Strategic Research Projects

Strategic Research Projects is sponsored by Alianza MX (University of California). Supports collaborative multi-campus research partnerships and binational initiatives involving UC researchers aimed at solving complex issues important to California and Mexico.

Strategic Research Projects - University of California Alianza MX Strategic Research Projects Alianza MX provides up to two years of seed funding for strategic research projects that deepen the understanding of common challenges shared by the US and Mexico and propose innovative solutions.

This action research model leverages the research capabilities of the UC and the networking capabilities of Alianza MX to engage a wide range of non academic stakeholders with key academic insights and discover knowledge gaps that guide future research.

Active Projects (2026-28) Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Governance & Public Investment Active Projects (2025-27) Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Prescribed Fire Management Active Projects (2024-26) Zero-Emissions Infrastructure Bioregional Planning (2023-25) Transport Electrification (2022-24) Water Management (2022-24) Economics of Migration (2022-24) Interested in submitting a Strategic Research Project proposal?

Proposals must be led by a UC principal investigator (PI) and include collaborators from at least one other UC campus and at least one partner institution in Mexico. Alianza MX can assist with identifying collaborators across the UC system as well as at Mexican Proposal submissions can request up to $150,000 in seed funding over a period of up to 24 months.

Funds can support field research, conferences and workshops, and project staff salaries and benefits, but may not be used for student tuition and fees or to cover department overhead or indirect costs. Alianza MX opens a call for proposals in the Winter and the application period remains open until Spring. Funding awards are announced in Summer and research projects begin during the Fall.

Timeline of the Call: 2026-28 Project Cycle Launch of the call / Application period opens Winter 2027 (to be confirmed) Submission deadline / Application period closes Spring 2027 (to be confirmed) Announcement of projects selected for funding Summer 2027 (to be confirmed) Start date for supported activities End date for supported activities Download the Call for Proposals Download the Application Form Access the Application Portal For questions on Strategic Research Project proposal submissions or for assistance identifying potential collaborators, please contact AlianzaMXResearch@ucr.

edu . Creating a Binational Border Exposome Repository: A Feasibility Study This project surveys patients diagnosed with cancer that live in Baja California and/or travel from the U.S. about cancer factors and treatment, including social, residential, exposure, and similar history; perspectives of medical care; and access to required treatments.

It collects biospecimens to operationalize a novel border exposome that will deliver essential data for generating linkages to existing repositories across geographies and produce novel studies with partners to better understand how border region communities are seeking cancer care.

Principal Investigator: Melody Schiaffino , UC San Diego UC Collaborators: UC Irvine MX Collaborators: Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) Through the Eyes of the Callejero: Immigration Policy, Street Dogs, and Binational Public Health This project addresses gaps in existing strategies for controlling the spread of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, a severe and re-emerging disease in the U.S.-Mexico border region.

It documents community attitudes toward free-roaming and abandoned dogs, quantifies their contribution to tick burden and disease transmission, and pilots scalable and humane interventions to reduce community-level risk.

Principal Investigator: Janet Foley , UC Davis UC Collaborators: UC San Diego MX Collaborators: Instituto de Ecología (INECOL) Mission Agave: Tracing Agave Americana in a Shared Landscape This project integrates climate modeling, population genetics, and phenotypic analysis to study the Mexican origins of California’s mission-era agaves and determine which genetic lineages are best suited for San Joaquin Valley agriculture under climate change.

It analyzes genomic sequencing of binational samples, develops climate models matched to projected scenarios, and provides stakeholders with guidance for drought-resilient agave cultivation, creating a replicable framework for other crops facing climate uncertainty.

Principal Investigator: Lauren Parker , UC Merced Co-Principal Investigators: Joshua Viers , UC Merced; John Abatzoglou , UC Merced; Rachel Meyer , UC Merced MX Collaborators: Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados (Cinvestav); Tecnológico de Monterrey AI-Driven Approach to Optimization of Solvent Extraction Process for Rare Earth Elements This project develops an artificial intelligence-driven framework for optimizing rare earths extraction, predicting extraction efficiency and separation factors across a wide range of processing conditions to advance binational efforts in critical mineral recovery, environmental remediation of legacy mine sites, and domestic supply chain resilience.

Principal Investigator: Irina Zenyuk , UC Irvine Co-Principal Investigators: Carlos Morales-Guio , UC Los Angeles; Plamen Atanassov , UC Irvine MX Collaborators: Tecnológico de Monterrey Building Capacity from Below: Indigenous Self-Governance and Public Investment in Mexico This project utilizes a natural experiment to study how a Mexican constitutional reform granting indigenous communities fiscal autonomy affects the governance of public resources and durable governing capacity.

It surveys local leaders and community members to document how communities organize make spending decisions, with the aim of understanding how this control influences investments, accountability, and economic marginalization as a main driver of migration.

Principal Investigator: Tesalia Rizzo , UC Merced UC Collaborators: UC Santa Barbara MX Collaborators: Tecnológico de Monterrey This project designs culturally relevant depression screening tools to improve adolescent mental health in Mexico and among Spanish-speaking youth in California.

It implements a digital mental health intervention through a WhatsApp-based chatbot on a mental health crisis helpline, ensuring accessible support for high-risk adolescents and establishing a pilot program that can potentially be expanded to connect a broader range of adolescents with mental health resources.

Principal Investigator: Nadia Dia mon d-Smith , UC San Francisco Co-Principal Investigators: May Sudhinaraset , UC Los Angeles MX Collaborators: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública (INSP), Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz (INPRFM), El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF) Strengthening the Biosafety of Mexican Native Maize Varieties on the Southern Border This project analyzes the potential presence and identity of transgenes in native maize varieties from the Mexico-Guatemala border region, with the objective of conserving maize diversity and establishing food sovereignty in maize for human consumption.

Maize sampling in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco will also guide the development of a seed sampling guide for Guatemalan grassroots partner organizations and assist those organizations with transgene detection and identification in key border regions.

Principal Investigator: Liza Grandia , UC Davis UC Collaborators: UC Santa Barbara MX Collaborators: Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana – Xochimilco (UAM) Additional Collaborators: Red Nacional Por la Defensa de la Soberanía Alimentaria en Guatemala (REDSAG), Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala – Petén (USAC), Bufete para Pueblos Mayas, Asociación de Comunidades Campesinas Indígenas para el Desarrollo Integral de Petén (ACDIP) Genomic Profiling of Tuberculosis Isolates Among High-Burden and Vulnerable Populations in Mexico This project focuses on the structure of the bacterial population causing tuberculosis in Mexico, which will provide insight on the dynamics of transmission in local communities as well as cross-border transmission between Baja California and California.

Genomic studies will provide information about the genetic markers associated with drug resistant tuberculosis, providing a baseline for monitoring complex transmission dynamics.

Principal Investigator: Midor i Kat o-Maeda , UC San Francisco Co-Principal Investigator: Manel Camps , UC Santa Cruz MX Collaborators: Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC), Secretaría de Salud de Baja California, Centro Ambulatorio para la Prevención y Atención en SIDA e Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual (CAPASITS), Instituto de Psiquiatría de Baja California (IPBC), Comisión Estatal del Sistema Penitenciario de Baja California (CESISPE) Development of Fuel Model Maps and Prescribed Fire Management Strategies This project develops fuel model maps for the Comiteca Tojolabal Plateau in Chiapas, Mexico, that improve understanding of fire behavior in the Lagunas de Montebello National Park through field work and remote sensing.

By employing experimental plot burning as well as emissions modeling, it aims to improve the technical use of fire for ecological purposes and risk reduction, as well as to build a proposal for a local burning program.

Principal Investigator: Jeanette C obi an , UC Davis Co-Principal Investigators: Ertugrul Taciroglu , UC Los Angeles; Riyaaz Shaik , UC Los Angeles MX Collaborators: El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Comisión Nacional Forestal (CONAFOR), Parque Nacional Lagunas de Montebello, Colectivo Los Sin Fuego Robotic Solutions for Sustainable Berry Harvesting This project provides Mexican and California growers with technological solutions for monitoring the health and maturity of berries grown in greenhouses, harvesting berries using articulated robots and computer vision systems, and efficient handling of harvested berries through automated vehicles.

Principal Investigator: Ricardo Sanfelice , UC Santa Cruz UC Collaborators: UC Merced MX Collaborators: Tecnológico de Monterrey, Grupo Los Cerritos, Avoberrys del Valle Additional Collaborators: Driscoll’s, Inc. Nexus of water, food, and energy systems in California and Mexico This project generates roadmaps for innovation and funding , including through proposal writing workshops and the engagement with stakeholders that can provide additional funding.

The first thematic focus of collaborative innovation is on the nexus of potable water and energy systems, building pilot-scale digital twins of water systems in Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mexico City.

Principal Investigator: Frank Loge , UC Davis UC Collaborators: UC Berkeley Tecnológico de Monterrey, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Servicios de Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey (SADM), Sistema Intermunicipal de los Servicios de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado – Jalisco (SIAPA), Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de México (SACMEX), Asociación Nacional de Empresas de Agua y Saneamiento (ANEAS) Indigenous Women’s Digital Histories and Storytelling for Communal Survival This project trains indigenous women as digital archivists, builds a digital archive that includes both oral histories and photos, and distributes the information through a published collection and community history convening.

Principal Investigator: Maylei Blackwell , UC Los Angeles UC Collaborators: UC Santa Cruz Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), National Coordinating Committee of Indigenous Women (CONAMI) Promoting Biomedical Research Collaborations with Mexico This project expands research collaboration between the UC and Mexican partners on Type II diabetes, with a particular focus on expanding student research training in molecular techniques.

It incorporates various techniques for studying diabetes, including both cellular mechanisms as well as behavioral and social issues that may help explain the prevalence of metabolic disorders among Mexican immigrants to the United States.

Principal Investigator: Rudy Ortiz , UC Merced UC Collaborators: UC Berkeley MX Collaborators: Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán (INCMNSZ); Universidad de Sonora, Campus Navojoa (UNISON) Perceptions of Mexican Democratic Institutions: A Survey of Experts and Citizens This project expands on the Survey of the Quality of Mexican Democracy (ENCADE), which polled experts and a national representative sample in 2021 on the quality of democracy across nine dimensions.

The first round of the survey studied the relationship between voter support for democracy and views of elites, while subsequent rounds will study differences among states and how the 2024 elections may affect perceptions of electoral institutions, political parties, and media.

Principal Investigator: Emilie Hafner-Burton , UC San Diego UC Collaborators: UC Merced, UC Santa Barbara MX Collaborators: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) Webinar: “How Mexico Views Its Democracy: Key Findings from the 2024 ENCADE Survey,” October 2024 Researchers presented the results of the second annual survey on democracy in Mexico, ENCADE, conducted just ahead of the historic 2024 presidential election.

California-Mexico Border Infrastructure Analysis: Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicles This project analyzes scenarios for commercial medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicle (MHD ZEV) deployment for cross-border freight operations between the U.S. state of California and the Mexican state of Baja California, including paths for developing ZEV infrastructure in key transport corridors and communities.

UC researchers participate in the Heavy-Duty Vehicles Working Group of the US-Mexico Task Force on Zero-Emission Vehicles , established in 2022 to develop a managed industry transition that ensures prosperity, competitiveness, and inclusion for the binational auto industry.

Principal Investigator: Arun Raju , UC Riverside UC Collaborators: UC Irvine MX Collaborators: Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC); Secretaría de Infraestructura, Comunicaciones y Transportes (SICT); Asociación Nacional de Productores de Autobuses, Camiones y Tractocamiones (ANPACT); Asociación Nacional de Transporte Privado (ANTP); Cámara Nacional de Autotransporte de Carga (CANACAR) Technical Advisory Committee: “Key Takeaways,” June 2024 UC‐Mexico Farm Labor Research Cluster: Climate Change, Health, Productivity and Well Being This project aims to improve understanding of how environmental drivers in both California and Mexico impact farm laborers and other participants in the food supply chain such as food distributors, ag-tech innovators, and others.

It also studies policy approaches that could benefit food security and nutrition in both regions when applied at scale.

Principal Investigator: Federico Castillo , UC Berkeley UC Collaborators: UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco MX Collaborators: Colegio de Michoacan (COLMICH), Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero (UAGRO), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) Project website: UC-Mexico Farm Labor Research Cluster This project reinforces efforts to complete a bio-regional action plan for the Cali-Baja Bioregion spanning the US-Mexico Border and Tribal lands (the Cali-Baja BioREGPlan 2030).

The Plan’s ultimate purpose is to identify and document transformational change that can benefit people and communities vulnerable to the climate emergency.

Principal Investigator: Keith Pezzoli , UC San Diego UC Collaborators: UC Davis, UC Los Angeles MX Collaborators: Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) Project website: Tri-National Bioregional Framework for Climate Adaptation and Resilience Electrification of Transport: Challenges and Opportunities for the US-Mexico Transportation Industry This project studied how policy shaped the needs and capabilities of zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) producers in the US and Mexico, as well as how increasing demand for ZEV accelerated the binational transition to new technologies.

UC researchers also participated in the Light-Duty Vehicles Working Group of the US-Mexico Task Force on Zero-Emission Vehicles , established in 2022 to develop a managed auto industry transition that ensures binational prosperity, competitiveness, and inclusion.

Principal Investigator: Gil Tal , UC Davis MX Collaborators: Colegio de Sonora (COLSON), Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) Research report & Policy brief: "Implications of Global EV Adoption Targets for Mexico Light Duty Auto Industry," April 2023 Gil Tal, UC Davis; Francisco Pares, UC Davis; Pablo Busch, UC Davis; Minal Chandra, UC Davis Policy brief: "US-Mexico Second-hand Vehicle Trade: Implications for Responsible EV End-of-Life Management and Material Circularity in North America," April 2023 Francisco Pares, UC Davis; Galym Iskakov, UC Davis; Alissa Kendall, UC Davis Water Resources Management: Improving Climate-Extreme Resilience in Mexico and the United States This project uses case studies from California and Mexico to explore promising water management alternatives for agriculture, ecosystems, and communities in response to climate extremes, with a strong emphasis on groundwater.

Principal Investigator: Josué Medellín , UC Merced UC Collaborators: UC Davis, UC Los Angeles MX Collaborators: Tecnológico de Monterrey, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC), Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Universidad de las Américas – Puebla (UDLAP), Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (UMSNH), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) Project website: Water Resources Management to Improve Climate Extreme Resilience White paper: “A Research Agenda for Collaborative Action,” September 2023 Clara Y.

Medina, J. Andrés Morandé, Josué Medellín-Azuara, Joshua Viers, Thomas Harmon, Marc Beutel, John Abatzoglou Economics of US-Mexico Migration: Policies, Opportunities for Employment, and Economic Growth This project proposes policies and actions that will maximize the growth and employment potential of immigrant workers, students, and professionals, as well as to evaluate their impact on the communities where they live.

UC researchers also organize lectures and mentor graduate students as part of a Summer School on the Economics of International Migration.

Principal Investigator: Giovanni Peri , UC Davis UC Collaborators: UC Berkeley, UC Merced, UC San Diego MX Collaborators: Colegio de México, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Banco de México – Reem Zaiour: “Violence in Mexico, Return Intentions, and the Integration of Mexican Migrants in the US,” November 2023 – Ernesto Tiburcio: “The Local Reaction to Unauthorized Mexican Migration to the US,” October 2023 – Alessandro Caiumi & Giovanni Peri, “Immigration’s Effect on US Wages and Employment Redux,” April 2024 – Giovanni Peri & Reem Zaiour, “Changes in International Immigration and Internal Native Mobility after Covid-19 in the US,” December 2022 – Julian Arteaga & Ashish Shenoy, “Declining Mobility among Mexican-Born Workers in the U.S. Labor Force,” October 2022 – Michael Beine, Giovanni Peri & Morgan Raux, “International College Students’ Impact on the US Skilled Labor Supply,” September 2022 Event: “Summer School on the Economics of Migration: Panel on Migration in Latin America and in Mexico,” September 2023 Presentation: Giovanni Peri, “International Migration and COVID-19," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Economic Research Conference on Labor Markets During and After the Pandemic, November 2022 For questions regarding project proposals, or for more information on projects in a previous cycle, please contact Alianza MX.

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