About Us

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

Welcome to the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3). Our consortium of three University of California campuses—UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, and UCSF—serves both science and society. We foster collaborations among scientific faculty that enhance innovation and discovery. We catalyze the conversion of discoveries into products and services that address society’s critical needs.

We emphasize quantitative approaches to the biosciences because we want to develop the tools to predict biological processes, not just describe them. Our goal is to predict exactly how a protein’s function will change if we change its composition; how an organism will behave if we modify a gene; how patients will respond to a new therapy. We want to emulate engineers who build models to determine if a circuit will work or how well an airplane will fly.

When we can understand the design principles of biology, we will be able to develop cells and microorganisms that provide unique resources such as drugs or biofuels.

Benefiting science

Our Knowledge Brokers program connects QB3 researchers who have complementary interests. For example, we brought together bioinformaticists from UC Santa Cruz and cancer surgeons and oncologists from UCSF to conduct research that will lead to optimal treatment for patients diagnosed with breast cancer.

Our scientists also connect through shared facilities, such as the Small Molecule Discovery Center, and multi-campus research programs, such as the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center. When scientists collaborate, they can extract greater value from their individual research programs at little additional cost.

Benefiting society

The QB3 Innovation Toolkit is a prime resource that we use to transform our scientific discoveries into products useful to society. The Toolkit is a suite of tools designed to promote the formation of new companies and create collaborations between QB3 scientists and the private sector. The Toolkit has three elements: find, nurture, and start. We find promising discoveries using our Knowledge Brokers and by funding competitions; we nurture projects through the proof-of-concept stage by providing financial support and mentorship; and we start new companies by assembling management teams, providing research space and identifying potential funding sources.

We created the QB3 Garage, the first start-up incubator within the University of California system. Since its inception, three of its first six companies closed venture capital funding of more than $5 million, and one was acquired at an early stage for a reported $25 million.

As an outcome of our Innovation Toolkit, QB3 has formed many novel partnerships. QB3’s alliances with General Electric and Nikon have brought imaging equipment of unprecedented sensitivity and power to the Institute’s shared research facilities. QB3 promoted University research agreements with BP, Genentech, and Amgen, and was directly responsible for a three-year, $9.5 million basic research collaboration with the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. This alliance epitomizes one of our core goals: complementing the scientific talent of our researchers by linking them with their counterparts in the private sector so that, together, we can bring more benefits to society faster.

Financial support

Although QB3 is proud of its success, much remains to be done.

Quantitative biosciences suffers from a lack of human capital, since few academic programs train life scientists to have essential computational and engineering skills. QB3 needs to attract and train more quantitative bioscientists, but federal funding programs for advanced training have withered.

A second major challenge is to help our scientists cross the so-called “Valley of Death”—the funding gap that exists between research with potential practical application and projects attractive to outside investors.

Thanks to the generosity of the Rogers Family Foundation, we are now able to award gifts of up to $100,000 per year over a two-year period for translational research projects. Two such gifts have already given rise to nascent life science companies. Although we are fortunate to have funding, it is still inadequate. We receive at least ten times more high quality requests for bridging-the-gap funding than we can fulfill. Since modest funding can extract great benefit from federal investment in basic research, QB3 actively explores creative financing mechanisms and philanthropic sources to help its faculty cross the Valley of Death.

Spreading the QB3 concept

We believe that there is no close parallel to QB3 within the major US universities. But there should be. Having academic scientists devoted exclusively to connecting their colleagues into productive teams, and to identifying and removing roadblocks that inhibit conversion of discoveries to societal benefit, is rare in academia. It is our conviction that, in time, all major universities or groups of universities will have institutions like QB3. When that happens, the public will be better served by its life scientists—and life scientists can expect better support from the public.

To all of you, we thank you for your continued commitment, inspiration and support.

Sincerely,

Regis B. Kelly, Ph.D.

Director