The year 2011 turned out to be a fantastic one for UCSF as measured by myriad institutional and individual accomplishments that indicate its collective strength and stature as one of world's top health sciences universities.
Despite a tough economy and ongoing financial challenges, UCSF started the year off celebrating the much-anticipated openings of a state-of-the-art stem cell research building and a high-tech educational center for teaching and learning — both on the flagship Parnassus campus. These projects, financed through public and private funds, are key investments in realizing UCSF's vision of becoming the world's preeminent health sciences innovator and educating the next generation of health professionals.
In February, the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine opened its doors at the Mount Zion campus, offering the best of modern medicine with established healing practices from around the world and becoming a hub for research, education and patient care in integrative medicine.
And the success story that is UCSF Mission Bay continues as the University marked a milestone in October with a “topping out” ceremony of UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay, an innovative 289-bed complex to feature three separate hospitals, specializing in serving children, women, and cancer patients. The medical center complex is on pace to open in early 2015.
One of the biggest victories in 2011 came when the National Institutes of Health awarded UCSF's Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) a second, five-year award of $112 million to further its work toward encouraging the rapid translation of research to improve patient and community health.
True to form, faculty and leaders at UCSF continue to garner much-deserved recognition and rewards from prestigious institutions and associations in medicine and science. Among these individual achievements: Mark Laret, chief executive officer of UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, was elected as chair of the Association of Americal Medical Colleges Board of Directors; Frank McCormick, PhD, director of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, was elected as president-elect of the American Association for Cancer Research; and John Roberts, MD, chief of transplant surgery, was elected vice president/president-elect of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing Board of Directors.
Read more about other highlights from 2011.