Slideshow: 2013 Year in Review
UC San Francisco celebrated 10 years at Mission Bay, held a world-class summit on precision medicine, bid its current chancellor farewell.
2013 was a year full of milestones across UCSF. View the slideshow below for the highlights from the past year.
A DECADE AT MISSION BAY: State and city leaders, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Gov. Gray Davis, helped UCSF celebrate the 10th anniversary of its $3 billion bioscience research campus at Mission Bay on Jan. 23. A decade after UCSF’s first research building opened, Mission Bay has become a hub for life science companies, startups and venture capital firms that are translating the University’s research into companies and products to improve health worldwide. Photo by Susan Merrell
LAUNCHING BREAKTHROUGHS: Some of Silicon Valley’s heaviest hitters sought to launch the “Oscars of Science,” and they chose to make the big announcement at UCSF. At a press conference hosted by Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, Apple chairman Art Levinson, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, venture capitalist Yuri Milner, 23andMe.com founder Anne Wojcicki and others gave 11 inaugural Life Science Breakthrough Prizes “recognizing excellence in research aimed at curing intractable diseases and extending human life,” each worth $3 million. Photo by Deanne Fitzmaurice
NEW PLURIPOTENT CELL DISCOVERY: Will it soon be possible to make universal “patch kits” for human organs out of adult tissue? Scientists previously thought pluripotent cells only existed in human embryos, but pathologist Thea Tlsty (pictured left), PhD, and her team discovered a new type of pluripotent cell that came from adult breast tissue. In a study published in March, the team described how they were able to turn the breast tissue into heart, intestine, brain, pancreas and even cartilage cells. Photo by Susan Merrell
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE: All four of UCSF’s schools – dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy – were the top public recipients of National Institutes of Health research funding in 2012, according to reports released this year. The School of Medicine also became the only school in the nation to rank in the top five in both research and patient care education, according to U.S. News & World Report’s latest survey, which came out in March. The medical school, which took fourth in both categories, joined the School of Pharmacy (first) and School of Nursing (fourth) in one of the nation’s premier ranking reports. U.S. News does not rank dentistry schools. Photo by Elisabeth Fall/fallfoto.com
GETTING TO THE HEART OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: Heart disease kills more Americans each year than cancer and AIDS combined, and cardiologist Jeffrey Olgin, MD, is leading a massive effort to better understand and treat this problem. The Health eHeart study, which launched in March, employs smartphone technology to track patients’ heart rate and blood pressure so researchers can analyze the collected data. The study aims to enroll 1 million people worldwide. Photo by Susan Merrell
MISSION HALL GROUNDBREAKING: The newest major construction project at UCSF’s Mission Bay campus is “Mission Hall,” also known as the Global Health & Clinical Sciences Building, which had its groundbreaking in March. Made possible by a $20 million gift from philanthropist Chuck Feeney through his foundation Atlantic Philanthropies, the seven-floor, 265,000-square-foot building will pull together under one roof all the faculty, staff and students involved in the University’s global health programs, as well as the offices of the chancellor, when it opens in 2014. Photo by Cindy Chew
LOWENSTEIN’S LAST LECTURE: The 2013 graduating class selected neurology professor Dan Lowenstein, MD, to deliver this year’s Last Lecture, a venerable academic tradition designed to answer a single question: “If you had but one lecture to give, what would you say?” Lowenstein’s hourlong talk in May – which advised students about values, how to contribute to the community and how to cope when life delivers the unexpected – was alternately inspiring, hilarious and profoundly moving. Photo by Susan Merrell
TEDMED TALKING: Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann joined more than 60 other speakers in April at TEDMED, an innovative speaker series aimed at tackling challenges to create a better future in health and medicine. In her 15-minute talk, she envisioned a future in which health care consumers drive treatments and innovation by working with their doctors to provide the information needed to improve care, through the use of mobile technology and donating their genetic data to a global health database for researchers. Photo courtesy of TEDMED
OME REMEDIES: How often can you get the head of the National Institutes of Health, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, Silicon Valley investors, dozens of CEOs and the world’s top scientific minds in one room to talk precision medicine? It’s unprecedented. The OME Summit brought this esteemed group to UCSF to develop strategies for making precision medicine a reality within the next decade. In the end, it yielded a dozen pilot proposals, established new alliances and generated widespread commitments to continue advancing this field beyond the two-day event. Photo by Susan Merrell
BUILDING BRIDGES: “The curriculum is being redesigned from the perspective of what kind of doctor we need to meet the demands of practice in the 21st century,” Catherine Lucey, MD, vice dean for education at UCSF School of Medicine, said in June. Those needs include persistent problems of safety, quality, patient satisfaction and waste in health care delivery. This ambitious and innovative project, called the UCSF Bridges Curriculum Redesign, will be fully implemented by 2016 for all medical students. Photo by Susan Merrell
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL RANKINGS: UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital ranked among the nation's best children's hospitalsin nine specialties, according to the 2013-2014 Best Children's Hospitals survey conducted by the U.S. News & World Report.The list, released in June, also placed UCSF as the top Northern California children’s hospital in cancer, diabetes and endocrinology, and neurology. Photo by Susan Merrell
ASIANA CRASH RESPONSE: When word came of a massive airliner crash at SFO on July 6, the team at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center sprang into action. The Level 1 trauma center provides top-level emergency care in part thanks to its longstanding partnership with UCSF, which has more than 2,000 physicians and staff working at the hospital. In all, the SFGH team – including (pictured from left) interim chief of surgery Peggy Knudson, trauma surgeon Andre Campbell, chief of emergency medicine Chris Barton and trauma program manager Patti O’Connor – cared for 67 survivors of the plane crash that day. Photo by Susan Merrell
VALIDATION FOR SPD: Sensory processing disorders (SPD) affects 5 to 16 percent of schoolchildren – more prevalent than autism and as common as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – yet the condition receives far less attention partly because it’s never been recognized as a distinct disease. In a groundbreaking study published in July, Pratik Mukherjee, MD, PhD, and his team found quantifiable differences in SPD brain structure, for the first time showing a biological basis that sets it apart from other neurodevelopmental disorders. Image courtesy of Mukherjee lab
MED CENTER HONORS: For the 12th consecutive year, UCSF Medical Center ranks among the nation’s premier hospitals and is the best in Northern California, according to the 2013-2014 America's Best Hospitals survey conducted by U.S. News & World Report. The honor, announced in July, came after the hospital made significant investments in its ability to deliver the highest quality care, including implementing one of the most comprehensive electronic health records systems in the United States and achieving Magnet designation for excellence in nursing by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Photo by Leland Kim
TARGETING TYPE 1 DIABETES: A new experimental drug could end up being the best answer for some Type 1 diabetes patients. The drug, teplizumab, was developed by Jeffrey Bluestone, PhD, and his team to block the advance of diabetes in its earliest stages. In a phase 2 clinical trial, about half of patients were able to maintain their level of insulin production for the full two years; the remarkable results were published in August. Photo by Susan Merrell
LAUNCHING A HEALTH CARE MARKETPLACE: Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi came to UCSF in August to unveil California’s answer to the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most Americans have health insurance starting in 2014. In a town hall meeting with health care providers, Pelosi said: “Covered California is leading the way in establishing a bright and healthy future for the Golden State by making sure insured, as well as uninsured, Californians find plans that suit their needs and their pocketbooks.” Photo by Elisabeth Fall/fallfoto.com
REVERSE AGING WITH VIDEO GAMES?: A new 3-D video game designed to boost multitasking ability is showing positive results in reversing some of the negative effects of aging on the brain. Neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley, PhD, and his team reported in September that after receiving just 12 hours of training on the “NeuroRacer” game, the 60- to 85-year-old study participants improved their performance until it surpassed that of 20-somethings playing for the first time – and maintained their skills six months after training ended. Photo by Susan Merrell
GAMING THE SYSTEM: UCSF2025 took a novel approach to designing the University’s future: For 36 hours in September, the entire UCSF community was asked to log in and “play” ideas to see whose would rise to the top. In the end, the game drew nearly 2,600 players who generated more than 24,600 ideas. The work doesn’t end there; those top ideas are being developed and refined for the “UCSF2.0” strategic plan. Photo by Susan Merrell
ENDOWMENT FOR PHD STUDENTS: Doctoral students play a critical role in fueling biomedical research, and UCSF has one of the nation’s top programs in cell biology, biochemistry, neuroscience and other areas. In recognition of this, Sequoia Capital Chairman Sir Michael Moritz, KBE, and his wife, Harriet Heyman, donated $30 million to the new UCSF Discovery Fellows Program, ensuring the future of PhD education programs in the basic sciences. The chancellor made the exciting announcement in her 2013 State of the University address in September – and that UCSF will match the donation through institutional funds and raising individual donations. Photo by Cindy Chew
DIVERSITY IN EDUCATION: UCSF welcomed more than 800 new students this fall in its schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy, as well as its Graduate Division. And a look at the some of the stats reflects UCSF’s commitment to recruiting the most talented and diverse trainees in the health sciences: The new students hail from 55 different countries, and about a quarter were the first generation in their families to attend college. Photo by Susan Merrell
UNDERSTANDING BRAIN INJURIES: Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) impact about 1.7 million Americans each year. To address this issue, the National Institutes of Health in October awarded $18.8 million to support worldwide research that will be administered through UCSF, led by Geoffrey Manley (pictured left), MD, PhD, chief of neurosurgery at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. Manley’s work led to SFGH becoming the first hospital in the nation to achieve certification for treatment of TBI in 2011. Photo by Susan Merrell
WELCOMING THE UC PRESIDENT: The UCSF community met Janet Napolitano, the University of California’s newly appointed president, for the first time in October when she visited campus for the eighth stop of her “listening and learning” tour of all 10 campuses. The highlight, the former Homeland Security secretary said afterward, was meeting the faculty, staff and students who make up this dynamic and unique institution. Photo by Cindy Chew
TARGETING THE ‘UNDRUGGABLE’ CANCER PROTEIN: The protein in cells that most often drives the development of cancers has eluded scientists’ efforts to block it for three decades – until now. Kevan Shokat, PhD, and his team reported in November that they’ve succeeded in making small molecules that irreversibly target a mutant form of this protein, called ras, without binding to the normal form. When tested on human lung cancer cells grown in culture, the molecules efficiently killed the ras-driven cancer cells. Photo by Peter DeSilva
VISUALIZING PAIN: What does pain look like on an atomic level? A team led by David Julius, PhD, and Yifan Cheng, PhD, has mapped out the structure of a protein, called TRPV1, that plays a central role in the perception of pain and heat using a technique called X-ray crystallography. The groundbreaking research will offer fresh insights to drug designers searching for new and better pain treatments. Image from Liao et al., Nature 504, 107–112, 2013
BREAKTHROUGH PRIZE RETURNS: The prestigious Breakthrough Prizes in Life Sciences returned to UCSF in December for a scientific symposium celebrating the 2013 and newly awarded 2014 winners. The event at the Mission Bay campus was a who’s who of science, including three UCSF Nobel laureates: Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD, and Stanley Prusiner, MD, as well as Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, a 2013 Breakthrough Prize winner who presented at the symposium. Photo by Cindy Chew
CHANCELLOR STEPS DOWN: Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann made a bittersweet announcement to the UCSF community in December: She’ll be stepping down from her position to become CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Leaders and community members praised her many accomplishments since taking the helm here in 2009, and congratulated her on a significant move that will allow her to carry on the mission of advancing health worldwide. Photo by Cindy Chew