UCSF News Office

UCSF Overview and Achievements

Spotlight

UCSF Overview

  • UCSF is one of the world’s premier health sciences universities, a leader in biomedical research, patient care, higher education and public service.
  • Annual budget - $2.5 billion (according to UCSF Budget Office)
  • San Francisco’s second largest employer
  • Total UCSF Employees: 21,567
  • Chancellor: Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH
  • Number of students: 2,951

Rankings

  • UCSF was the second largest recipient of National Institutes of Health research support in 2008. In the rankings, the UCSF School of Dentistry, the UCSF School of Nursing and the UCSF School of Pharmacy all received the greatest total NIH dollars in their fields, as they have consistently in recent years. The UCSF School of Dentistry received nearly $19 million in NIH research support for 2008; the UCSF School of Nursing, $9 million; and the UCSF School of Pharmacy, $19.7 million. The UCSF School of Medicine ranked second nationally, with $383.7 million in total NIH research funding in 2008. The 2008 figures mark the 29th year that the School of Pharmacy has ranked first and the 17th year that the School of Dentistry has held this position.  This is the 6th year that the School of Nursing has ranked first.” Grants fuel research in such fields as cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, HIV, pediatric illnesses, diabetes and other auto-immune diseases.

  • The Center for Measuring University Performance ranks institutions on nine individual measures. UCSF has six measures in the Center for Measuring University Performance top 25 nationally. The table on page 6 orders institutions by number in the top 25.

  • UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Children’s Hospital rank among the top 10 hospitals in the nation. According to the July 2009 U.S. News and World Report survey, UCSF Medical Center was named the seventh best hospital, making it the highest ranked medical center in Northern California. UCSF Children's Hospital has been ranked among the nation's best children's hospitals in nine pediatric specialities, making it one of the top-ranked facilities in California, according to the 2009 "America's Best Children's Hospitals" survey conducted by U.S. News & World Report. note: rather than provide an overall ranking for the nation's best children's hospitals, the 2009 survey ranks the top 30 hospitals in 10 individual specialities (cancer, diabetes and endocrine disorders, digestive disorders, heart and heart surgery, kidney disorders, neonatal care, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, respiratory disorders and urology.

  • UCSF is ranked as #18 among world universities by ARWU (Annual Ranking of World Universities)
  • UCSF is renowned for its excellence in educating and training students in the health professions. Its Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy and the Graduate Division all rank among the nation’s most prestigious advanced study programs in the health sciences.
  • UCSF’s School of Pharmacy ranks first and the School of Nursing second among all graduate schools in their fields in a new survey conducted and published in April 2008 by U.S. News & World Report.
  • UCSF School of Medicine ranks fifth among all medical schools in the nation, according it the U.S. News & World Report's "America’s Best Graduate Schools" issue (published on April 23, 2009)
  • UCSF School of Medicine ranks among the top 10 in seven of eight medical school specialty programs, including first in AIDS medicine, second in women’s health, and third in internal medicine.
  • The National Research Council ranks UCSF’s doctoral programs in biochemistry and molecular biology first nationally. The genetics program ranks second, cell biology third and the neurosciences program fourth.
  • Two UCSF patented inventions account for two-thirds of the top five income-earning patents of the entire University of California system, and one of these—the hepatitis B vaccine—is the system’s top-earning patent.
  • UCSF ranked second in a national ranking of “Best Places to Work in Academia” by The Scientist magazine. J. David Gladstone Institutes ranked sixth.
  • UCSF scored an "A" for its conflict of interest policy according to AMSA (American Medical Student Association) PharmFree Scorecard in 2009

Scientific Society Memberships

Satellite Sites

Woven tightly into the fabric of life in San Francisco, UCSF is located in myriad satellite sites throughout the city:

Federal Research Support

Private Research Support

Facts About UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay

UCSF plans to build a 289-bed, integrated hospital complex to serve children, women and cancer patients on a new 14 acre parcel of land adjacent to the original 43-acre biomedical campus at Mission Bay. Upon completion of the first phase in late 2013 or early 2014, plans for the 869,000- plus-gross-square-foot hospital complex include:

A 183-bed children’s hospital with urgent, emergency and pediatric primary care and specialty outpatient facilities; A 70-bed adult hospital for cancer patients; A women’s hospital for cancer care, specialty surgery and select outpatient services and a 36-bed birth center; and An energy center, helipad, parking and support services.

UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay will provide a world-class, sophisticated, efficient, flexible and family-centered healing environment. The hospital complex will provide comprehensive diagnostic, interventional and support services, and use advanced robotic and imaging technology during surgery – all in an environment centered around the compassionate care of patients and their families.

The hospitals’ integration with the existing biomedical campus will strengthen benchto- bedside and bedside-to-bench collaboration among basic scientists, clinical researchers and physicians. The collaboration of multidisciplinary medical specialists will create a rich environment for new discoveries in the care of fetal, pediatric, maternal, women and cancer patients.

UCSF Mission Bay Campus

  • Overview of UCSF Mission Bay: The UCSF Mission Bay campus is a health science campus for teaching, research, and health. It is a major second campus for UCSF, with activity at the original Parnassus Heights campus continuing.
  • Double the space: The Mission Bay campus allows UCSF to double its research space, speed the pace of biomedical discovery, and help prepare a new generation of students.
  • Significance to the city: UCSF Mission Bay is the anchor of the entire Mission Bay redevelopment project, San Francisco’s largest urban development since the building of Golden Gate Park. The city’s Mission Bay development covers 303 acres of land between San Francisco Bay and Interstate 280.
  • Size and location: A 43-acre site, the Mission Bay campus is located near the S.F. Giants baseball park, about one mile south of San Francisco’s Financial District. About 2.2 acres are set aside for the San Francisco Unified School District as a public school site.
  • Timeline: UCSF broke ground for its new campus in 1999, and the first building was occupied in 2003. It will be constructed in phases over the next 15 years and at full build-out will have 20 structures.
  • Scientific work: Researchers at the UCSF Mission Bay campus focus on a variety of basic science disciplines, including human genetics, developmental biology, cell biology, developmental neuroscience, molecular and cell biology, and structural and chemical biology. Much of the research involves applying mathematical and physical sciences to complex biomedical problems. Research programs and the physical layout of the buildings encourage collaboration among related disciplines, such as chemistry and biology.
  • Program space: About half of the program space is planned for research uses. The balance will be used for instruction, academic support, campus administration, campus community activities, housing and logistical operations.
  • Population: At full build-out, about 6,500 people are expected to be on the campus working and studying on an average day.

UCSF Mission Bay Campus - Phase I Construction

  • GENENTECH HALL – The first wave of faculty moved into Genentech Hall in January 2003. It was the first building to open on the new campus. A five-story building with 434,000 gross square feet, it houses programs in structural and chemical biology and molecular cell and developmental biology, as well as the Molecular Design Institute and the Center for Advanced Technology. UCSF Genentech Hall also features an auditorium, bookstore, library and a café.

  • ARTHUR AND TONI REMBE ROCK HALL – Occupancy of the five-story research facility began in February 2004. It houses programs in human genetics, developmental biology, developmental neuroscience, and the Center for Brain Development.

  • BYERS HALL: THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE FOR QUANTITATIVE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH (QB3) – This is the headquarters building for the Institute, which is a partnership with UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz. QB3 is one of the four California Institutes for Science and Innovation, developed at the initiative of the California Governor Gray Davis, and the only one focused on biomedical research to advance human health. Research here is intensely computational, integrating physical, mathematical and engineering sciences to tackle the complexities of genomics, proteomics, protein folding and interactions, and developing imaging systems of unprecedented power and resolution for diagnosis and treatment of disease. Scientists, students and staff began moving into the building in February 2005.

  • MISSION BAY COMMUNITY CENTER – The four-story building is a recreation and conference center for both UCSF and the community. The Center houses a fitness complex, including indoor and rooftop pools, conference facility, assembly room, activity center and student services. The Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center opened in October 2005, and the conference facility began operations in November 2005. Catering services and a café opened in March 2006.

  • MISSION BAY HOUSING – UCSF’s residential housing complex for students, postdoctoral scholars, visiting faculty and their families includes 431 units for 750 residents. Residents began moving in during the fall of 2005. (As part of a later building project, UCSF is also planning to provide 160 units of affordable housing for staff just north of the Mission Bay campus.)

  • CHILD CARE CENTER – A child care center for 75 children, up to age 5, opened in May 2006. Information is available at http://www.cas.ucsf.edu/childcare/centers.

  • RETAIL SERVICES – UCSF is developing a retail environment to occupy the plaza in front of the new housing complex.

  • PARKING – The Mission Bay campus includes two parking structures: a 600-car garage adjacent to the Community Center and a second parking structure for 820 vehicles along Third Street, near the housing complex. Both are open and operational.

  • HELEN DILLER FAMILY CANCER RESEARCH BUILDING – This five-story building will contain research and development programs in neurological surgery, urology and cancer research. Groundbreaking was in April 2006, and completion is expected in 2008.

UCSF Mission Bay Campus - Phase II Plans

Planning for the buildings in the second phase is not yet complete, but two projects that will house neuroscience and cardiovascular programs have been identified to date.

  • THE LAND: The new 43-acre campus transforms land once occupied by old warehouses and rail yards. Catellus Development Corporation donated 30 acres, and the City of San Francisco donated the additional 13 acres.

  • PUBLIC ARTWORKS: UCSF launched a public arts program at the new Mission Bay campus to create a visually stimulating environment and a permanent legacy to the city. The program is supported by a pledge of nonstate funds equal to one percent of new construction costs, as other major universities have done across the country.

  • OPEN SPACE: The UCSF Mission Bay campus includes Koret Quad, a 3.2-acre space designed to serve as an informal, landscaped gathering place for the public as well as faculty, staff and students. The entire campus will have at least eight acres of publicly accessible open space upon completion.

  • COST: Construction funds for the new campus are coming from a variety of state, University, and private sources. The expected cost of the UCSF Mission Bay Campus at completion is estimated at about $1.5 billion.

California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3)

During the last half-century, molecular genetics revolutionized biomedical research and gave rise to the biotechnology industry. During the next half-century, the application of the quantitative sciences - mathematics, physics, chemistry and engineering - to Biosciences brings about a second revolution that promises to improve human health and create dynamic new technologies.

To catalyze these changes, the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), a cooperative effort among three campuses of the University of California and private industry, harnesses the quantitative sciences to integrate our understanding of biological systems at all levels of complexity - from atoms and protein molecules to cells, tissues, organs and the entire organism. This long-sought integration allows scientists to attack problems that have been simply unapproachable before, setting the stage for fundamental new discoveries, new products and new technologies for the benefit of human health.

The Institute builds on strengths in the engineering and physical sciences at UC Berkeley, engineering and mathematical sciences at UC Santa Cruz, and the medical sciences at UC San Francisco, as well as strong biology programs at the three campuses.

In addition to the creation of fundamental new knowledge and potent new technologies, a major goal of the Institute is to train a new generation of students able to fully integrate the quantitative sciences with biomedical research.

The Institute involves more than 180 scientists housed in a new building at Mission Bay in San Francisco, in a new building at UC Berkeley, and in two new facilities at UC Santa Cruz.

UCSF Research and Clinical Milestones

  • UCSF, a pioneer in the field of human embryonic stem cell research, is one of only two academic institutions in the nation that derived human embryonic stem cells that qualified for inclusion on the National Institutes of Health Stem Cell Registry (2001). The University is now making these cells available to scientists around the world for studies on the potential of embryonic stem cells for treating such diseases as diabetes and heart disease.
  • Three UCSF scientists have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine:
    • In 1997, Stanley Prusiner, MD, won the prize for his discovery of the prion, a novel infectious pathogen that causes a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow” disease. The discovery could lead to insights into more common neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s diseases.
    • In 1989, J. Michael Bishop, MD and Harold Varmus, MD, won the prize for the discovery of proto-oncogenes, normal genes that they showed had the potential to convert to cancer genes. The discovery transformed the way that scientists look at cancer and is leading to new strategies for detection and treatment.
  • In 2007, UCSF biologists identified naturally occurring processes that allow genes to slow aging and protect against cancer in the C. elegans roundworm. The studies indicate that cellular changes leading to longevity antagonize tumor cell growth, and suggest that new drugs may some day ensure a long, cancer-free life.

    UCSF Global Health Sciences launched an "action tank" with start-up funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to promote and implement the most promising strategies against global health crises. The new Global Health Group will select high priorities issues that are ripe for significant new approaches and/or the adoption of pioneering new technology, focusing first on malaria eradication.
  • In 2006, UCSF Heart and Vascular Center celebrated the opening of its new Cardiac Catheterization and Electrophysiology Labs, featuring state-of-the-art equipment that is the first of its kind in California. The opening marked the 25th anniversary of the first radiofrequency catheter ablation, a technique pioneered and first performed at UCSF.

    Researchers at the UCSF Children's Hospital concluded that a key reason for the epidemic of pediatric obesity, now the most commonly diagnosed childhood ailment, is that high-calorie, low-fiber Western diets promote hormonal imbalances that encourage children to overeat.
  • In 2005, in one of the largest studies of its kind, UCSF researchers found that eating lots of fruits and vegetables - particularly vegetables - is associated with about a 50 percent reduction in the risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
  • In 2004, scientists in the Department of Neurological Surgery discovered that brain cells called astrocytes have the capacity to function as neural stem cells and could be used to develop strategies for regenerating damaged brain tissue.
  • In 2003, UCSF researchers, working in collaboration with other scientists worldwide, sequenced the genome for the SARS virus, a newly recognized pathogen. The sequencing is a key step in the search for a cure and possible vaccine against the disease.
  • In 2002, clinical trials demonstrated that a new immunosuppressive drug successfully halted the progression of Type 1 diabetes.
  • In 2000, UCSF researchers discovered a pain relief strategy that could provide a long-sought alternative to morphine, without the drug's addictive quality. The finding provided a window into the complex way in which opioids act on the pain-modulating circuitry in the body and how people experience pain.
  • In 1999, UCSF scientists identified the first genetic defect linked to insulin resistance, a precursor to most of the 15 million cases of adult diabetes in the United States. The research marked the first time any gene for the common form of insulin resistance had been completely mapped.

    A UCSF-led team of scientists found that adding a simple molecular chain to a standard medication for lung disease creates a new therapy that shows promise for difficult-to-treat cases resulting from acute lung injury. The medication, an artificial surfactant, has the potential for treating infants and adults with lung problems that do not respond will to current treatment.

    UCSF scientists identified the gene that prompts embryonic stem cells to generate precursors to most internal organs. The finding suggests a potent new way of coaxing stem cells to produce high numbers of specialized cells that can form medically needed tissues such as insulin-producing pancreatic cells.
  • In 1998, UCSF researchers identified two molecules that cause cells to induce asthma -- a finding that paves the way for developing more effective drugs for treatment.
  • In 1997, UCSF researchers made an important advance in the ability to detect the infectious agent that causes slowly progressing brain diseases such as mad cow disease.
  • Also in 1997, UCSF scientists discovered that gene activity can be manipulated to alter lifespan, evidenced by research showing that changes in a singe gene in the roundworm more than doubled the creature’s life span.
  • In 1985, UCSF scientists co-discovered telomerase, a novel enzyme now a central focus of study as a target for treating cancer and age-related and degenerative disorders.
  • In 1983, UCSF scientists co-discovered HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the virus that causes AIDS.
  • In 1981, UCSF scientists conducted the first successful corrective procedure on a baby still in the mother’s womb, pioneering the clinical specialty of fetal diagnosis and in utero treatment.
  • In 1980, UCSF scientists developed an artificial lung coating called surfactant, revolutionizing treatment for premature infants, thereby significantly reducing infant mortality rates.
  • In 1979, UCSF scientists cloned the gene for human growth hormone, setting the stage for genetically engineered human growth hormone.
  • In 1979, UCSF scientists developed a cochlear implant device that enables the deaf to hear.
  • In 1977, UCSF scientists isolated the gene for insulin, leading to the mass production of genetically engineered insulin to treat diabetes.
  • In 1977, UCSF scientists developed liposomes, microscopic sacs that can safely transport drugs within the body.
  • In 1976, UCSF scientists developed an improved magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device for detecting and monitoring disease.
  • In 1976, UCSF scientists developed prenatal tests for sickle-cell anemia and thalassemia.
  • In 1974, UCSF scientists co-discovered recombinant DNA techniques, the fundamental first step in the creation of the biotechnology industry.
  • In 1973, UCSF researchers developed gene-splicing techniques that have revolutionized biology, spawned the biotechnology industry, and led to life-saving treatments

last updated: October 27, 2009