UCSF Research Development Office (RDO): Grant Templates and Guides: Facilities and Resources

This page contains links to descriptions of many of the facilities and resources available to UCSF investigators.

Resources are arranged alphabetically within each organizational type (Department, Center, Institute, etc.). You can also use the "find" function of your internet browser (Ctrl+F / command+F) to search for the desired resource by document title.

Do you have suggestions for other descriptions to add, or see something that needs to be updated? Please let us know by emailing the Research Development Office (rdoinfo@ucsf.edu).

Getting Started

Looking to overhaul your Facilities and Other Resources document? Specific updated descriptions are shown below.  Start by reviewing these general documents:

Why do I need to pay attention to the Facilities/Resources section on the NIH grant application form?

Reviewers need to be able to assess the availability and capability of the organizational resources to perform the work you propose. Under the NIH scoring system, this section is aligned with the scoring criterion “Environment,” and it contains information relevant to potential for success (the essence of the “Overall Impact” score).

Make certain you customize the information you supply (don’t just drop in boilerplate material without   revising it to be specific to your proposal). Describe the organizational resources (people and equipment, organizational units and buildings) available to perform the specific work you are proposing to do. You may use this space to provide details that do not quite fit into other sections of the application. Guidelines do not limit length of this section as long as the material relates back to facilities and resources.

What information must I provide in the Resources section?

Make certain you answer the following questions:

• What facilities will be used? Include the following subheadings (indicate N/A if not applicable):

  • Laboratory

  • Animal

  • Computer

  • Office

  • Clinical

  • Other, e.g., machine shop, electronic shop.

• Biohazards or Other Potentially Dangerous Substances – If you are using anything classified as Select Agent, describe here any special facilities used for working with these substances.

• How will the scientific environment in which the research is to be done contribute to the probability of success? Describe:

  • Institutional support;

  • Physical resources; and

  • Intellectual rapport

• For Early Stage Investigators describe:

  • Institutional investment in your success, e.g., resources for classes, travel, training;

  • Collegial support, e.g., mentors provided through campus, college, division, departmental, or other process; career enrichment programs; assistance and guidance in the supervision of trainees involved with the project; and availability of organized peer groups; and

  • Logistical support, e.g., administrative management and oversight and best practices training; and

  • Financial support such as protected time for research with salary support.

Hints for Writing Effective, Score-Boosting Facilities and Other Resource Sections

When applicable, remember to:

• Elaborate on any collaborations and trans- or interdisciplinary aspects of the proposal (part of the intellectual rapport).

• Emphasize the unique population of the state of California that UCSF serves, i.e., diverse, underserved, high incidences of a particular disease, etc.

• Discuss how the UCSF campus has a well-connected network of sites with access to resources through its geography or layout. If a resource is on the same campus, or next door, emphasize the accessibility.

• Provide ample proof of institutional support, especially if you are a New Investigator or Early-stage Investigator, e.g., mentoring, lab management advisement, intramural RAP grants, Clinical Translational Science Institute, access to equipment via the Research Resource Program, etc.

• Wherever possible in the text of the Research Strategy section refer reviewers to the Resources section. Also, make certain Facilities and Other Resources text aligns with budget requests of the proposal.

• Use adjectives (when true) in describing the resources, e.g., “modern laboratory,” “for high- performance imaging,” “specially constructed unit,” “multifaceted clinical operations,” or “high- throughput analysis.” Other descriptive words: “fully accredited,” “specialized,” “centralized.”

GENERAL ENVIRONMENT AT UCSF

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), one of the ten campuses of the University of California, is devoted solely to graduate education and research in the health sciences. In both size and number of students, UCSF is the smallest of the UC campuses. Nevertheless, its relative size belies its distinction as one of the leading biomedical research and health science education centers in the world. In addition, UCSF is a major health care delivery center in northern California with a high volume of regional, national, and international patient referrals. In keeping with our overarching mission of advancing health worldwide, UCSF is devoted at every level to serving the public. Over the last century, the original nucleus of affiliated academic schools and divisions (now the Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dentistry) has grown to include a School of Nursing and a Graduate Division. UCSF is 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. UCSF has an annual budget of over $8.7 billion to support its various research, teaching, and patient care activities. We are committed to serving as an anchor institution, leveraging this budget as well as substantial human and intellectual resources to improve the long-term health and social welfare of San Francisco.

Commitment to Research Excellence

UCSF is renowned for its pioneering work in biomedical discovery and translation. Among faculty members are six Nobel laureates and 11 Lasker Foundation awardees, including recipients of the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award and Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award. Among UCSF faculty are also 74 American Academy of Arts and Sciences members, 108 National Academy of Medicine members, 58 National Academy of Science members, 68 American Association for the Advancement of Science members, and 17 Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators or Faculty Scholars. By revealing the fundamental mechanisms of biology, UCSF researchers unlock the secrets of health and disease, forging new paths of investigation and developing innovative technologies to better prevent, treat and cure even the most intractable illnesses. We are deeply committed to a culture of data sharing, the exchange of creative ideas and the development of cross-sector, innovative collaborations. This mix of diverse expertise, technology development, collaboration and entrepreneurial spirit, is leading the way in scientific breakthroughs, discovery and translation to therapies, and is transforming prevention and patient-centered care. UCSF is rapidly emerging as the nexus of a new Bio-Silicon Valley and leader in Precision Medicine. This is where the best and brightest innovators in science, medicine and tech are coming together to redefine possible and improve health worldwide.

The majority of extramural funds received is allocated for biomedical research. Research funding primarily is obtained on a competitive basis from the federal government, particularly NIH. In 2022, UCSF received over 1,500 grants and contracts totaling more than $823 million from NIH – an increase over the 2021 total and a new record for NIH funding to a public university.  In 2018, UCSF was the first public university to surpass the $600 million mark, a feat that has now been repeated for the last four years. In 2022, UCSF’s Schools of Dentistry, Medicine and Pharmacy were first among their national peers, and the School of Nursing was first among public nursing schools and fourth overall in NIH funding. The School of Pharmacy received $30M, School of Medicine received $751M, School of Dentistry received $24M, and the School of Nursing received $13M in NIH funding. There are 40 academic departments and over 70 NIH-funded multidisciplinary research center grants including 10 Research Program Projects (P01), 19 Center Core Grants (P30), 4 Specialized Center Grants (P50), and 23 Program (U19)/Center (U54)/Complex Structure Program (UM1) Cooperative Agreements. 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.

Commitment to Outstanding Patient Care

The UCSF Health is a medical center network of more than a half-dozen campuses across the San Francisco Bay Area, and includes approximately 18,000 staff and physicians, maintains 1,290 beds, admits 41,000 patients and has over 2.5 million outpatient visits yearly, and has annual revenue of more than $7 billion. The three main campuses are the UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights, the UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion and the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay. UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay is an innovative 289-bed complex featuring three separate hospitals, specializing in serving children, women, and cancer patients, as well as a green energy center and a helipad. UCSF faculty have also treated patients and trained students at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital since the school's founding.

In 2023, UCSF Medical Center ranked No. 12 on the US News and World Report’s Best Hospitals Honor Roll. To help patients decide where to receive care, U.S. News generates hospital rankings by evaluating data on nearly 5,000 hospitals in 16 adult medical specialties, 9 adult medical procedures or conditions and 10 pediatric specialties. To be nationally ranked in a specialty, a hospital must excel in caring for the sickest, most medically complex patients. The ratings in procedures and conditions, by contrast, focus on typical Medicare patients. Hospitals that do well in multiple areas of adult care may be ranked in their state and metropolitan area. UCSF Medical Center is ranked nationally in 15 adult specialties and 10 children's specialties. It also achieved the highest rating possible in 8 procedures or conditions. It is nationally ranked in 14 adult and 10 pediatric specialties and rated high performing in 17 adult procedures and conditions. Regionally, UCSF Health-UCSF Medical Center is ranked No. 4 in California. Similarly, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals (San Francisco and Oakland) in 2023 ranked nationally in 10 children’s specialties, and No. 3 in California in the News & World Report annual survey of Best Children’s Hospitals, reflecting the quality of care offered to patients throughout Northern California and beyond.

Commitment to Outstanding Education and Training

The Graduate Division functions as the administrative and quality control unit for more than ~1,166 postdocs and ~3,215 students enrolled in ~30 PhD and master’s programs, in disciplines ranging from bioengineering to chemical biology, from biopharmaceutical sciences and pharmacogenomics to nursing, and from global health to sociology (Fall 2020). Alongside these postdocs and students, UCSF trains another ~1,713 clinical residents or fellows, all together representing 94 countries. UCSF’s professional schools (Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy; U.S. News does not rank dental schools) are ranked in the top 11 research institutes (measured by academic quality, publication citations of faculty, and amount of extramural support for research and education). In the 2021 medical school rankings, UCSF School of Medicine was also the only medical school ranked in the top five in all eight specialty areas covered by the U.S. News survey.

In 2022 the Graduate Division received more than $29M in training grants, the largest amount given to a public institution. These funds support 19 science and social science doctoral programs, 11 science and health master’s programs, two professional doctorates, and over 1,000 post-doctoral scholars. Graduate programs are organized around several interdisciplinary research areas that often contain members from several departments. UCSF also offers a CTSI-supported Advanced Training in Clinical Research Certificate program and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research. UCSF has taken national leadership in the establishment of quality standards for the selection, appointment, compensation, and education of postdoctoral scholars. UCSF is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse population. Of the 21,070 UCSF staff, 66% are minorities and 69% are women. Of the 3.862 faculty, 15% are minorities and 50% are women. Of the 6,287 students, postdocs, residents and trainees, 23% are minorities and 58% are women. UCSF is 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.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach

The UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach (ODO) serves as the campus leader in building diversity in all aspects of the UCSF mission through ongoing assessment, development of new programs and building consensus. ODO collaborates with the four professional schools, the Graduate Division, and the medical centers, to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion across UCSF.

The mission of the Office is to build a broadly diverse faculty, student, trainee and staff community, to nurture a culture that is welcoming and supportive, and to engage diverse ideas for the provision of culturally competent education, discovery and patient care. ODO’s priority is to develop and execute a comprehensive strategic plan for diversity and outreach that supports UCSF’s mission of advancing health worldwide, and the recruitment and retention of talented employees and students who contribute to our commitment to diversity and excellence. Specifically, the Office:

•     Leads outreach efforts to increase the number of underrepresented students at all levels of the educational pipeline, to increase the diversity of the pool for faculty, staff and leadership positions, and to engage the community;

•     Educates others on many issues impacting LGBT populations, communities of color, women and people with disabilities and implement strategies to mitigate negative impact;

•     Facilitates the implementation of equitable and inclusive admission and hiring practices and provide a welcoming climate for all through various programs and initiatives; and

•     Maintains AA/EEO, ADA and Title IX compliance to ensure that all members of our campus are heard and protected.

•     Maintains the Diversity Hub—a database that houses UCSF's ongoing diversity & outreach related initiatives, allowing the community to explore different ways to support and engage in diversity efforts.

•     Operates the Unconscious Bias Education and Training Program that continues to provide a key foundation for improving our awareness of self as it relates to race, gender and other personal identifiers, understanding unintentional consequences in hiring, assessments and promotions processes, and calling us into action to eliminate microaggressions and bias.

School of Medicine Differences Matter Initiative

As the School with the largest number of faculty and trainees, UCSF’s School of Medicine is leading the way in transforming our culture for equity and inclusion so that all may thrive. Differences Matter is a multi-year, multi-faceted School of Medicine initiative designed to make UCSF the most diverse, equitable and inclusive academic medical system in the country. Differences Matter has six focus areas, each led by faculty and staff leaders: Leadership, Climate and Recruitment, Education, Clinical Care, Research, and Pipeline, Outreach and Pathways.

 

RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE

Over the past decade, UCSF’s capacity for clinical and translational 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, which is continuing with the 265,000 sq. ft. Global Health & Clinical Sciences Building, which houses the CTSI, and the 878,000 sq. ft. children’s, women’s specialty, and cancer hospital complex. Currently, UCSF has over 1.4 million assignable square feet (ASF) of research space: ~61,500 ASF in the School of Dentistry, ~1.3 million ASF in the School of Medicine, ~26,000 ASF in the School of Nursing, and ~110,000 ASF in the School of Pharmacy. This total space supports approximately 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 frequent UCSF shuttle bus service (running every 20 minutes) allows for efficient staff, reagent, and mail travel between all main campus facilities.

UCSF Parnassus campus

The Parnassus Heights campus comprises 71 buildings over a total area of 107 acres and accommodates a daily population of approximately 17,400 people. The UCSF Parnassus campus has been undergoing significant construction to modernize research spaces and significantly alter the clinical space.

Clinical Sciences Building (CSB) Parnassus

The Clinical Sciences Building (CSB) is open after a nearly four-year, $151 million renovation. The CSB was built in 1933 and originally housed dental clinics, labs, offices, and some education spaces. Like many old buildings, it needed a seismic retrofit, and the result was a massive project that gutted the interior while keeping the historic exterior. UCSF worked with San Francisco firms specializing in historic renovation and other city projects. The CSB features 109,000 square feet of mostly office space for our four schools – Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy – as well as some EVCP units. The lower floor, which is technically a basement with street-level access to Parnassus Avenue, hosts a multipurpose space - the Pavilion - which can hold 266 people. It can be used for meetings, classes, or even sit-down dining (holding fewer people). Floors two through seven have private offices on the interior surrounded by open floor workstations to take advantage of the windows. Because the building is long and narrow, natural light floods every floor. Each of the upper floors has a “town center” common area, including kitchen space, where people can congregate.

CoLabs

In the process of renovation, UCSF has established a central research lab facility, referred to as “CoLabs.” It houses critical personnel matched with cutting edge methods and technologies to enable innovative life science research and promote collaboration in research across a wide range of disciplines. CoLabs is a common space that brings together core functions, staffed by related researchers from various departments to look at diseases in a complementary and collaborative way.

UCSF Mission Bay campus

The Sandler Neurosciences Center

The five-story, 237,000-square-foot building brings under one roof several of the world’s leading clinical and basic research programs focused on finding new diagnostics, treatments and cures for such intractable neurological disorders as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease multiple sclerosis, stroke, migraine, epilepsy and autism. Occupancy began in January of 2012.

Genentech Hall

A five-story, 385,000-square-foot building, it houses programs in structural and chemical biology as well as molecular, cellular and developmental biology. It also houses the Nikon Imaging Center and the Center for Advanced Technology. The first wave of faculty moved into the building in January 2003.

Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Hall

This 170,000-square-foot building houses programs in human genetics, developmental biology, developmental neuroscience, and the Center for Brain Development. Occupancy of the five-story research facility began in February 2004.

Byers Hall

The building has 154,000 square feet; occupancy began in February 2005. This is the headquarters for the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), a cooperative effort among three UC campuses – Berkeley, San Francisco and Santa Cruz – and private industry that harnesses the quantitative sciences, such as physics and computer science, to advance our understanding of biology. The Institute has a three-fold mission of supporting the quantitative biosciences, translating basic research into products to benefit society and developing the California bio-economy. QB3 is one of four California Institutes for Science and Innovation created in 2000 to nurture the state’s leadership in the most promising scientific industries.

UCSF announced the establishment of the Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI), originally part of QB3 in March of 2016 as a new ORU (Organized Research Unit) within the School of Pharmacy. The mission of QBI is to drive forward the application of computation, mathematics, and statistics toward a deeper understanding of complex problems in biology, with the ultimate goal of developing new treatments for disease in a disease agnostic environment. Notably, the QBI is now home to the QBI Coronavirus Research Group (QCRG), an collaborative research team focused since the early days of the pandemic on exploring new frontiers for therapeutics and how the coronavirus impacts our immune response and mutates once an infection happens.

Smith Cardiovascular Research Building

Headquarters of the UCSF Cardiovascular Research Institute established in 1958, CVRB is home to nearly 500 research scientists and clinicians who focus on achieving new understanding and treatment for cardiovascular disease. The building’s first floor houses the UCSF Cardiovascular Care and Prevention Center. The 236,000-square-foot building was first occupied in the fall of 2010. The building was approved for LEED Gold standards by the U.S. Green Building Council in September 2012, making it the first UCSF laboratory building at Mission Bay to achieve this status.

Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building

This five-story, 162,000-square-foot building is home to scientists investigating cancer’s basic biological mechanisms, including brain tumors, urologic oncology, pediatric oncology, cancer population sciences, and computational biology. The building was occupied in May 2009.

UCSF Bakar Precision Cancer Medicine Building

The UCSF Bakar Precision Cancer Medicine Building sets a new standard for cancer care and research in the Bay Area. By bringing together researchers, clinicians and supportive care in one building, we are revolutionizing cancer care and providing patients with the latest, most personalized treatments—including immunotherapy, molecular profiling of tumors, and genetic counseling—more rapidly than ever before. Coupled with supportive programs such as dietary consultations, symptom management, and complementary medicine, UCSF delivers an ideal model of care for individuals with cancer. The building is expected to support ~700 patients per day seen in its 170,000 sq ft of space over 6 floors with 120 exam rooms, 20 consult rooms, as well as several dozen infusion bays and imaging facilities.

UCSF Global Health and Clinical Sciences Building (Mission Hall)

The Clinical and Translational Science Institute main programmatic and training activities take place at Mission Hall, completed in September 2014. Mission Hall provides a flexible arrangement for staff and faculty and removes traditional hierarchies. Every individual has an assigned workstation and unscheduled access to all additional spaces used in day-to-day work. This might involve moving to enclosed space for concentrated and focused work or moving to more informal shared spaces which enhanced interaction and collaboration.

• Approximately 1500 people in 1453 assigned open workstations (includes space for future growth)
• 52 hotel work stations (drop-in)
• 376 focus rooms for 1-2 people (non-scheduled); 1 focus room for 4 workstations
• 76 huddle rooms for 3-4 people (non-scheduled); 1 huddle room for 20 workstations
• Variety of small, medium and large conference rooms
• Variety of storage rooms per floor (200 ASF, 250 ASF, 80 ASF)
• Secure personal storage at each work station (9 Linear Feet)

The following major departments or units of UCSF are housed in Mission Hall on Floors 2-7 including: Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Global Health Sciences, Pacific Aids Education & Training Center (PAETC), Prevention Science, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Finance, Clinical and Translational Institute (CTSI), Research Management Services Women's Health Clinical Research Center (WHCRC) Mission Hall also houses a learning center on the first floor, including 11 classrooms with seating for 15-100 persons. The classrooms include state of the art technology: video/audio conferencing; lecture capture (recording); SMART podiums with built in computer and multiple displays; touch panel controls to name a few features. 

Wayne and Gladys Valley Center for Vision (WGVCV)

In November 2020, the Wayne and Gladys Valley Center for Vision opened its doors at UCSF's Mission Bay campus to house UCSF's renowned eye care services, including the Koret Vision Clinics, where many of UCSF's eye care programs relocated, as well as research and teaching facilities. By bringing together scientists and doctors from many disciplines related to vision and eye health, our new center will foster the collaboration needed to make breakthroughs in the fight against vision loss and blindness. With more than 40,000 square feet of clinic space, including a surgical suite for complex and minimally invasive procedures; LASIK and cosmetic eye surgery centers; suites for imaging and other diagnostic tests, as well nearly double the current number of exam rooms, the new building allows UCSF to serve many more patients. The team expects 160,000 patient visits each year at the Koret Vision Clinics.

Patient care services at the Koret Vision Clinics include: General ophthalmology, including cataract care; Optometry primary care, including prescriptions for glasses and contact lenses; Glaucoma care; Cornea disease care; LASIK and other types of refractive laser eye surgery; Strabismus care; Vitreoretinal disease care; Neuro-ophthalmology; Oculoplastic surgery; Ocular oncology (eye cancer care); and Optical shop services. The Koret Vision Clinics are next to the Proctor Foundation Clinics, which specialize in infectious eye diseases and inflammatory eye disorders such as uveitis. Having these clinics under one roof translates to more convenient care for patients with related eye disorders.

Joan and Sanford I. Weill Neurosciences Building

The Joan and Sanford I. Weill Neurosciences Building opened in 2021 to bring together the neurosciences community with bench laboratory research programs in psychiatry, neurology, neurosurgery and basic neuroscience, as well as desktop research, clinical research and clinical care space. The new building was designed to connect and integrate historically separated disciplines. Among the priorities is folding psychiatry research in the new Oberndorf Research Labs into the neuroscience program to accelerate understanding of the brain and develop novel treatments for psychiatric disorders, such as autism, depression and schizophrenia, alongside advances in neurology. The six-story building is the new hub for the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and the UCSF headquarters for the Weill Neurohub, a research collaboration with UC Berkeley and the University of Washington that was launched in 2019 to support groundbreaking, cross-campus research. Combined with UCSF’s existing centers, including the Sandler Neurosciences Center, Genentech Hall, Arthur and Toni Rembi Rock Hall, and the new Pritzker Psychiatry Building, this new 282,500 square-foot building will help the neuroscience complex at UCSF Mission Bay to be one of the largest in the world.

Nancy Friend Pritzker Psychiatry Building

With the summer 2022 opening of the UCSF Nancy Friend Pritzker Psychiatry Building, UCSF demonstrated its commitment to breaking down the barrier separating mental and physical health care. In both medical care and research facilities, psychiatry has historically been set apart from other specialties related to brain health, such as neurology. And although mental health conditions are common, the stigma associated with seeking care for them persists, along with less funding for research and lagging investment in outpatient facilities compared with other specialties.

The Pritzker Building broke new ground in several ways. Modern, airy and bright, it's one of the first facilities in the nation to embed mental health services in a general health care system. The building houses mental health services for patients of all ages alongside pediatric primary care; renowned training programs in psychiatry and psychology; and state-of-the-art research space, where experts from many disciplines collaborate.

The building's features include:

•       A sleep clinic with space for overnight sleep studies

•       A dedicated kitchen and treatment space for patients with eating disorders

•       A five-story atrium at the heart of the building, providing abundant natural light and making it easier for patients to find their way

•       A rooftop garden

•       Valet parking

•       A café

•       A separate entrance and separate care areas for pediatric patients

Pride Hall at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital

In September 2023, UCSF and the City and County of San Francisco celebrated the opening of UCSF Pride Hall at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG), heralding a new era in the long-standing partnership between the University and the City. The research and academic building provides state-of-the-art facilities for world-renowned research programs at the campus, with focus that includes understanding causes of disease and injury, developing new therapeutics and treatment models, and exploring social determinants of health. These programs yield cutting-edge innovations and improved clinical practices that benefit patients globally, nationally, and directly in the diverse and often underserved populations of San Francisco

Pride Hall is 175,000 square feet and five stories tall, with a design that maximizes functional use and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration. It houses workspace for more than 800 UCSF faculty and staff from approximately 30 departments and divisions, including wet laboratories, dry research and administrative spaces, conference and huddle rooms, hotel offices, and a conference center. Pride Hall includes customized facilities for specialized research and educational activities including research cores, a mass spectrometry center, a surgical training facility, a clinical simulation center, and a Community and Clinical Research Center for low-touch interactions with adult and family research participants.

Campus-Wide Resources

Building Descriptions

UCSF PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS

UCSF SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Established in 1864, the School of Medicine (SOM) is the oldest continuously operating medical school in the western states. Consistently ranked as one of the top five medical schools in the country, it operates facilities at eight major sites in the San Francisco Bay Area and Fresno. Led by Talmadge E. King, Jr., MD, Dean of the SOM and Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs, SOM was ranked number one in NIH funding, receiving over $751M in total awards in 2022. With 28 departments, eight organized research units and six interdisciplinary centers, medical school faculty and staff reach beyond the neighborhood to bring cutting-edge scientific research and complex clinical care to the nation and the world. Consistently ranked among the nation's top medical schools in NIH dollars awarded, the UCSF School of Medicine earns its greatest distinction from its outstanding faculty – among them are seven Nobel laureates, 12 Lasker awardees, six Shaw Prize holders, three Breakthrough Prize in Life Science awardees, 118 National Academy of Medicine members, 64 American Academy of Arts and Sciences members, 51 National Academy of Sciences members, 14 Royal Society members, 68 elected Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and 17 Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators. UCSF is the only medical school listed in the top 5 in the following categories by US News & World Report: research training; quality of primary care training; anesthesiology; internal medicine; obstetrics & gynecology; radiology; pediatrics; psychiatry; and surgery.

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

The Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics (DEB), which is located on the second floor of the Global Health & Clinical Sciences Building (Mission Hall) on the Mission Bay Campus of UCSF. The DEB space at Mission Hall features a total of 23,355 ASF on the 2nd floor, including open work stations, conference rooms (12 rooms), focus rooms (44 rooms) for 1 or 2 people for quiet focused work, huddle rooms (9 rooms) for small group activities, and break-out space for quick meetings or social interactions. The space also includes two shared printing/copy areas and a small shared file and storage area.

The DEB’s 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. The DEB carries out research on a broad range of applications of epidemiology and biostatistics, as well as study design and biostatistical methods. The DEB has six Divisions that oversee teaching and other academic activities, and include the Division of 1) Biostatistics; 2) Bioinformatics; 3) Chronic Disease Epidemiology; 4) Clinical Epidemiology; 5) Cancer and Genetic Epidemiology; 6) Infectious Disease Epidemiology. The DEB also has programs that serve as support groups for specified academic pursuits, including the San Francisco Coordinating Center and the Data System Services group. DEB faculty members include 51 primary faculty in the six Divisions engaged in a broad variety of clinical research activities. Multidisciplinary connections are enhanced by close to 100 affiliated faculty members whose primary appointments are in other departments of the Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing and Dentistry.

Department of Medicine

The Department of Medicine is the largest single department of the UCSF School of Medicine, with approximately 29 percent of the school's full-time faculty. For the past 30 years, it has consistently ranked among the top four departments of medicine in the country. The Department of Medicine has been the number one recipient of research dollars from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) among all departments of internal medicine in the nation for 12 years (in 2011, we were ranked second). Including all sources, in 2021, we received more than 1,100 grants, fellowships and contracts totaling more than $234 million. The department's continued success in this highly competitive arena attests to the quality and impact of the research performed by its basic and clinical scientists.

UCSF SCHOOL OF PHARMACY

Founded in 1872, the School of Pharmacy was the first college of pharmacy established in the west and the tenth in the US. It continues to be 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 (with over $40M in 2022). The UCSF School of Pharmacy is led by Kathy Giacomini, BS Pharm, PhD, and houses three departments (Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, Clinical Pharmacy, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry) that collectively work to improve the health of people everywhere through leading therapeutics-related research, education, and patient care, and public and professional service. The School of Pharmacy was the first to train pharmacists as clinical health care providers who specialize in a patient's comprehensive drug therapy and management. The School of Pharmacy administers the California Poison Control System and responds to approximately 600,000 poisoning inquiries each year, saving $30 million annually in medical treatment costs.

UCSF SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY

Founded in 1881, the UCSF School of Dentistry is one of the preeminent oral and craniofacial research enterprises in the world. It has ranked as a top US dental school in research funding from the National Institutes of Health for over 25 years; it received $24M in NIH-funding in 2022. It is also the home to several leading translational research programs exemplified by the multidisciplinary research centers in Sjögren’s syndrome, oral health disparities (Center to Address Children's Oral Health Disparities or CAN DO), and oral HIV/AIDS (OHARA), and is the administrative home of the UCSF Healthforce Center for Research and Leadership Development. The school is led by Dr. Michael Reddy, DMD, DMSc, and is comprised of four academic departments -- Orofacial Sciences, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Preventive and Restorative Dentistry, and Cell and Tissue Biology -- and employs approximately 593 faculty members, including three members of the Institute of Medicine and one member of the National Academy of Sciences.

The school has strong cross-campus research activities in stem cell research, craniofacial biology, oral/head and neck cancer, tobacco regulatory science, health disparities, and dental quality improvement, and conducts basic sciences research in several important areas, including biomaterials/bioengineering, cell and tissue biology, and hard tissue biology. The school is a pioneer in AIDS research, with more than 25 years as the repository of the San Francisco AIDS Specimen Bank. New cross-campus research activities that have the SOD as primary home include the Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Group, which seeks to discover new mechanisms of pathogenesis and develop novel therapeutic approaches that can be translated to the clinic, and the UCSF Correlative Microscopy Facility, which integrates traditional high resolution light with electron and X-ray microscopy techniques to visualize biological systems from atoms to tissues to organs – linking structure to function.

UCSF SCHOOL OF NURSING

Founded in 1939 as the first autonomous school of nursing in any state university, the USCF School of Nursing (SON) was the first university west of the Mississippi to offer a doctoral degree in nursing. The school ranks first in NIH funding, with $13.2 million in 2021, with another $40 million in grants and contracts coming from regional and state agencies and foundations.  The administrative structure of the SON includes Associate Deans for Research, Diversity, Inclusion and Outreach, Education Programs, Clinical Affairs, Academic Affairs and Administration and Finance, all of whom report to the Dean. A Center for Symptom Management promotes cross-departmental and multidisciplinary research focusing on interventions to prevent and alleviate symptoms. Several other centers of research excellence investigate significant problems in acute and chronic care and policy. The SON has 72 faculty researchers who produced 518 peer-reviewed publications in fiscal year 2021-2022. The SON earns its greatest distinction from its outstanding faculty: eight endowed chairs, 50 Faculty inducted as Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing, nine faculty are named Living legends by the American Academy of Nursing, and eight are members of the Institute of Medicine. The latter achievement is unequaled by any other nursing school. In 2021, the school partnered with the UCSF Health Center for Nursing Excellence and Innovation to open the new Leadership Institute to provide outcome-driven leadership development.  In 2022, the School of Nursing launched the Center for Global Nursing in partnership with the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences (IGHS) and UCSF Health to provide a place for nurses involved in global health efforts.

SON Office of Research. The Office of Research offers an array of research resources, including: (1) reviews of Specific Aims pages;  (2) mock reviews of grants prior to submission; (3) access to a grant writing coach for early-stage faculty; (4) a Collaborative Learning Environment (CLE) intranet with resources and templates to assist with proposal submission and post-award implementation and management of research projects; (5) a grant writing library of successful research and training grants; (6) a research office website highlighting research themes and information; (7) research design and methods workshops for faculty development; (8) regular reports of the research status of the SON; and (9) research space and research core facilities.

Institute for Health & Aging. The Institute for Health and Aging (IHA) was established as the Aging Health Policy Center by the School of Nursing in 1979 to foster multidisciplinary collaborative research, education, and public service in the fields of health policy and aging. In 1985, the Institute became an Organized Research Unit of the University of California and was re-designated as the IHA. Funding of IHA programs is provided by the University and State of California, the federal government, private foundations, corporations, and individuals. Since being established in 1985, IHA has been successful in obtaining $326 million in extramural funding. Faculty at the Institute represent multiple disciplines and health professions, including sociology, psychology, anthropology, political science, economics, public administration, public health, social work, nursing, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and law.  There are 26 Institute faculty members and more than 60 research and administrative staff.  Institute research includes aging and chronic illness, health promotions, health economics, bioethics, Medicare and Medicaid, health care financing, social security and elder economic security, long term services and supports, home and community-based caregiving services, health of diverse populations, and women’s health.  In each of these areas, Institute faculty examine a range of basic and applied issues.  IHA is home to two centers of research excellence. The Dorothy Pechman Rice Center for Health Economics was established in May 2000 to provide training and mentoring to health economics professionals, conduct research, and disseminate health economics information to professional and lay audiences. The Community Living Policy Center is aimed at identifying methods of improving the long-term services and support system in the states, improving data collection on community living policy, and developing a strategic plan for community living research. 

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