At a news conference that also marked Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first visit to the University, UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, MD, announced a $25 million gift to UCSF from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. The gift will help support the construction of a $123 million stem cell research building on the Parnassus campus.
Under a large clear plastic tent pitched on Saunders Court on the Parnassus campus, before a crowd of more than 150 people, Bishop described the event as a “truly auspicious occasion.”
Bishop cited UCSF’s long history in stem cell research, including a role in the field’s founding, noting that 27 years ago UCSF researcher Gail Martin, PhD, discovered cells in mouse embryos that were capable of giving rise to all the tissues of a mammalian body. Martin called them embryonic stem cells, a term that has stuck, while the research has gained in importance at UCSF and around the world.
The Broads’ philanthropic interests include education and the arts, but their biggest gifts have supported biomedical research. Their previous contributions drove the establishment of a stem cell center at the University of Southern California, as well as the expansion of stem cell research at UCLA.
In recognition of the gift to UCSF, the Institute for Regeneration Medicine at UCSF will be renamed the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF.
UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop greets Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at news conference at UCSF on Dec. 17.
Photo by Susan Merrell
“We like to invest with people who are the best,” Eli Broad said, “and the best are right here at UCSF.”
“Our hope is this — that the work being done — will improve the health and lives of millions of people around the world,” Broad said.
Bishop, Broad and other speakers also acknowledged the generosity of Ray and Dagmar Dolby, who launched fundraising efforts for the new building.
Schwarzenegger, long a supporter of stem cell research, said “it offers so much potential for millions of people who suffer from spinal cord injuries, from diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis — the list goes on and on.”
Schwarzenegger emphasized the important role public-private partnerships have played in funding stem cell research in the state. He lamented partisanship that has limited support for stem cell research, as well as the federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. Stem cell researchers have been forced to partition their federal and non-federal research into completely distinct physical operations, limiting communication and collaboration. At UCSF these sites were many miles apart.
Support for Stem Cell Research
California taxpayers support embryonic stem cell research through the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). CIRM laid the foundation for universities to set up and grow research programs in stem cell research.
Among the other speakers at the press conference was Robert Klein, the driving force behind 2004’s Proposition 71, the successful ballot initiative that led to the establishment of the CIRM. Klein is now the chair of CIRM’s governing board. Richard Blum, chair of the UC Regents, and Arnold Kriegstein, MD, PhD, UCSF’s stem cell center director, rounded out the line-up of Wednesday’s speakers.
“We know more today about the way in which the earliest stages of the human embryonic organism develops than ever before,” Kriegstein said. “We have learned a great deal about the way in which adult stem cells replenish our tissues throughout life, and what sometimes goes wrong to create and cause cancers. With these advances we are gaining information that holds great promise for treating a wide range of currently devastating diseases.”
During Wednesday's announcement, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (center) tours the laboratory with (from left) Human Embryonic Stem Cell Center Director Susan Fisher, PhD; Eli Broad, founder of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation; and Robert Klein, chair of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Photo by Kristen Bole
Through a combination of private donations, university funds and CIRM grants, UCSF has recently been able to create space to bring the research back onto campus. But the new building will take the enterprise to a new level.
The new building will bring together 25 labs involved in various areas of human and animal embryonic and adult stem cell and related early-cell studies. It will serve as the core of a research program that will continue to extend throughout UCSF, encompassing 125 labs.
The building has been designed by the firm of internationally renowned architect, Raphael Viñoly, and features an open design that will foster collaboration. As befits a research endeavor focused on better treatments and cures, an enclosed walking bridge will connect the new building to UCSF Medical Center clinics.
The early stages of construction of the new building are visible from a 16th floor window just a few steps from the lab of UCSF stem cell researcher Susan Fisher, PhD. Fisher is among those whose lab will move to the new building. It seems unlikely that laboratory manager Matthew Gormley will miss his current digs.
“People are just so confined here,” he said. “Probably the most exciting thing, once we move, is to be able to bring all these people, all these minds, all these capabilities and technologies together in one space.”
