California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi heard about plans and progress at UCSF on Feb. 16, when he visited the Parnassus Heights campus.
Lt. Gov. Garamendi met with Bruce Spaulding, senior vice chancellor of University Advancement and Planning, who hosted the visit and discussed the University's future plans and legislative priorities.
As lieutenant governor, Garamendi is an ex-officio member of the UC Board of Regents. He is also a graduate of UC Berkeley. His son, John Garamendi Jr., is a vice chancellor at UC Merced, one of ten campuses in the University of California system.
Garamendi was elected lieutenant governor after a hotly contested election last November. During his campaign, Garamendi voiced his support for strengthening public education, investing in stem cell research and providing universal access to affordable health care.
Spaulding noted that UCSF is working to improve access to quality medical care for underserved populations through efforts such as PRIME-US, or the Program in Medical Education for the Urban Underserved. He explained that Proposition 1D, the bond measure approved by California voters last November, will allow UCSF to enroll more students and renovate facilities for PRIME. UCSF will get $35 million of the $200 million that the bond measure will provide to the UC system for medical education aimed at meeting the health care needs of indigent, inner-city communities and inspiring future leaders in the field.
Spaulding also talked about the science and research initiative in the governor's proposed budget that would garner about $5 million for the California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research, or QB3. Founded in 2000 with headquarters at UCSF Mission Bay, QB3 is a cooperative venture among UCSF, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz and private industry to integrate the quantitative sciences -- mathematics, physics, chemistry and engineering -- with biomedical research to improve human health and create dynamic new technologies.
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Senior Vice Chancellor Bruce Spaulding, right, discusses long-term plans for the UCSF Parnassus campus with Lt. Gov. John Garamendi. |
Among other topics discussed with Garamendi:
* UCSF School of Nursing Dean Kathleen
Dracup hailed the successes of the Master's Entry Program in Nursing to boost
enrollment growth and how UCSF is attempting to train more faculty to meet
the national nursing shortage.
* UCSF School of Dentistry Dean Charles
Bertolami addressed potential ways to address the uneven distribution of dentists
throughout the state, suggesting remedies to encourage dentists to establish
practices in underserved areas.
* Bruce Komiske, executive director of
clinical facilities development at UCSF Medical Center, gave an overview of
plans to build a hospital complex for children, women and cancer services
at Mission Bay, a project that presents enormous fundraising challenges.
Supporting Research
Garamendi is recognized for his ongoing support for UC's world-renowned leadership in research to improve human health. When Garamendi served as state Senate chairman of the Joint Science and Technology Committee, he pushed the California research agenda and developed a funding program, which has financed more than $1.25 billion of research facilities on UC campuses with the issuance of revenue bonds. These "Garamendi bonds" finance the construction, renovation and equipping of research facilities at UC campuses, and are secured by revenue from future UC research activities.
As a staunch supporter of investment in stem cell research, Garamendi met with Arnold Kriegstein, director of UCSF's Institute for Regeneration Medicine, one of the largest and most comprehensive stem cell research programs in the United States. Kriegstein discussed UCSF's role in the field and the promise of stem cell therapies to treat or cure disease through tissue support, cell replacement or regeneration.
Kriegstein also shared his excitement about the plans to build a new facility dedicated to stem cell research at the Parnassus campus. UCSF is involved in preliminary planning for the stem cell building, which would accommodate 15 to 20 principal investigators, providing space to decompress and consolidate the 125 laboratories of existing faculty, and make room for new faculty.
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Arnold Kriegstein, left, director of UCSF's Institute for Regeneration Medicine, introduces Lt. Gov. John Garamendi to Susan Fisher, director of the UCSF Human Embryonic Stem Cell Center. |
The Regents last month approved the use of gift funds to develop preliminary plans for the stem cell research building. UCSF intends to apply for capital facilities funding to help pay for construction of the stem cell research building from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The CIRM was established by state voters with the passage of Proposition 71 in November 2004 to distribute $3 billion for stem cell research over 10 years.
By virtue of his office, Garamendi is allowed several appointments to the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee of the CIRM.
Garamendi also toured the laboratory of UCSF Professor Susan Fisher, PhD, director of the UCSF Human Embryonic Stem Cell Center, who leads one of the few groups in the country that is developing new human embryonic stem cell lines. These cells have been grown using techniques that make them less likely to carry animal diseases and, therefore, better potential candidates for transplantation into patients.
During his tour, Garamendi noted the challenges of federal restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research funding. He viewed two labs operating side by side that are doing similar stem cell research, but need to separately track and monitor all resources -- including scientists' time -- to ensure that no federal resources are used in the lab funded by nonfederal sources.
Photos/Christine Jegan
Related Links:
Lt. Gov. John Garamendi website
