Jeremy Reiter Honored with Presidential Early Career Award

President Obama today named 100 beginning researchers as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on young professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Among the young scientists honored is Jeremy F. Reiter, MD, PhD, an assistant professor at UCSF's Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI.) Dr. Reiter's research focuses on studying the mechanisms of intercellular communication, the ability of cells to send and receive information, during development from a single cell into a complex mechanism, and how mistakes in these signals contribute to diseases such as cancer.
White House Press Release

"Stuck" in the ED

This is a repost from the UCSF Synapse Med1 blog documenting the journey of a Fourth-Year UCSF Medical Student. The post is a lively account of the thought process of a health practitioner after accidentally getting stuck with a "dirty needle."

UCSF San Francisco Sites and Shuttles

UCSF is an integral part of the city of San Francisco. Did you know that UCSF is San Francisco's second-largest employer? A look at this Google map shows the many sites where UCSF has a presence. Each location pinpoint includes helpful shuttle and public transportation links in case you want to visit. Explore our campuses

Anatomy Made Easy

WinkingSkull.com has been expanded to feature more than 1,700 images, including illustrations from Atlas of Anatomy as well as clinical material such as MRIs, CT scans and sectional anatomy with explanatory schematics. Users can measure their knowledge using timed tests, then compare their scores against those of other users. The web-based self-study aid gives students the ability to drag and drop labels alongside each illustration and to turn labels on and off. Additional features include a zoom function for intricate details. Part of the site is free, but to gain access to all images, users do need to subscribe.

Bay Area Sound

The HHMI Bulletin recently spotlighted Christian Cunningham, a UCSF grad student in the laboratory of David Agard who spends his nights managing The Bay Bridged, a website and podcasting empire focused on the San Francisco Bay Area independent music scene.

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Claire Brindis Appointed as Director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies

Interim Dean Sam Hawgood has announced the appointment of Claire D. Brindis, Dr PH, as the director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, effective June 2. Dr. Brindis served as acting director of the Institute from 2006 to 2007 and has been interim director since 2007.In her new position, Dr. Brindis will continue the Institute’s legacy of leadership and service established by founding director Dr. Philip R. Lee and prior director Dr. Harold S. Luft. She will encourage and enhance the collaborations between IHPS faculty and other UCSF researchers, educators and clinicians. "By integrating a health policy perspective in our research, education, and service missions, [Dr. Brindis] will expand the impact of our scientific discoveries and improve the evidence upon which our local, state, national and international health policies are based", Hawgood stated in his announcement.
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Stress Relief for Every Body

Gentle Yoga is just one of the rejuvenating and relaxing classes and lectures offered at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine to help people cope with stress, tension, and difficult times. Yoga encourages clarity, strength, and ease of body and mind through the exploration of yoga postures, breath work, meditation, and deep relaxation.

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World No Tobacco Day

In an effort to promote awareness about the health hazards of tobacco, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) will bring together its own resident experts and student body to recognize World No Tobacco Day on May 29th, in HSW-301 from 12-1:00 p.m. for this important event.

Steven A. Schroeder,MD, director of the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center, will talk about “Dispelling Myths About Treating Patients Who Smoke” and Lisa Cisneros, from the UCSF department of Public Affairs, will be introducing a premiere of the new video from Public Affairs titled “Cigarettes Clouding the Economic Rise-UCSF in India”. Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, director of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education will be moderating.
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Don’t “Cell” Yourself Short

How do lifestyle and stress affect health and aging? As part of UCTV's Women’s Health Today series, researchers Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel explore the effects of stress on our cells and how to manage the stressful elements in life.
image © 2003 The Blackburn Lab

Programs airs live May 21, 12noon

Series info / video archive

UCSF Scientists Welcome Sea Change in Stem Cell Development

Stem cell researchers at UCSF are at the forefront of their field, despite the political challenges and federal funding shortfalls faced during the last decade, said Arnold Kriegstein, MD, PhD, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF in a panel presentation on May 7.

Read more at Science Café

Susan Desmond-Hellmann tapped as UCSF Chancellor

UCSF-trained physician Susan Desmond-Hellmann, a distinguished leader in cancer research, biotechnology business executive and Bay Area native, will be the first woman to serve as UCSF chancellor, if approved by the UC Regents next week.

Desmond-Hellmann, 51, brings a deep clinical, research, and executive leadership background and commitment to high-quality patient care to the position of UCSF chancellor. She is a board-certified physician in internal medicine and medical oncology who has dedicated much of her career to cancer research. She has been with South San Francisco-based Genentech for 14 years – as clinical scientist, chief medical officer, executive vice president and president – where she has overseen successful trials for therapeutic drugs, including Herceptin, Avastin and Rituxan, targeting a range of cancers and other diseases.
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Book Readings By UCSF Faculty

Nobel Prize-winner and UCSF Professor Emeritus Harold Varmus will be reading from his new book The Art and Politics of Science at Kepler's in Menlo Park on Monday, May 4, at 7:30 pm. Much of Dr. Varmus' scientific work was conducted during his 23 years as an active faculty member at UCSF. In 1993, Varmus transformed from an academic scientist to a political one when President Clinton asked him to direct the National Institutes of Health. He is currently the president of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

David Kessler, Professor of Pediatrics and former Dean of the School of Medicine as well as former Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will be talking about his new book The End of Overeating at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on May 8 at noon. Drawing on years of extensive research and interviews with medical experts and industry insiders, the book reveals the science and marketing behind overeating and how consumers can fight back.

In other literary news, a short story by UCSF Pediatric Oncology Fellow Chris Adrian was recently featured in the New Yorker. The story takes place at an unamed Children's Hospital near "Buena Vista Park." Adrian has also been awarded a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship

2009 Summer Photo Contest Announcement: "Education"

The theme for this year's School of Medicine Dean's Office Photo Contest is "Education" -- the primary mission of the UCSF School of Medicine. We are looking for new and original images that show the many ways in which "education" takes place on and off the UCSF campus. All current School of Medicine staff, faculty, students, housestaff and postdocs are invited to participate in this contest. Detailed submission information is posted on the School of Medicine website. Deadline for submission is August 15, 2009.
For questions, please contact editorial@medsch.ucsf.edu

An Excellent Balance

The UCSF School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five in the country both for its research and its primary care education programs in a new survey on “America’s Best Graduate Schools” conducted by “U.S. News & World Report.”
The UCSF medical school also ranks among the top 10 in all of its clinical specialty programs that were ranked in the new survey.

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Embryo Debate In IVF Treatment

New research from Finland suggests that when using in vitro fertilization, pregnancies can be achieved by implanting only one embryo. American fertility specialists are implanting more than one embryo. Marcelle Cedars, MD, director of UCSF’s Division of Reproductive Endocrinology, comments on the issue in this NPR news story.

How I Left Medicine for the Arts

On April 29, Ethan Canin, Author and Physician, will be on campus to speak on: "Oxidation of Squalene by Squalene Epoxidase to form 2,3-Oxidosqualene, or, How I Left Medicine for the Arts."

Canin, a former UCSF medicine resident and current faculty member at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, has written several successful novels including Blue River (1995), For Kings and Planets (1999), Carry Me Across the Water (2001), and America America (2008). Details

Photo: Red Diaz

Help Shape the NIH's Women’s Health Research Agenda

The Office of Research on Women’s Health/NIH/DHHS, the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences and the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health are co-hosting the second in a series of four public hearings and scientific workshops to update the Women’s Health Research Agenda at the NIH for the coming decade. The ideas and recommendations emerging from this conference and other regional conferences will help inform future women’s health research priorities at the NIH.

Get involved

Weightless Running

A training device originally created for astronauts has now been approved by the FDA to help patients who are unable to run or walk. The device is being pioneered at UCSF's new high tech Health and Wellness Program at Mission Bay. Watch the video of runners going almost weightless in a bag of air.

Anatomy in Stereo

The amazing Bassett Collection of Stereoscopic Images of Human Anatomy is now online and freely accessible (use of the images is guided by a creative commons license.) David Lee Bassett (1913-1966) taught in the Department of Anatomy at Stanford University. In 1948 Bassett met William B. Gruber, inventor of the Viewmaster system of stereoscopic imagery. Bassett and Gruber collaborated on a seventeen-year project of creating three-dimensional photographic images of human anatomy.
The Spring edition of Stanford Medicine features a profile of Dr. Basset and his work.

The World's Most Powerful Microscope

Lawrence Berkeley National labs just turned on a $27 million electron microscope. Its ability to make images to a resolution of half the width of a hydrogen atom makes it the most powerful microscope in the world.

Watch the video on the KQED Quest website

Also of interest: An earlier show, Super Microscope, featured UCSF Postdoc Ryan Anderson working with the confocal microscopes at the Nikon Imaging Center at UCSF.

A Handle on Histoplasma

Although upwards of 10 million people in the United States may be infected by Histoplasma—a sometimes harmless fungus, but one that can also cause vision loss and lung disease—few researchers study it. Anita Sil knew that basing her research program on that organism, which must be sequestered in biocontainment facilities, would be challenging. But she has already made the pathogen much more amenable to study in the lab. Over the next few years, she aims to learn exactly how Histoplasma infects and multiplies inside macrophages, the scouts of the immune system. Her work could lead to better treatments for serious human diseases caused by an underappreciated pathogen. To support her efforts, she is the recipient of a $1.5 million Early Career Scientist award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Photo: Susan Merrell

Resident Research Symposium

Hosted by the UCSF Department of Surgery and open to all, this event allows current research residents to showcase their work. Three winning presentations will be announced at the event.
Keynote by George K. Gittes, MD; “Pancreatic Islets: Development, Regeneration and Visualization.” Reception to follow.
Friday, April 3, 2009, Mission Bay Conference Center
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‘Oasis of Openness’ at LGBTI Forum

More than 150 students from UCSF and 17 other graduate health schools in California attended a ground-breaking Forum on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Health Issues recently.
Coordinated by the UCSF LGBT Resource Center and the LGBT Student Association (LGBTSA), the forum, the first of its kind in the world, attracted remarkably diverse attendees. Medical and nursing students were most numerous, but more than half the participants were students in other fields, including dentistry, pharmacy, optometry, public health, and social work. In addition, 47 percent of the attendees identified themselves as students of color.

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Avoiding Conflict of Interest in GME

Few topics in health care have received more public scrutiny in the last year than conflict of interest. In the last year alone the public has learned of faculty at leading medical schools failing to disclose large payments from drug companies, authors of practice guidelines not disclosing their industry ties, researchers delaying or not publishing negative results of industry-funded clinical trials, and drug and device companies working with the Department of Justice to avoid prosecution for illegal gifts to physicians. In response, numerous organizations have developed new guidelines, policies, and recommendations. These include the AAMC, the AMA, and the Institute of Medicine. UCSF has been no exception. New policies have been developed by UC Office of the President, UCSF Campus, UCSF School of Medicine, and the GME Committee.

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Save Taxes, Pay for Transportation

In 2002, UCSF became the first UC campus to allow all employees, within limits, to authorize taking money out of their paychecks now, before taxes are deducted, to pay for transportation in the next month.

Find out how you might be able to save money using the pretax transit program

Reel Healing

BayKids is a multimedia organization whose movie program empowers children facing medical challenges to express themselves and find joy through the art of filmmaking. In partnership with UCSF Children's Hospital and other hospitals in the Bay Area, BayKids gives children the tools to explore their creativity while learning valuable teamwork and leadership skills.

The Doctor's Channel

A self-described "YouTube for Doctors", the Doctor’s Channel features a potpourri of short, educational videos made by and for medical professionals on a wide range of subjects. Specific channels include not just the various medical specialties, but also information for current and prospective medical students, alternative medicine, "lifestyle" tips and humor. Some programs even offer CME credit. While the site is still growing and not yet comprehensive, the format is interesting as an alternative to text-based information.

Notes from the 2009 School of Medicine Leadership Retreat

At its annual retreat, the School of Medicine leadership discussed how to ease "life in the trenches" for its nearly 2000 faculty members, despite shrinking budgets and tight resources. Many of the themes and issues raised were, in fact, less about money and more about structure.
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Robert Hendren joins Psychiatry as Vice Chair and Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Dr. Robert L. Hendren has accepted the position of Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Vice Chair in our Department of Psychiatry at UCSF. Dr. Hendren has been a practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist for more than 30 years, a successful clinical and translational researcher. He currently is Professor of Psychiatry and the Tsakopoulos-Vismara Endowed Chair and Executive Director of the M.I.N.D. (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders) Institute, Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UC Davis, and President of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
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Sun Receives Dean’s Postdoctoral Prize for Work with Specialized Immune Cells

UCSF postdoctoral scholar Joseph Sun, PhD, has been awarded the 2009 Dean’s Postdoctoral Prize for his research involving the fast-acting immune cells that help form the body’s first line of defense against tumors and viral infection.
Sun has been working closely with these cells — natural killer (NK) cells — since 2006, when he joined the lab of Lewis Lanier, PhD. During that time, Sun and his colleagues have managed to disprove the traditional belief among scientists that NK cells do not retain any memory of the pathogens they encounter.

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Hunting the Next Killer Virus

In this lively video lecture, UCSF Biochemist Joe DeRisi talks about amazing new ways to diagnose viruses (and treat the illnesses they cause) using DNA. His work may help us understand malaria, SARS, avian flu -- and the 60 percent of everyday viral infections that go undiagnosed.