New Yorker Examines Stem Cell Architecture at UCSF

UCSF stem cell research building
UCSF photo

It has been six years, 10 months and 27 days since the New Yorker visited the California stem cell scene.

But stem cell research in the Golden State is making the magazine again in the Sept. 19 issue, but not for what might be strictly called research. Instead it is for a striking building housing stem cell research at UC San Francisco.

Amy Adams, communications manager at CIRM, pointed out the article in a CIRM blog posting yesterday. She wrote,

 "(A)rchitecture critic Paul Goldberger features UCSF’s Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine as one of three new science buildings in the United States 'crafted with the specific intention of fostering interaction and connections, as a means of generating ideas.'"

UCSF stem cell research building
on right, UCSF hospital on left
UCSF photo

CIRM helped to finance the structure in a $271 million laboratory construction round in 2008 that included most of the stem cell research institutions in the state. The San Francisco building cost $123 million. CIRM pumped in $35 million with matching requirements. Ray and Dagmar Dolby contributed $36 million. Eli and Edythe Broad, contributors also to stem cell research at UCLA and USC, added $25 million. UCSF still has to raise $12 million to pay off the building.

The construction site is much steeper than it appears in
these UCSF photos.

Unfortunately, the article is behind a pay wall on the New Yorker site so we can't provide additional snippets from the article. But we have seen the building in recent weeks. It is indeed impressive and built on a very tight site on a steep hillside that provided a significant challenge to its designers and builders. Not to mention that it needed to meet stiff earthquake standards.

CIRM Scholar Produces Mouse Brain Finding

There it was – in the 4th paragraph of the press release – a CIRM scholar produces a newsworthy finding as the result of "some of the first research funded by the California stem cell agency," according to one reporter.

Rebecca Vesely of the Contra Costa Times highlighted the CIRM connection in her story about the research at UC San Francisco that suggests "stem cells in the brain have a surprising capacity to repair damaged tissue." She said that researchers indicated that "the findings could help in the quest for treatments of brain trauma such as stroke."

Chay Kuo, a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF, led the study. The press release from UC San Francisco said:

"Kuo is one of 16 UCSF CIRM Stem Cell Scholars – up and coming young scientists funded by the California Institute for Regeneration (sic) Medicine, established by California voters in 2004 to allocate $3 billion over 10 years to support stem cell research."

Vesely noted that funding also came from the National Institutes of Health. She also wrote:

"Kuo said he received a $45,000 stipend, plus funds for medical benefits and a $10,000 allowance for research costs.

"'It allows trainees independence,' he said. 'It's given me incredible freedom to do my research.'"

Obviously the research is of considerable interest, but what adds to it is the CIRM-funding connection. One of the abiding concerns at the agency is producing results that fulfill the promise of Prop. 71. This is the first such event the agency can point to, albeit only as a modest funding effort.

Kuo's research, to be published in Cell magazine, also received news coverage internationally, but there was little mention of the CIRM connection. Other California newspapers also do not seem to have picked up on the CIRM relationship. The agency itself has not posted anything on Kuo at the time of this writing.