Dr. Grant contributed to the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition's (ASPEN) Nutrition Science & Practice Conference with the below video honoring his late wife, JoAnn Nalliger Grant, RN (pictured). The conference took place on March 22-25, 2025.

Dr. Grant congratulates Lily Kamalyan on receiving her PhD in Clinical Psychology during the UCSD graduation ceremony on June 16, 2024. Dr. Kamalyan’s thesis entitled "Associations between neighborhood vulnerabilities and neuropsychiatric outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic among a diverse cohort of people aging with HIV” used geospatial methods of combining Census data and satellite imagery data with clinical outcomes as well as considered the impact of COVID-19 as a community stressor. Dr. Kamalyan is continuing her postdoctoral work at Columbia University. Congratulations Dr. Kamalyan!

On June 3, 2023, Dr Grant presented the Igor Grant MD Endowed Award for Academic Excellence and Biomedical Research to UCSD School of Medicine graduating students Tonya Lee & Jennifer Bu.

Both students demonstrated exceptional achievement in their academic careers at UC San Diego. Dr. Bu (left) did her research on mechanisms and treatment of certain hereditary corneal eye diseases. Dr. Lee (right) examined psychosocial aspects of thyroid eye disease. Both doctors Bu and Lee plan to pursue their careers in ophthalmology.

With co-mentorship provided by Dr. Grant and his colleague Dr. Erin Morgan, Wei-Ming Watson built an impressive record of research examining the role of trauma/stress on cognition, mechanisms of ethnic/racial cognitive disparities, and the complex influence of cannabis/cannabinoid exposure on cognitive health. Her dissertation research revealed that modest exposure to cannabis was associated with improved neurocognitive function among those with HIV, and that this was associated with lowered pro-inflammatory cytokines in CSF but not plasma, thereby supporting the idea that cannabis may have anti-inflammatory properties in the CNS. Her work also revealed that among older adults with HIV, while current occaisonal use (weekly or less) related to better cognitive function, recent THC exposure was associated with a temporary decrement in memory. In these ways Watson’s work emphasizes that whether cannabis might have negative, neutral, or positive effects on brain function very much depends on age, acuity of use, and whether there is an underlying condition for which cannabis might have medicinal value.

Completing her clinical geriatric neuropsychology internship at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Dr. Watson will be entering a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco’s Memory and Aging Center. Unquestionably we shall be hearing of her many positive contributions as her career progresses. Congratulations, Wei-Ming!