A pale grey day gave way to partly sunny skies over the Mission Bay campus on Wednesday afternoon, seemingly symbolizing a bright future as Charles Craik became the first scientist to move into Genentech Hall.

"I feel like a kid in a candy store," exclaimed Craik, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry.

Reflecting the jubilation of a pioneer to first set foot on a new frontier, Craik was almost giddy as he walked around his new fifth-floor office overlooking the campus and the San Francisco Bay. His arrival represents a turning point in UCSF's long-awaited expansion of its research and teaching enterprise that has for decades confined scientists, staff and students into limited space at its flagship Parnassus Heights campus.

Craik entered his office in room S 512C at 1:15 p.m. to find several boxes from his old office waiting for him. Craik came prepared to work on day one -- he had his cell phone, laptop and books.

Proud to Be First

"I was ecstatic and proud to be the first to move," Craik said of learning his laboratory would lead the pack of nearly 1,000 scientists and staff to relocate to Genentech Hall. "I guess that means I'm a guinea pig. But that's OK because the hope is that we will advance science here. In fact, there's a little bit of competition to see who will be the first to get an experiment done."

Craik and his colleagues including Tom James, Volker Doetsch and Susan Miller, will likely be leading contenders as the first settlers at Genentech Hall. For Craik, the historic event triggered waves of excitement.

"This is great. This is a special day. I see this as an engine for the future; it's a real catalyst for change. I hope this is the beginning of something very special."

Craik, whose research focuses on understanding how enzymes, including proteases, function in biological processes ranging from AIDS to cancer, is looking forward to the collaboration and collegiality at his new location. Indeed, as science becomes more interdisciplinary, the timing for the birth of the UCSF Mission Bay campus couldn't be better.

"This is the first time that we get a chance to share ideas, equipment and resources," Craik noted. "It's not only cost saving, but it's a chance to collaborate in new ways with chemists and biologists. This is the center of the universe."

And although Mission Bay has yet to attract any private biotech or pharmaceutical companies to the neighborhood, Craik cites several national examples that point to its potential, including Cambridge, Massachusetts, now home to a booming biotech research park.

"Even though there's an economic downturn, it's only a matter of time for Mission Bay. Yes, I am an optimist, but on this point, I am also a realist."

Craik has come a long way from the early days when he first worked out of an office that measured no more than six-by-10 feet. "It was a broom closet," he recalled.

Craik eventually relocated to the ninth floor of the Medical Sciences Building, where his laboratory staff was relatively isolated in a corner. Craik's new neighbors on the fifth floor include a total of 20 faculty chemists and biologists, including Keith Yamamoto, vice dean for research in the School of Medicine.

Amid stacks of boxes and movers coming and going, Craik's laboratory staff began to examine their new surroundings. The mood was upbeat.

"We're the unloading crew," explained graduate student Carly Klein, who unpacked glassware with her laboratory benchmate Sandra Waugh Ruggles, who recently finished her graduate work to become the newest postdoctoral scholar in Craik's lab. "I'm excited about the space," Klein said. "Everything is nice and clean and big."

In the case of conducting world-class, cutting-edge research, size does matter. Some postdocs actually worked in remodeled restrooms. On their first day at Mission Bay, the lab staff marveled at the cold room assigned specifically for the Craik lab.

"This is the first time we've had our own cold room," said graduate student Christopher Eggers. "The old one was a dungeon that had mold all over it." Eggers echoed the excitement. "We will be able to bounce ideas off some of our colleagues more easily as well as share equipment."

The only downside to being the first ones on the 43-acre Mission Bay campus, staff said, is that they will wait the longest for the rest of the campus to be developed, including what is destined to become the center of campus life, the community center, which is slated to open in September 2004.

What's Available Now

But scientists and staff don't have to wait or go too far for food. Breakfast, lunch and freshly baked desserts are now being served on the second floor of Genentech Hall by local vendor White Star Catering, which was chosen by a campus committee for its quality and cost. See the menu.

Those looking for dinner after 5 p.m. can order by 3 p.m. by calling 514-4114, says co-owner Jillian Mosley. White Star Catering will move in to operate the second-floor café, slated to open in March 2003.

The Mission Bay campus bookstore, located on the first floor, also is open, operating weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., much to the delight of staff and scientists, who didn't realize it would be operational so soon.

Business during the first week was very light, but that was OK with bookstore supervisor Lalit Lakshmanan, who along with his assistant, was able to clean up the construction dust and get the store's provisions in order, including various snack foods, books on biotech and laboratory supplies.

"It's been a learning process," he said. "We're learning what our customers want and we're meeting a lot of new people, from construction workers to scientists."

Although relatively small, the store features many of the same products and offers similar services as the Parnassus campus, such as connections to The Source for computer hardware and software equipment and Reprographics for printed products like business cards. One item not available on Parnassus; however: new blue and white Mission Bay T-shirts and sweatshirts, which have been selling well.

"We're pretty much ready for the big rush," Lakshmanan said. Pablo Pinchet, a UCSF shuttle bus driver, also was waiting for riders last Wednesday. So far they have been few and far between on the route to Mission Bay by way of the Mission Center Building and Parnassus campus.

But with eight more laboratories moving in by the end of this week, Pinchet will see an acceleration of activity that will not stop until the last lab relocates to Genentech Hall in early May.

Source: Lisa Cisneros

Last updated April 11, 2005

Charles Craik

Professor Charles Craik became the first scientist to move into Genentech Hall on Jan. 8, 2003. Photo by Christine Jegan.

Lab move

Unpacking glassware on their first day in Genentech Hall are Sandra Waugh Ruggles, left, postdoctoral scholar, and graduate student Carly Klein. Photo by Christine Jegan.