Moving to Mission Bay

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Scientists Move into Second Research Building at Mission Bay

A little more than a year after the first faculty member moved to UCSF Mission Bay, lung biology researcher Thiennu Vu became the first scientist to occupy the second research building at the new campus.

Vu, a 1991 graduate of the UCSF School of Medicine, and her five-person laboratory team are part of the Lung Biology Center, headquartered at the San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center (SFGHMC).

Vu began moving into the fifth floor of the Genetics, Development and Behavioral Sciences Building, located just across the Koret Quad from the first building, Genentech Hall, on the afternoon of Feb. 26. The mood was jubilant moving into the research building designed by internationally acclaimed architect Cesar Pelli with Flad & Associates.

"It's inspiring," says Michele Pauling, a postdoctoral scholar who has been looking forward to the move to Mission Bay ever since she started working for Vu seven months ago. "It's bright, brand new, nice and clean."

For Vu, the move to Mission Bay represents the opportunity of a lifetime and the chance to interact with renowned scientists, such as Charles Epstein, Deanna Kroetz and Kathleen Giacomini, whose offices are adjacent to hers.

"It's great to be part of a new research community with a lot of scientists who do very interesting and exiting research, both related to my area and unrelated," she said.

Each floor brings together two neighborhoods on the North and South side of the building and each neighborhood has four principal investigators. Vu and her team will be sharing half of the laboratory space with Su Guo, a behavioral scientist who is the fourth principal investigator in her neighborhood.

Vu, who began to unpack equipment and supplies last Thursday (Feb. 26), planned to work over the weekend to resume her research at Mission Bay by the following Monday.

Vu has worked four years at the Lung Biology Center and joined the UCSF faculty in 1998. In March 2000, she was recruited to the center as a principal investigator, overseeing her own laboratory for studies on the development of blood vessels in the lungs and how blood vessels influence lung development.

"One of the most interesting things that our lab has discovered is how the capillaries may influence and direct a process in lung development, called septation. This process is used to increase the surface area of the lungs, which is very important for lung function," Vu explains.

Vu will return to SFGHMC to do her clinical work and to attend joint research meetings.

In addition to fostering new relationships, Vu's new laboratory and office offer many advantages over her old digs at SFGHMC, not the least of which are views of the Koret Quad, the Campus Community Center and even Mount Sutro. "It's much improved, much better," Vu says.

The effects of windows on morale are not to be underestimated. "Now we won't suffer from SAD or seasonal affective disorder," quips Jenny Chin, laboratory manager and a longtime UCSF employee.

Smooth move

The move to the new five-story Genetics, Development and Behavioral Science Building, located at 1550 Fourth Street, is less daunting since it's about half the size of Genentech Hall. When fully occupied over the next three months, the building will house about 400 scholars and scientists.

Designed with an atrium, the building features a cheerful color palate of green, blue, coral and yellows. A bright yellow-painted steel beam serves as the building's spine.

Each floor offers an interaction area with windows, a kitchenette with sink and microwave and storage area. The interaction area adjoins a meeting room with a conference table and a flexible wall that can be opened to expand into the interaction area for larger gatherings.

While the move to Genentech Hall was largely organized from the top floor down, the occupation of the Genetics, Development and Behavioral Science Building begins on the fifth, progresses to half of the third floor and then the fourth floor, according to Tom Hochmuth, UCSF relocation manager with Capital Projects & Facilities Management.

"So far, things seem to be going very smoothly," Vu said, crediting Hochmuth and his team for their organization and efficiency throughout the move.

Indeed, Hochmuth, who successfully orchestrated the Herculean move to Genentech Hall, has employed some of the lessons learned and used the same team of consultants, movers and plumbers, electricians. He's already been tapped to organize the move into the Campus Community Center, which is slated to open to the public in January 2005.

"No matter how much you've learned and planned, there's still going to be surprises," says Hochmuth, who had to rearrange the move-in schedule after the zebrafish facilities on the third floor had not been finished yet.

One of the major differences in this move, Hochmuth says, "is that we are not quite moving at as hectic a pace as last time." Instead of moving five labs a week, this time Hochmuth's team is supervising three labs a week.

Well in advance of each move, each laboratory received an occupancy guide that includes information about general campus services, such as mail and shuttle service, to detailed floor plans. The guide, a joint project prepared by the Mission Bay Operations & Services Committee, Campus Auxiliary Services, Capital Projects & Facilities Management, UCSF Police Department and the Campus Planning Office, was distributed in January 2004.

Source: Lisa Cisneros

Last updated April 11, 2005