Jason Alvarez

Senior Public Information Representative

Jason joined the UCSF news team in 2018 from our sister school, UC Merced.

Originally from Los Angeles, he studied music composition as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, but he was sufficiently intrigued by science to spend time working in a UCSF lab at Mission Bay. After graduation, he was a writer and corporate liaison for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but also did freelance writing, covering both music and food. He was soon bitten by the science bug again, and returned to school at California State University, Long Beach, to obtain a second bachelor’s degree, in biochemistry.

He subsequently did research on epigenetics at Harvard Medical School, receiving his master’s degree in biology from Harvard in 2016. Throughout his time in the Boston area, Jason continued his freelance writing on food and music, including work as an assistant editor at Cook’s Illustrated magazine.

He covers basic research in cancer biology, immunology, genetics, and cellular and molecular biology.

Email Jason Alvarez

Jason Alvarez

‘Virtual Pharmacology’ Yields Unprecedented Biological Clock Breakthrough

‘Living Fossil’ May Upend Basic Tenet of Evolutionary Theory

E-Cigarettes Significantly Raise Risk of Chronic Lung Disease, First Long-Term Study Finds

CRISPR-Resistant Viruses Build ‘Safe Rooms’ to Shield Genomes from DNA-Dicing Enzymes

‘Supergrowth’ Challenges Established Science of Cell Growth

In Down Syndrome Mouse Model, Scientists Reverse Intellectual Deficits with Drugs

Researchers Halt Spread of Breast Cancer by Blocking Metastasis-Promoting Enzyme

‘Missing’ Virus Detected in Dozens of Children Paralyzed by Polio-Like Illness

‘Short Sleep’ Gene Prevents Memory Deficits Associated with Sleep Deprivation

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