Dear UCSF Community,

I want to share some exciting news about a new initiative we are launching that will bring together UCSF’s significant scientific and clinical expertise to help transform therapies for patients with the most challenging diagnoses.

The UCSF Living Therapeutics Initiative (LTI) will serve as a catalyst for developing innovative new therapies based on living cells. This is akin to selecting or programming living cells to perform specific tasks that will help patients overcome debilitating or deadly diseases and conditions. The initiative aims to advance both the science and the treatments available to our patients and others around the world. I have asked Alan Ashworth, PhD, FRS, president of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, to direct this effort.

UCSF is a world leader in the basic science behind cellular therapies and we have already begun to use them in our clinical practices, including exciting work in treatments for some cancers and sickle cell disease. This initiative will expand upon these and other therapies to treat a wide range of diseases and conditions, such as brain tumors, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, immune disorders ranging from asthma to multiple sclerosis, and diabetes, offering new hope for patients.

Over the past few years, we have raised philanthropic gifts and made institutional investments totaling more than $250 million to support these efforts across the University. And just last month, we...