Distinguished Alumna, Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences
Neuroscientist, research leader and mentor, Aileen J. Anderson, Ph.D. ’95 is this year’s recipient of the Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award.
Her path to neuroscience was anything but direct. A first-generation college student who paid her own way, Aileen initially chose engineering because it seemed practical. But engineering, as she later put it, “really did not get along” with her. A switch into biomedical engineering brought her into a graduate neuroscience course – and changed everything. Neuroscience, she remembers thinking, was “the best thing since sliced bread.”
That discovery brought Aileen to UC Irvine, where she earned her Ph.D. in 1995. After postdoctoral work at UC Irvine and Harvard, she returned to UC Irvine’s faculty in 2001 and built a career spanning neuroscience, immunology and regenerative medicine.
Her research asks a question with profound human stakes: How can the damaged central nervous system repair itself? Her laboratory studies neural stem cells, inflammation and other approaches to restoring function after spinal cord injury. That work helped support FDA-authorized clinical trials and continues as her team works toward another cell therapy for chronic cervical spinal cord injury.
Aileen’s impact extends beyond the laboratory. She led the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center through significant growth before becoming vice chancellor for research in the UC Irvine Office of Research in 2025, helping guide the university’s research enterprise.
Aileen is equally passionate about mentoring. She is grateful to the people who opened doors for her before she could see the possibilities herself and has made creating opportunity a defining part of her career.
For Aileen, discovery, translation and mentorship reflect what makes UC Irvine distinctive. She describes the university as a place where people “play in the sandbox nicely together” – collaborative, collegial and willing to cross boundaries. Her career has done exactly that, moving discoveries toward patients while helping the next generation imagine what might be possible.
“Someone whose UC Irvine education became the foundation for a career of extraordinary impact, and whose success has come full circle in service to the university itself. Her career is a credit to UC Irvine in every respect.”
Join us as we honor this year’s distinguished recipients and celebrate the remarkable achievements of the Anteater community.
