David Agard, Sarah Nelson
David Agard, PhD, UCSF'S first QB3 scientific director and a major force in conceiving and launching the institute, has announced he is stepping down from the position to return full time to his own research. Sarah Nelson, PhD, director of the UCSF Program in Bioengineering, a UCSF professor of radiology and the Margaret Hart Surbeck Distinguished Professor of Advanced Imaging, has accepted the position as new scientific director of QB3 at UCSF.
Agard, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF, played a key role in efforts that led to the creation of QB3, said Reg Kelly, QB3's executive director.
"Dave is a pioneering scientist, and that pioneering spirit has truly helped direct and focus QB3's trajectory," Kelly said. "His stature and energy were crucial for winning the competition that made UCSF the home campus for a California Institute for Science and Innovation. The attractiveness of Byer's Hall (the new QB3 building at UCSF Mission Bay) as a place to work owes a lot to David's architectural vision and attention to detail. And his scientific reputation has been vital to UCSF's efforts to recruit superb new faculty to QB3. I know he looks forward to collaborating with them and to increased focus on his lab's scientific research."
Agard's research focuses on macromolecular structure, aiming to clarify the basic principles of their structure and function in the cell. A current concern is nuclear receptor signaling. The team has made significant progress in analyzing the structure of centrosomes and chromosomes, and has pioneered new imaging and other methods for determining structures at both the molecular cellular levels.
Sarah Nelson has been involved for many years in joint instructional and research programs in bioengineering between Berkeley and UCSF. Her own research focus is magnetic resonance imaging spectroscopy. She is currently leading a major QB3 collaboration with GE HEAALTHCARE to define precisely the boundaries of tumors, a crucial need in evaluating the efficacy of therapies.
