March 2006

Dear friends and colleagues,

One reason that I am honored to lead UCSD is its worldwide reputation for being at the forefront of discovery in medicine, scholarship, science and engineering.

That’s why I hope every member of the UCSD community – alumni, students, faculty, staff, and other friends of the university – will share my excitement about the new San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine – announced at a press conference on March 17 – which greatly enhances that proud reputation.

This historic partnership, which includes UCSD, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and The Scripps Research Institute, will establish a facility for exploring the potential of human stem cells to treat, and perhaps cure, diseases which devastate individuals and families around the globe.

This alliance of partners on the Torrey Pines Mesa is unique in that the collaboration will be institutional and co-locational – that is, researchers from all four institutions will work side-by-side in shared labs with shared equipment. As an organic chemist, I firmly believe in the adage that “research should be a contact sport,” with colleagues interacting as closely as possible. The consortium is based on that time-tested model.

In addition to the larger, long-term goals of understanding and curing diseases, the precedent-setting public-private partnership will help make good use of Proposition 71 funds (when they are available), stimulate investment in research and education through private grants and philanthropic funds, and create the potential for development and commercialization of new therapies.

As the university’s great friend Irwin Jacobs said at the formal signing of the agreement, “the Consortium for Regenerative Medicine puts UCSD and its partners at the center of the world in stem-cell research.”

The scientific discoveries of the 21st century will arise from collaborations such as this, where disciplines as diverse as engineering, medicine, ethics, computing, biology and neuroscience cooperate to produce powerful and imaginative solutions.

As details of the consortium – its location, staffing, funding and other issues – are decided by the partners, I’ll keep you informed about our progress on this historic and pioneering project each of you has helped us launch.

For more information about the stem-cell work we’re already doing here at UCSD, please visit http://stemcells.ucsd.edu/.

You might also be interested in the UCSD news release about our partnership in the new consortium: http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/stemcell_con.asp

Recognizing Faculty Excellence

I also hope the campus community took note of the Faculty Excellence Awards ceremony on March 21, where Chancellor’s Associates honored five of our outstanding faculty members.

Geoffrey Voelker, professor of computer science and engineering, was recognized for excellence in undergraduate teaching; Shelley Streeby, professor of literature, for excellence in graduate teaching; Harold Pashler, professor of psychology, for excellence in research in arts, humanities and social sciences; Bernhard Palsson, professor of bioengineering, for excellence in research and engineering; and Dr. James Dunford, professor of clinical medicine and surgery, for excellence in community service.

Beyond being our colleagues, teachers, mentors and friends, the faculty are the enduring core of a university. As Marsha Chandler, our senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, said at the ceremony, “Each serves as an excellent representative of the outstanding quality of our faculty.”

For details about the awards and the ceremony, visit http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/awards/excellence.asp

Thank you,

Marye Anne Fox