Each year, the Sandler Program for Breakthrough Biomedical Research (PBBR) supports dozens of investigators whose bold ideas and revolutionary research have the potential to drive unprecedented advances in science and medicine. Here, you can find a comprehensive list of the most recent recipients of PBBR’s assorted prizes, as well as a brief description of their PBBR-funded projects.
2020
Studies Related to SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19
Tanja Kortemme, PhD, and Aashish Manglik, MD, PhD
Super-ACEs: engineering ACE2-based and de novo proteins to prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 infections
Marina Sirota, PhD, and Chaz Langelier, MD, PhD
Transcriptomics-based computational drug repositioning for COVID-19 treatment
Xiaokun Shu, PhD
Designing imaging reporters of the spike protein and ACE2 interaction for screening inhibitors that block SARS-CoV-2 entry into human cells
Hana El-Samad, PhD
Viral pathogen detection by genetically encoded responses
Aashish Manglik, MD, PhD, and Peter Walter, PhD
Aerosol-based passive immunization for SARS-CoV-2 using synthetic nanobodies
Yifan Cheng, PhD; Charles Craik, PhD; and Aashish Manglik, MD, PhD
Structural basis of humoral immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein
Cliff Lowell, MD, PhD, and Satish Pillai, PhD
Development of a novel mouse model of COVID-19 disease
Zev Gartner, PhD
A high-throughput screening platform for identifying broadly neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2
Nadia Roan, PhD; Sulggi Lee, MD, PhD; Joshua Vasquez, MD; and Eliver Ghosn, PhD
Characterization of B-cell and antibody responses associated with efficient recovery from COVID-19
Jeremy Reiter, MD, PhD
Understanding and drugging SARS-CoV-2 NSP13
Shaeri Mukherjee, PhD
Repurposing of the secretory and membrane trafficking pathway by SARS-CoV-2
Koh Fujinaga, PhD, and Matjia Peterlin, MD
Identification of antiviral agents targeting SARS-CoV-2 replication
Jim Wells, PhD
Development of recombinant antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics and therapeutics
John Gross, PhD; Brian Shoichet, PhD; and Jack Taunton, PhD
Discovery of small-molecule inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 by targeting the essential enzyme nsp16
Jack Taunton, PhD; Davide Ruggero, PhD; and Melanie Ott, MD, PhD
Targeting viral protein biogenesis as a therapeutic strategy for COVID-19
Keith Mostov, MD, PhD
Secretory IgA for passive mucosal immunization against SARS-CoV-2
Melanie Ott, MD, PhD, and Michael McManus, PhD
Orthogonal CRISPR screens to identify COVID-19 polytherapies
Michael Keiser, PhD
Learning the key molecular interactions of drug candidates targeting SARS-CoV-2 proteins
David Morgan, PhD, FRS
Phosphoregulation of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein
Bill DeGrado, PhD, and Michael Grabe, PhD
De novo design of small proteins that bind the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2
Bruce Wang, MD; Franklin Huang, MD, PhD; Michael Kattah, MD, PhD; and Tien Peng, MD
Transcriptomic features of cellular and tissue pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in human tissues
Diane Havlir, MD; Bryan Greenhouse, MD; and Gabriel Chamie, MD
SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics in longitudinal population-level assessments in the Mission District
Jeremy Reiter, MD, PhD; Melanie Ott, MD, PhD; David Erle, MD; and Semil Choksi, PhD
Mapping SARS-CoV-2 infection, replication, and transcriptional responses in human airway epithelial cells
2015 - 2019
New Frontiers Research Awards (2018-2019)
Tamara Allsiton, PhD
Mechanisms of mitochondrial transfer in spatially confined cells: Osteocytes
Roland Bainton, MD, PhD
Interrogating the biologic cost of robust chemoprotection of the brain: Using ICA to identify novel genomic markers of neuro-protection and age-related CNS pathogenesis
Joseph Bondy-Denomy, PhD
Developing CRISPR-Cas3 technology for human genome manipulation
Pao-Tien Chuang, MD, PhD
Autonomic innervation regulates alveolar formation in development and regeneration
Evan Feinberg, PhD
Understanding hand-eye coordination
Stephen Floor, PhD
The impact of human RNA diversity on protein production and cell fate
Danica Galonic-Fujimori, PhD
Disrupting transcription through degradation of chromatin methylation readers
Andrei Goga, MD, PhD and Kole Roybal, PhD
Visualizing single cell movements in tissues
Andrea Hasenstaub, PhD
Restoring auditory critical-period plasticity using interneuron transplants
Guo Huang, PhD
Deciphering the evolutionary origin of cellular regenerative potential decline in Mammals
Martin Kampmann, PhD, and James Fraser, PhD
Deep mutational scanning of conformationally dynamic proteins in mammalian cells
Hiten Madhani, MD, PhD, and Jennifer Fung, PhD
A molecular MIMEOgraph to profile transient genomic events in single cells
Alex Pollen, PhD
Engineering a molecular synapse counter for studies of brain development, disease and evolution
Bjoern Schwer, MD, PhD
Recurrent DNA breaks as drivers of somatic brain mosaicism via intragenic recombination
Yin Shen, PhD, and Nadav Ahituv, PhD
Development of massively parallel reporter assays that use cognate promoters
Michael Stryker, PhD
Talking to the brain with electrical stimulation
Erik Ullian, PhD
Modeling complex human brain-cancer cell interactions with novel organoids
Technologies, Methodologies & Cores Projects (2018-2019)
Andrew Brack, PhD, Guo Huang, PhD, Sarah Knox, PhD, Diana Laird, PhD, Tien Peng, MD, Saul Villeda, PhD
Tapping the potential of the longest-lived rodent to study aging
Tom Ferrin, PhD, Adam Frost, PhD, Matthew Jacobson, PhD, Matthew Krummel, PhD, and Dyche Mullins, PhD
Interactive 3D analysis of molecules and cells in virtual reality
John Gross, PhD
Upgrade of the 800 MHz NMR spectrometer and cryoprobe in the UCSF NMR Core Facility
Aashish Manglik MD, PhD, and Mark von Zastrow MD, PhD
An in vitro platform for rapid nanobody discovery
Kira Poskanzer, PhD
An in vivo depth-slice imaging of the neuron-glia circuit
Jeroen Roose, PhD
UCSF Organoid core @ Parnassus
Francis Szoka, PhD, and Matthew Spitzer, PhD
CyTOF Reagent Developments
Postdoctoral Independent Research Program Projects (2018-2019)
Rachael Di Santo, PhD
Ribosome rescue in mitochondria
Marco Jost, PhD
Deciphering the molecular basis of host-microbiome interactions
Dhivya Kumar, PhD
Centriolar satellites use phase separation to remodel the centrosome
Matthew McCarroll, PhD
Understanding mechanisms of neuroactive compounds through 3D spatial mapping and whole brain imaging in larval zebrafish
Robert Newberry, PhD
Mechanistic basis for differential pathology of α- Synuclein conformational strains revealed by transcriptomic profiling
Duy Nguyen, PhD
Generation of recombinant antibodies against specific acetylated proteoforms
Poornima Ramkumar, PhD
Identifying factors in multiple myeloma controlling response to B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-targeted immunotherapy using CRISPR-based functional genomics
Chin Fen Teo, PhD
Deciphering the physiological functions of TMEM16E
New Frontiers Research Awards (2015-2016)
Adam Frost
New concepts for understanding and treating neurodegenerative disease
Bassem Al-Sady and Shaeri Mukherjee
Host chromatin reprogramming with a single bacterial histone methylase effector RomA and its lessons for chromatin biology
Benjamin Braun and Neil Shah
A high content screen to decode apoptosis regulation and signal transduction in cancer
Bo Huang and Noelle L'Etoile
Visualizing RNA polymerase II engaged in RNA-dependent interfering RNA biogenesis
Charlie Kim
Monocyte-mediated immunoregulation during Plasmodium infection
Christian Vaisse, Jeremy Reiter, and Mark Von Zastrow
Controlling long-term regulation of energy homeostasis through cilia specific neuronal signaling in vivo
Danica Fujimori and Shingo Kajimura
Metabolic rewiring in brown adipose tissue
Dengke Ma
Establishing "Vertebrate C. elegans" to discover novel mechanisms of extreme physiology
Edward Hsiao
Identifying novel neuronal links in a disease of abnormal bone formation
Evan Feinberg
Deciphering sensory responses of dopamine neurons
Geeta Narlikar
Conformation-specific antibodies for mapping and modulating nucleosome conformations in vivo
Ian Seiple
Platform for the discovery of novel pleuromutilin Antibiotics
Jacquelyn Maher and Aras Mattis
Development of an in vitro model of human non-alcoholic fatty liver disease using hepatocyte-like cells
JJ Miranda
Next-generation antivirals: dual mechanism inhibitors
Joachim Li
Exploring a role for replication timing in epigenetic inheritance
Kaveh Ashrafi
Unexpected effects of common insecticides on circadian rhythms and feeding
Keith Mostov and Jeremy Reiter
Novel ciliary signaling controls intestinal length
Kira Poskanzer
Seeing the extracellular space: nanosensors for astrocyte-neuron biology
Lani Wu
How do different alpha-synuclein varients affect human neuron-astrocyte interactions?
Mark Looney
The lung is a site of platelet biogenesis and a niche for hematopoietic stem cells
Michael German, Robert Blelloch, Ingrid Block-Kurbisch, Susan Fisher, Michael McManus, and Kirsten Salmeen
Assaying circulating placental exosomes
Michael Keiser
Decoding emergent pharmacology in cells and whole organisms
Michael Oldham
Modeling low-grade glioma in cerebral organoids using Cas9 ribonucleoproteins
Nadav Ahituv
Functional characterization of early neuronal enhancers
Natalia Jura and Ophir Klein
Canopies as novel chaperones of fibroblast growth factor receptors
Nevan Krogan and R. Kate Kelley
Translation intergration of genomic and viral interaction data in hepatocellular carcinoma
Peter Turnbaugh and Joseph Bondy-Denomy
Editing the human gut microbiome for precision medicine
Raul Andino
Profiling exosomal small RNAs for viral infection diagnosis and prognosis in immunocompromised patients
Rik Derynck, Danica Galonic Fujimori, and Nevan Krogan
Intracellular signaling control by arginine demethylation
Rushika Perera
Novel genetic models to interrogate organelle function in cancer
Sourav Bandyopadhyay
Chemical-genetic interations maps to guide cancer chemotherapy
Steven Altschuler
Reverse engineering brain wiring of the fly visual system
Suneil Koliwad and Mervyn Maze
A strategy that targets microglia to reduce cognitive decline following surgery
Tejal Desai and Lawrence Fong
Oncolytic virus inspired nanoparticle based intratumoral immunotherapy for prostate cancer
Willian Degrado
FLAMES (Fluorescent Amyloid Multiple Emission Spectra) microscopy for the determination of distinct strains of amyloids and prions
YW Kan
Elevation of fetal hemoglobin for the treatment of sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia
Zev Gartner
Tissue morphing: a paradigm shift for organ regeneration
Technologies, Methodogies & Cores (2015-2016)
Charles Craik
Robotic overture 96-channel peptide synthesizer for peptide-enabled technologies at UCSF
Evan Feinberg
A novel genetic approach to map, monitor, and manipulate synaptic circuits
Jason Cyster and Susan Fisher
Lipid mass spectrometry core
Rosemary Akhurst
Acquisition of high resolution computer tomograph-guided X-irradiator for Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Preclinical Therapeutic Core Facility
William Weiss and James Wells
Recombinant antibody probes for next-generation cytometry platforms