Program Director/Principal Investigator (Last, First, Middle): Nelson, Sarah
RESOURCESoverall bd2k center: RESOURCES
GENERAL RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT AT UCSF
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is one of the ten campuses of the University of California and is devoted solely to graduate education and research in the health sciences. UCSF is composed of the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Nursing, and the Graduate Division. It is one of the leading biomedical research and health science education centers in the world. It is also a major health care delivery center in northern California, with a high volume of regional, national, and international patient referrals. It is home to 11 collaborative research institutes, 1,500 laboratories and more than 5,000 ongoing research projects. In 2006, UCSF was one of the first institutions awarded a grant to form an NIH Center for Translational Sciences (CTSI), which is dedicated to research and education in clinical and translational science at UCSF, at affiliated institutions, and in participating communities.
Professional Schools
UCSF’s four professional schools (Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy) are ranked in the top tier nationally and internationally (measured by academic quality, publication citations of faculty, and amount of extramural support for research and education) as centers for education and research in the various disciplines. UCSF’s graduate academic PhD programs are also ranked in the top tiers of programs in the biomedical bio-psychosocial disciplines. There are over 35 cross cutting academic departments, 17 multidisciplinary research centers, and many NIH-funded multidisciplinary research grants including 20 Research Program Projects (P01), 9 Center Core Grants (P30), 12 Specialized Center Grants (P50), and 3 Comprehensive Center Grants (P60). The Schools of Medicine (SOM) and Pharmacy (SOP) provide the academic homes for the faculty members at UCSF who are participating in the current proposal. The SOM was established in 1864 and is the oldest continuously operating medical school in the western states. It is ranked as one of the top ten medical schools in the country and operates facilities at seven campuses in San Francisco and Fresno. The SOP was founded in 1872 as the first college of pharmacy established in the west and the tenth in the US. It is ranked as the best Doctor of Pharmacy degree program in the nation by US News and World Report and has been the largest school of pharmacy recipient of NIH research funding every year since 1979. It administers the California Poison Control System, which responds to approximately 600,000 poisoning inquiries each year, saving $30 million annually in medical treatment costs.
Graduate Division
The Graduate Division functions as the administrative and quality control unit for more than 854 PhD students, 593 academic master's students, and 1,100 academic postdoctoral fellows, representing 94 countries. It offers 19 degree programs to students pursuing masters and doctoral degrees in disciplines ranging from bioengineering to chemical biology, from biopharmaceutical sciences and pharmacogenomics to nursing, and from global health to sociology. Graduate programs are organized around several interdisciplinary research areas that often contain members from several departments. UCSF also offers a K-30 supported Advanced Training in Clinical Research certificate program and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research. The number of postdoctoral scholars appointed at the UCSF campus is larger than the number appointed at any of the other University of California campuses. UCSF has taken national leadership in the establishment of quality standards for the selection, appointment, compensation, and education of postdoctoral scholars. Of UCSF staff, 52.5% are minorities and 68% are women. Of faculty, 27.5% are minorities and 43% are women. Of the student body, 54% are minorities and 64% are women.
Research Infrastructure
UCSF continues as one of the leading biomedical research and graduate education centers in the world, and it ranks in the top group of institutions of higher learning in total federal funding for research and training. In the past three decades, UCSF has evolved into a world-renowned biomedical research center with an annual budget of over $3.3 billion to support its various research, teaching, and patient care activities. A large portion of the extramural funds received is allocated for biomedical research. Research funding primarily is obtained on a competitive basis from the federal government. Additional research funding is received annually from the State of California, the University of California Office of the President, private research foundations, state and local government agencies, private philanthropy, and industry. UCSF was awarded $532.8M in NIH funding in 2011, which was first among public institutions and second among all institutions nationwide. Fourteen UCSF scientific departments ranked among the top 10 in 2011, with five leading their fields in funding: anesthesiology ($8.8 million), internal medicine ($162 million), neurology ($36.4 million), neurosurgery ($16.2 million), and obstetrics and gynecology ($23.3 million). In 2010, the UCSF School of Dentistry received $19.5M, the School of Nursing received $9.9M, and the School of Pharmacy received $22.6M. The School of Medicine ranked first nationally in 2012, with $445.7M in NIH funding. Among faculty members are five Nobel laureates, 36 National Academy of Sciences members, 54 American Academy of Arts and Sciences members, 79 Institute of Medicine members, and 16 Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators.
Recent Expansion
Over the past decade, UCSF’s capacity for basic science and clinical research in the context of world-class graduate education has been redoubled by the construction of academic facilities at the new UCSF Mission Bay Campus. Currently, UCSF has over 1.5 million assignable square feet (ASF) of research space: ~62,000 ASF in the School of Dentistry, ~1.3 million ASF in the School of Medicine, ~32,000 ASF in the School of Nursing, and ~126,000 ASF in the School of Pharmacy. With the opening of the Neurosciences Building at Mission Bay, another 152,000 ASF of research space became available in the spring of 2012. This total space supports approximately 2,300 Principal Investigators with active sponsored awards. Research and clinical activities take place on the six main San Francisco campuses of UCSF: Parnassus, Mount Zion, Laurel Heights, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center, and Mission Bay. A UCSF shuttle bus service (running every 20 minutes) allows for efficient staff, reagent, and mail travel between all main campus facilities.
ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS OF FACULTY IN THE BD2K CENTER
RADIOLOGY AND BIOMEDICAL IMAGING
Drs. Nelson, Barkovich, Hess, Nagarajan, and Xu have appointments in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. This is one of the most prominent academic programs in the country with an equal focus on clinical service and translational imaging research activities. The department has consistently been among the top institutions in the NIH rankings and manages a large number of core imaging facilities that provide cutting edge technology to the researcher community at UCSF. These facilities are housed at multiple campus locations and include resources at the Biomedical Imaging Laboratory, the Center for Molecular and Functional Imaging and the Surbeck Laboratory for Advanced Imaging. The department has a strong emphasis on education, with an outstanding residency and clinical fellows program. PhD imaging scientists in the department are active members of the multidisciplinary graduate programs described below, with a particular focus on Bioengineering. The recent formation of a Master’s program in Biomedical Imaging has led to the development of a comprehensive curriculum of hands-on courses in all aspects of imaging science. These will be available to the students and postdoctoral fellows who are participating in Center activities.
NEUROLOGY
Drs. Nelson, Barkovich, Gourraud, Henry, Lobach, Miller, Oksenberg, and Rankin hold appointments in the Department of Neurology, the mission of which is to deliver superb patient care, to apply state-of-the-art translational research methods to discover the causes of and treatments for human nervous system disorders, and to educate each generation of medical students, neurology residents and postdoctoral fellows. By fostering cross-disciplinary interactions among scientists around the world, we accelerate the pace of discovery and champion the University's global health initiatives. Current NIH rankingsshow that the Department of Neurology is number one nationally among departments of neurology at US medical schools. This ranking does not take into account the NIH support to our faculty at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, or the Gallo Center. TheUS News & World Report's Best Hospitalsranking system considers 4,825 hospitals in 14 adult and 9 pediatric specialties. UCSF is currently ranked 6th in the nation overall, with a highest rating (9 out of 9) for patient services. UCSF Medical Center and Children's Hospital areranked 1st in the San Francisco Bay Areafor neurology & neurosurgery services. The Department currently holds 75 funded NIH grants for its 175 faculty members, 91 postdoctoral fellows, 27 clinical fellow, 41 residents, and 202 staff members.
bioengineering and therapeutic sciences
Dr. Babbitt holds a primary academic appointment in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, of which Dr. Nelson is co-Chair. This unique department was formed six years ago and reports jointly to the SOM and SOP. It is the home for 20 primary faculty and has another 43 faculty with secondary appointments. Dr. Nelson was one of the two founding co-Chairs and is now a Vice Chair for Bioengineering Graduate Affairs. Its scientific mission is to perform high-quality basic, translational, and clinical research in the fields of drug development sciences, pharmacogenomics, therapeutic bioengineering, computational biology and systems pharmacology. The faculty are engaged in teaching PharmD and MD professional students, as well as being active in managing and supervising graduate students. There are close interactions with the Department of Bioengineering at UCB, through the joint PhD program and the new joint Masters in Translational Medicine. The faculty have substantial expertise in computational sciences, with a major focus on structural and systems biology.
epidemiology and biostatistics
Drs. Sen and Lobach hold appointments in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, which is currently located off-campus at 185 Berry Street in the China Basin Landing neighborhood of San Francisco. In 2015, the department will move to a new building that is under construction on the Mission Bay Campus. Its scientific mission is to do outstanding clinical and population-based research, often in collaboration with other departments and institutions, and to guide use of the findings in clinical practice and public health policies. Its educational mission is to train students, fellows and faculty in methods for studying disease etiology and prevention in general populations, for evaluating diagnostic tests and treatment efficacy in clinical settings, and for using evidence-based approaches in clinical practice. The Department currently has 45 salaried primary appointment faculty, 85 affiliated faculty, 135 research and administrative staff, and manages $29 million in direct costs per year, among five divisions (Biostatistics, Cancer Epidemiology, Clinical Epidemiology, Clinical Trials and Multicenter Studies, and Preventive Medicine and Public Health) and other programs and centers (Program in International Health, Global Health Area of Concentration Program, Office of International Programs in the School of Medicine, Biostatistics Research Program Center for Bioinformatics and Molecular Biostatistics, and the San Francisco Coordinating Center).
NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY
Research plays a key role in the UCSF Department of Neurological Surgery, in which Drs. Barkovich and Costello hold appointments. The current research program consists of over 25 principal investigators with a broad variety of research interests reflecting the full range of clinical and surgical activity in the Department. In 2005, the Division of Translational Research was created for the greater facilitation of collaborations between clinicians and scientists.The largest group of investigators comprises the UCSF Brain Tumor Research Center—an organization formed in 1975 and currently funded by over 30 NIH awards, including one of only four Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) awards for brain tumors from the National Cancer Institute. This group of investigators covers the full range of brain tumor investigation from clinical to basic and is focused on improving the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors. Investigators with a specialized interest in pediatric brain tumors also reside within this group. Another group of clinicians and scientists comprise the Brain and Spinal Injury Center. This multidisciplinary group of investigators studies brain and spinal cord injury caused by radiation or trauma, and their interests range from the biology of neural injury and repair to biomedical informatics and neurological critical care. The third group of scientists is organized around the study of cerebrovascular disease, and focuses on understanding the basis for blood vessel malformations in the brain and on developing better therapies for these abnormalities. A fourth group of investigators is organized around the study of epilepsy and movement disorders. These investigators study the underlying basis for epileptic seizures and have also made significant advances in the use of deep brain stimulation and viral-based therapies for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Finally, clinical research for neurospinal disorders is conducted by neurosurgeons specializing in treating degenerative disc disease, spinal tumors, scoliosis, adult spinal deformity, and severe back pain. There is also a neurospinal biomechanics laboratory, which focuses on testing of novel reconstruction methods for tumor resection and deformity correction surgery. The Department of Neurological Surgery currently houses over 20 basic scientists whose work is not only well-funded and nationally recognized, but also is attuned to the clinical implications of the science. In this setting, therefore, translational programs like this one are situated in a highly supportive environment with all of the neurosurgical and neurological skill sets available that would be expected of a neurological gene therapy program.
psychiatry
Dr. State is Chair of and Drs. Miller and Sanders hold appointments in the Department of Psychiatry, which is among the nation's foremost resources in the field of child, adolescent and adult mental health. Psychiatry faculty members are recognized for their leadership roles in state-of-the-art, comprehensive and compassionate patient care, pioneering research, excellence in training the next generation of leaders, advancing public policy to advance mental health, and commitment to diversity. Department programs are active at all major UCSF campuses.
RELEVANT CROSSCUTTING RESEARCH INSTITUTES AND CENTERS
These multidisciplinary units are organized around specific themes and have faculty members from multiple departments. They provide substantial resources to the biomedical research community and receive funding from the NIH, NSF, state, private foundations and industrial partnerships, as well as acting as a focus for philanthropy.
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE FOR QUANTITATIVE BIOSCIENCES (QB3)
The QB3 Institute was created by Governor Gray Davis as one of the four California Institutes of Science and Innovation. Spanning UCSF, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, it promotes basic research in quantitative biosciences and works to ensures that new discoveries are commercialized as quickly as possible. QB3 has grown to include over 220 research groups with 40 members of the National Academies and two Nobel laureates. It has helped to launch 65 companies and has formed three major industry partnerships. The QB3 incubator network began in 2006 and has grown dramatically to include three campus sites and two private partners, with 51 companies currently renting space. Companies in the network have created more than 280 jobs and raised over $230 million in venture financing. The QB3 building at the Mission Bay campus has 96,000 sq. ft. of space on five floors designed to house multi-department and multi-disciplinary laboratories, lecture halls, and shared scientific resources. It also includes the Surbeck Lab for Advanced Imaging, of which Dr. Nelson is the Director. Other critical technology resources are the QB3 Cluster (described below), the Nikon Imaging Center, the Biomedical Micro-and Nanotechnology Fabrication Laboratory, and the Center for Advanced Technology.
Institute for Computational Health Sciences
The UCSF Institute for Computational Health Sciences (ICHS) was created by the Chancellor in 2012 to develop and enhance UCSF’s computational efforts and strategies in basic, translational, clinical and population-based biomedical research.It will be a campus hub for computer scientists and for researchers who employ computation as a primary tool in their biomedical research. ICHS is a critical component of a global UCSF initiative in Precision Medicine, which seeks to aggregate and integrate vast, disparate datasets to advance understanding of biological processes, determine mechanisms of disease, and inform diagnosis and treatment of patients.Beginning with a base of excellent computational faculty dispersed among our four top-ranked professional schools (Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy) and Graduate Division, superb research programs and outstanding Medical Center, ICHS will establish a central convening center, hire additional faculty, and build programs for research and education. Establishing trainingin bioinformatics and working with big data is a priority mission of the ICHS Education subcommittee. Under the leadership of an Executive Committee comprised of a broad set of campus leaders involved in computational research and technology, the ICHS has contributed to the recruitment of several new faculty and is currently interviewing candidates for a permanent Director.
institute for human genetics (ihg)
The Institute for Human Genetics (IHG) is the central hub for human genetics research, education, and practice at UCSF. Initiated in 2006, the Institute has grown considerably over the past 7 years through active recruitment, whereby 29 new faculty members have joined the IHG. The major aim of the IHG is to create an exciting, productive, and collaborative environment for research, training, and clinical application in human genetics. The IHG also provides institutional support and resources, such as the Genomics Core Facilities, which have a large variety of state of the art technology platforms and support services for cost effective, flexible solutions for genomics projects of any size, ranging from full-service, large-scale projects to equipment only support. The UCSF Genomics Core is made up of several satellites located across the UCSF campuses.