Traditional brick-and-mortar institutes focused on specific diseases can be effective, but take a lot of capital and time to set up. QB3 is pioneering "pop-up institutes" as a rapid-start, financially lean tactic to achieve the same results. Existing expertise and resources are wired across disciplinary boundaries within and between universities, with communication facilitated and leadership provided. Our pop-up institutes were recently covered in the San Francisco Business Times. Read the story

The pop-up that we convened to focus on aging-related disease, in partnership with Calico, resulted in a small molecule drug candidate, ISRIB, that reverses memory failure caused by traumatic brain injury. Learn more

QB3 has recently started a pop-up on fibrosis, aiming to draw more attention towards a series of serious medical conditions caused by excessive fibrogenesis. The initiative was launched at the end of April through a kick-off meeting where leaders from academia and industry met to discuss the knowledge gaps and pain points in the field of fibrosis. Based on their input, QB3 will allocate research funding to academic labs and organize a short course for students interested in understanding the mechanisms of fibrosis initiation and resolution, as well as their implication in human disorders.