Lawrence Pitts, professor emeritus of neurosurgery at UCSF, will retire in February 2012 after nearly three years as the University of California’s provost and executive vice president-academic affairs.

The tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001 is just days away. UCSF is making available some of its world-class experts to talk about potential long-term medical implications from the events of 9/11.

A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has identified how the lack of a brain chemical known as dopamine can rewire the interaction between two groups of brain cells and lead to symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. This discovery offers new hope for treating those suffering from this devastating neurodegenerative disease.

For eight years now the UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging has showcased its discoveries, its hard work and its hopes for the future at an event called the Imaging Research Symposium.

Exposure of girls to toxins and hormone-disrupting chemicals in the environment are suspected of increasing risk for breast cancer."The Breast Biologues," is an award-winning video that explains research by the Bay Area Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Center.

Researchers with the University of California, San Francisco and the University of California, Merced will examine the effectiveness of state and local anti-smoking programs across the United States to ensure that health authorities are able to use their increasingly limited resources to support and defend the most effective approaches.