Symbolizing a major triumph for UCSF, the University of California and the scientific community at large, molecular biologist Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD, on October 5 became UCSF's fourth scientist and first woman to receive the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. More

Arthur Inerfield was, in his words, "in a bad way." The kind of bad way that comes when, after 42 years of blissful marriage, one's wife dies from lymphoma. Lost without his Dorothy, Inerfield followed a friend's suggestion and invested his time in the Regional Cancer Foundation, a San Francisco nonprofit that offers no-cost second medical opinions to people diagnosed with cancer. More

Seeking to help keep the University of California accessible and affordable for California students, on Oct. 23, 2009, UC President Mark G. Yudof announced an ambitious fundraising effort that aims to raise $1 billion for student support over the next four years... More

For seven days in August, a team of 13 UCSF staff and supporters bicycled 560 miles through sweltering heat, driving rain and a tornado to raise $80,000 to support AIDS research at UCSF... More

Seymour Zoger, MD, was the kind of doctor every parent wishes for their child. A pediatric oncologist at the UCSF Children's Hospital, he was loved by both his patients and staff... Zoger named UCSF Children's Hospital a 50 percent beneficiary of three UC retirement assets. His generous gift, amounting to almost $100,000, will be used to create the Seymour Zoger Pediatric Care Fund... More

Anyone with a passing knowledge of the "Star Wars" films can tell you that Yoda is one of the greatest Jedi knights – not only for his powers as a Jedi, but for his incredible abilities as a teacher. So it was with great pride that James O. Johnston, MD, professor emeritus in the UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, accepted the moniker Dr. Yoda, granted by his orthopaedic surgery residents. Now, through generous philanthropy, Dr. Yoda is supporting others who wish to teach. More

Working with Michael Lawton, MD, inspired Rebecca Morgan and her husband to make two consecutive $50,000 gifts to his aneurysm research through their Morgan Charitable Foundation. Extremely pleased with the care she received at UCSF, Morgan wanted to aid Lawton in his pursuit of solving the mystery behind these potentially lethal afflictions. More

Stephen Grand had no idea how close to home cancer would strike when he and his wife, Nancy, began supporting cancer–related research at UCSF six years ago. They certainly felt it was a worthy cause, but one that would be beneficial to someone else's husband or wife, mother or father. More

Try to reach Douglas Tilden and you never know from where he'll be answering. He could be working on community centers with Children International in India. He could be sending you a message while doing fieldwork for CARE, an organization fighting poverty. Or he might be in San Francisco, where he's championing music education efforts with SFJAZZ... More

Irwin Jacobs, the founder, retired CEO, and current board member of the telecommunications giant Qualcomm, and his wife, Joan, recently gave $6.5 million to UCSF for head and neck cancer research. It is believed to be the largest private gift ever for research of this disease. More

Master Teacher, Master Clinician
When UCSF Vice Dean and Chair of the Department of Dermatology Bruce Wintroub, MD, approached Epstein about naming an endowed chair after the dermatologist, Epstein's response was as one might expect. "That's very nice," he said. "Why me?" More