UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

The UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Centerexternal site (opens in a new window) is a world-class center for patient treatment and for research into the causes, prevention, and treatments for cancer. The SMDC aims to become a Cancer Center core facility in the pending NIH Cancer Center Support Grant. If awarded, Cancer Center members will receive a discounted rate for using SMDC services for cancer research. The grant will also enable more cancer programs to enter hit-to-lead chemistry and will support screening of patient-derived materials for precision medicine initiatives. 

UCSF CoLabs

CoLabs is a new model for research collaborations and core labs for the UCSF community. CoLabs brings together several established and successful but previously separate cores into a new centralized research organization at the Parnassus campus. CoLabs is a campus resource based in the UCSF Office of Researchexternal site (opens in a new window) . CoLabs was established with critical logistical and financial support from the Bakar ImmunoX Initiativeexternal site (opens in a new window)  and the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provostexternal site (opens in a new window) .  CoLabs is comprised of a set of five teams that work together closely with one another and with collaborators at UCSF and beyond to apply cutting edge approaches to biomedical research. We also work closely with several other UCSF research resources, including the Office of Collaborative Researchexternal site (opens in a new window)  and CoLabs Plug-ins and Incubatorsexternal site (opens in a new window) , to leverage our collective expertise.

Chemical Biology Consortium (CBC)

The Chemical Biology Consortiumexternal site (opens in a new window) (CBC) of the National Cancer Instituteexternal site (opens in a new window) is a multi-institute consortium of academic and industrial partners dedicated to advancing novel cancer therapeutics. Arkin Lab and Renslo Lab, in conjunction with the Small Molecule Discovery Center (SMDC), have played a leadership role in the CBC since its inception in 2009. UCSF is a Dedicated Center in the CBC, and has contributed to six different projects, including P97/VCP and Taspase, which are both ongoing. The Consortium is especially supportive of the novel, cutting-edge techniques in the lab such as high-throughput biophysical screening and covalent tethering-based screening. Chemical synthesis is also leveraged to advance hit molecules and formulate tool compounds to further define the basic biology. To apply to have new programs enter the CBC pipeline, visit NExT: How to Apply: Overviewexternal site (opens in a new window) .

Accelerating Therapeutics for Opportunities in Medicine (ATOM)

The Accelerating Therapeutics for Opportunities in Medicine (ATOM) Consortiumexternal site (opens in a new window) is a pre-competitive public-private partnership that aims to dramatically increase the speed and efficiency of drug discovery through the integration of high-performance computing, new approaches to characterize cancer biology, and emerging biotechnology capabilities. ATOM is a collaboration with the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Researchexternal site (opens in a new window) (FNLCR) (on behalf of the National Cancer Instituteexternal site (opens in a new window) ), GSKexternal site (opens in a new window) , Lawrence Livermore National Laboratoryexternal site (opens in a new window) (LLNL) (on behalf of the United States Department of Energyexternal site (opens in a new window) ), and UCSFexternal site (opens in a new window) . SMDC Executive Director, Michelle Arkin, serves on the ATOM Joint Research Committee and seeks the engagement of UCSF faculty in proposing cancer targets, designing state-of-the-art cellular models, and developing computational algorithms.