Twelve young UCSF patients were among the players in a life-sized game of Candy Land on Aug. 19, marking 60 years since the game was created by a woman recovering from polio.

Tiny, solitary spikes that stick out of nearly every cell in the body play a central role in a type of skin cancer, new research has found. The discovery in mice shows that the microscopic structures known as primary cilia can either suppress or promote this skin cancer, depending on the mutation triggering the disease.

UCSF scientists have discovered that a tiny filament extending from cells, until recently regarded as a remnant of evolution, may play a role in the most common malignant brain tumor in children.

Laura van ’t Veer, PhD, has changed the way physicians look at breast cancer.

From leading an initiative to enable physicians and researchers to share treatment plans and track long-term outcomes for women across the state to conducting groundbreaking work in the molecular profiling of cancers to guide treatment decisions, UCSF faculty are at the forefront of the field.

UCSF researchers have identified the two key circuits that control a cell’s ability to adapt to changes in its environment, a finding that could have applications ranging from diabetes and autoimmune research to targeted drug development for complex diseases.

For 10 months, Timothy Poore will study HIV/AIDS in India as part of a highly competitive scholarship program promoting global health.