Davis

Kristofer Bouchard, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor Helen Willis Neuroscience Institute UC Berkeley

Adam Ferguson, Ph.D. Professor Neurological Surgery UC San Francisco COMPUTATIONAL HEALTH

THE MOST EXCITING ACCOMPLISHMENT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY BRINGING TOGETHER PHYSICIANS, BIOMEDICAL SCIENTISTS, AND DATA SCIENTISTS WITH DIFFERENT EXPERTISE AND PERSPECTIVES TO WORK ON A COMMON GOAL OF ACCELERATING TBI PRECISION MEDICINE.

In short, the problem isn’t a lack of data—it’s making sense of it all. That’s where machine learning enters the picture. The UC research team developed advanced AI-driven image processing pipelines that extract crucial features from CT scans, offering insights that go beyond what the human eye can detect. Using high-performance computing infrastructure at UC Berkeley and the National Energy Research Supercomputing Center, these machine learning models are designed to provide clinicians with precise, quantitative assessments of TBI severity, injury patterns and likely outcomes.

Image courtesy of UC Berkeley

Collaboration at the Cutting Edge Led by Geoffrey Manley, M.D., Ph.D., chief of neurosurgery at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and professor at UCSF, and co-principal investigator Adam Ferguson, M.S., Ph.D., the project has leveraged a wealth of resources, including UCSF's Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic Brain Injury (TRACK-TBI) dataset. This TRACK-TBI study provided a comprehensive database of clinical information, neuroimaging, blood biomarkers and patient outcomes. By integrating this dataset with a clinical TBI registry at UC Davis, the team was able to cross-validate findings and refine their machine learning models. “The most exciting accomplishment has been successfully bringing together physicians, biomedical scientists, and data scientists with different expertise and perspectives to work on a common goal of accelerating TBI precision medicine,” said Manley. “We gathered massive amounts of clinical imaging data, curated them at UCSF, and prototyped a machine learning pipeline, which is now being deployed at scale in cloud-based supercomputing infrastructure at UC Berkeley.”

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Generative AI and Precision Medicine A major breakthrough of this project has been the development of AutoCT, a generative AI-based tool that automates CT registration, segmentation and quantification. This technology not only improves the accuracy of TBI diagnosis but also reduces the workload on neuroradiologists, thereby helping prevent burnout and allowing clinicians to focus on patient care. Kristofer Bouchard, Ph.D., neuroscientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley, has brought his expertise in generative-AI and health to the project.

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Bouchard has played a key role in refining these AI algorithms, ensuring they not only enhance diagnostic precision but also provide interpretable results that clinicians can trust. “A critical first step towards personalized TBI treatments is increasing the precision with which we describe brain injury features” he said, “and then predicting outcomes based on multimodal data, including imaging, blood biomarkers and medical history.”

THIS TECHNOLOGY NOT ONLY IMPROVES THE ACCURACY OF TBI DIAGNOSIS BUT ALSO REDUCES THE WORKLOAD ON NEURORADIOLOGISTS, THEREBY HELPING PREVENT BURNOUT AND ALLOWING CLINICIANS TO FOCUS ON PATIENT CARE.

TBI Research Lays Groundwork for Other Diseases Beyond the immediate benefits for TBI care, this project has laid the groundwork for future generative-AI applications in medicine. The tools developed—particularly those for integrating medical imaging with clinical data—could be extended to other complex diseases that rely on combined decision support from imaging and biomarkers. The UC Noyce Initiative’s funding has not only accelerated this research but has also fostered new collaborations and created a lasting platform for ongoing innovation, according to the team. The team has already begun sharing their findings with the broader scientific community. Meanwhile, the project has also nurtured new talent. Research assistants and postdoctoral scholars at UC Berkeley and UCSF have contributed to this initiative, with one research assistant now pursuing graduate studies. “This collaboration has been a massive effort, from coordinating data curation to deploying large-scale AI models,” said Manley. “With the foundation now in place, we are well-positioned to continue streamlining the workflow from raw data to actionable clinical results—an effort that could transform precision medicine for TBI and beyond.” ◆

26 Impact Report 2023 - 24 | UC NI

Cracking the Code: AI and Alzheimer’s

Chen-Nee Chuah, Ph.D. Professor Electrical & Computer Engineering UC Davis

By Sarah Colwell

For UC Noyce Initiative researchers Brittany Dugger, Ph.D. and Chen-Nee Chuah, Ph.D., their passion for Alzheimer’s research is deeply personal. In her late teens, Dugger watched as both her grandmothers— Grandma Morenski and Grandma Dugger—suffered from the devastating effects of the disease. Despite sharing the same diagnosis, their symptoms were strikingly different. That inconsistency left her with lingering questions: How could two people experience the same disease in such different ways? Finding the answer to that question has since guided her career, led her to focus on neuropathology research at UC Davis and enabled her to become the leader of the university's neuropathology core. But tackling a disease as complex as Alzheimer’s required an unconventional approach—and a powerful collaborator. Enter Chen-Nee Chuah, a professor in electrical and computer engineering at UC Davis and a leading expert in data science and artificial intelligence. Like Dugger, Chuah had a personal motivation for delving into medical research and becoming the principal investigator of this UCNI-funded project. “When I was dealing with my own health issues, I was frustrated by the gaps in applying cutting-edge computational methods to the medical domain,” she recalls. “I realized the data-driven AI techniques my team develops for networking research could potentially make a real difference in understanding complex neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s.” Chuah continued, “My mom also suffered from Alzheimer's, and did not recognize me as her daughter towards the end, while her physical health continued to decline and she passed away in 2014. So this work is personal to me as well.”

Brittany Dugger, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Pathology and Laboratory Medicine UC Davis

Peter Chang, M.D. Co- Director, Center for Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostic Medicine Associate Professor, Radiological Sciences UC Irvine

Michael Keiser, Ph.D. Associate Professor Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases UC San Francisco

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COMPUTATIONAL HEALTH

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