News
Fri Jan 31, 2025
A new therapy combines a drug to mark cancer cells for destruction and a radioactive antibody to kill them, while calculating an extremely safe dose of radiation that uses only the amount of radiation needed to beat the cancer.
Fri Dec 18, 2015
James Wells, PhD, whose pioneering innovations in protein engineering and technologies to identify small molecules to aid in drug discovery have yielded more than 60 patents, launched three companies, and created two UCSF technology centers, has been elected as a fellow to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
The NAI is a non-profit...
Wed Dec 16, 2015
How do you discover new drugs against diseases such as cancer?
A commonly used modern method is to screen thousands of chemical compounds against genetically identical laboratory-grown cancer cells (cell lines), then track how those compounds alter the cells’ behavior or appearance (phenotype). For example, does exposure to a compound...
Tue Nov 17, 2015
Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide, the leading cause of vision loss in the United States, and cases are increasing with an aging population. Currently the condition can be treated with surgery—an expensive intervention that leaves most patients blinded in developing countries untreated.
A cataract occurs when the...
Mon Nov 9, 2015
More than a quarter of all drugs work by targeting one of a large family of proteins called G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Hundreds of different GPCRs are embedded in cell membranes, converting stimuli from the outside world—neurotransmitters, hormones, even light—into intracellular signals that can change cell behavior.
There are...
Tue Nov 3, 2015
Strategic planning; Recently received research funding: cancer, Alzheimer's, HIV, type 2 diabetes (Kroetz, Keiser, Gross, Roy); Recent faculty publications: fibrosis, biofilms, gout (DeGrado, Yang, Giacomini); Collaborations and partnerships; Patient care: SB 493, scope of practice for California pharmacists; Education: Precision Medicine Student...
Tue Oct 20, 2015
UCSF School of Pharmacy faculty member Tejal Desai, PhD, has been newly elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly known as the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
NAM membership is considered one of the highest honors in health and medicine. Elected by current members, the membership recognizes individuals who have made major...
Wed Sep 30, 2015
The next frontier in developing therapies for cancer and other diseases could come through studying organ development or tumor growth in living humans. Problem is, there’s no ethical way of doing that using current technology.
Zev Gartner, PhD, has focused on the next best thing: His lab is building fully functioning 3-D human tissue,...
Wed Sep 30, 2015
Pharmaceutical Chemistry faculty members have published the following manuscripts between July and September 2015:
Wed Sep 30, 2015
Pharmaceutical Chemistry department members have received the following grants and fellowships between July and September 2015:
9/30/2015: Steven Altschuler's Convergence Scholar Award entitled, "The genetic, epigenetic, and immunological underpinnings of cancer evolution through treatment" was funded by The V Foundation. This award...