The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is one of the world's leading centers of health sciences research, patient care, and education. Founded in 1873, the mission of UCSF is to serve as a "public university dedicated to saving lives and improving health." Though one of the ten campuses of the University of California, it is unique for being the only University of California campus dedicated solely to graduate education, and this in health and biomedical sciences. UCSF has developed a reputation for unique interdisciplinary collaboration between the health science disciplines which has led to some of the most important discoveries in the biosciences. The graduate-focused environment of UCSF, its relatively small size, and its culture of collaboration allows for a flexibility to translate new discoveries into new treatments hard to find even at many of the world's other top medical centers.
How VR is revolutionizing the way future doctors are learning about our bodies
Wearing virtual reality goggles, Jordan Holler was hard at work taking apart muscles inside of a body.
Sep 19, 2017
in
Protein derived from oats is tethered to 'cell-suicide' enzyme in new technique
The ability to selectively eradicate specific types of cells from multicellular organisms allows scientists to decipher those cells' functions, but the tools available to do so—whether surgical, chemical, or genetic—are ...
Common use of antibiotics in cells grown for research could distort tests
When growing cells in the lab, researchers routinely add antibiotics to prevent contamination. But a new study by UC San Francisco researchers raises a red flag against this standard practice, finding that it can induce unintentional ...
Researchers studying how to sustain well-being during prolonged space flights
As humans prepare to venture deeper into outer space, including potential trips to Mars, researchers are hard at work trying to understand and mitigate the effects of low gravity and radiation on space travelers' bodies.
Big-data analysis points toward new drug discovery method
A research team led by scientists at UC San Francisco has developed a computational method to systematically probe massive amounts of open-access data to discover new ways to use drugs, including some that have already been ...
Molecular springs produce a fly's sense of touch and hearing
As senses go, there's nothing so immediate and concrete as our sense of touch. So it may come as a surprise that, on the molecular level, our sense of touch is still poorly understood.
From strands to droplets—new insights into DNA control
A host of proteins and other molecules sit on the strands of our DNA, controlling which genes are read out and used by cells and which remain silent. This aggregation of genetic material and controlling molecules, called ...
Rare cells are 'window into the gut' for the nervous system
Specialized cells in the gut sense potentially noxious chemicals and trigger electrical impulses in nearby nerve fibers, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco scientists. "These cells are sensors, like a window ...
New tool illuminates cell signaling pathways key to disease
In a major advance for fundamental biological research, UC San Francisco scientists have developed a tool capable of illuminating previously inscrutable cellular signaling networks that play a wide variety of roles in human ...
How computers are searching for drugs of the future
Drug discovery may bring to mind images of white lab coats and pipettes, but when Henry Lin, PhD, recently set out to find a better opioid with fewer side effects, his first step was to fire up the computers.
