Research - Sanford Burnham Prebys

Research

Disease-Focused Centers

Our centers combine research expertise and clinical collaboration to accelerate discovery, advance drug development and improve human health.

  • Photo of the Cancer Center building

    NCI-Designated Cancer Center

    One of only seven National Cancer Institute-designated Basic Laboratory Cancer Centers in the U.S., we are a hub for scientific leadership and basic cancer research. An active Community Advisory Board further supports our mission, educating the public and advancing patient advocacy.

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  • Scientist looking into a microscrope

    Center for Neurologic Diseases

    To improve the quality of life for a rapidly aging worldwide population, we use molecular approaches to gain a therapeutically actionable understanding of diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative conditions.

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  • liver cell

    Center for Metabolic and Liver Diseases

    Metabolism is fundamental to life, yet metabolic malfunction causes disorders ranging from obesity and diabetes to inflammatory bowel disease. These conditions threaten vital internal organs, including the body’s largest — the liver.

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Enabling Technology Centers

State-of-the-art resources help our researchers and partners dive deep into biological processes to reveal new drug targets and promising therapies.

Center for Therapeutics Discovery

This is where concepts become realities. We deploy the latest technologies, from robotically enabled high-throughput screening to in vitro and in vivo pharmacology and medicinal and computational chemistry, to translate original research into drugs that improve patients’ health and wellbeing.

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Sanju Sinha (right) with computational biologist Lihe Liu, PhD, a postdoc member of Sinha’s new lab

Center for Data Sciences

Knowledge is data, derived from facts, information, and ideas. The modern scientific enterprise is in the age of data science, utilizing rapidly advancing tools like computational biology, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

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Programs

Our intensely collaborative environment brings together experts in complementary areas of biology to accelerate discoveries and clinical progress.

  • breast cancer cells

    Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment Program

    Cancer is the consequence of highly organized cells and molecules, fueled by disinformation, that create abnormal tissues and deadly tumors. We seek to understand how cancer cells survive and thrive within their microenvironment, and how to intervene to combat them.

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  • mouse brain with alz plaque ncats

    Degenerative Diseases Program

    Proteins are necessary to the construction, function and regulation of the body’s tissues and organs. But when a protein doesn’t have the correct shape and is ‘misfolded’, it can cause great harm. In fact, every degenerative disease is associated with misfolded proteins. We are unraveling their secrets.

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  • Scientists collaborate at a microscope

    Development, Aging and Regeneration Program

    Aging is inevitable, but how it happens can be optimized. By parsing how biological processes change over time and under different conditions, we reveal how aging affects disease and how development and regeneration can be modified and improved to promote healthy aging.

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  • A child and mother and toured through a lab with Duc Dong, PhD

    Human Genetics Program

    Our genes play critical, but often unseen or poorly understood roles, in our risk for certain diseases and in our general well being. We dig for the genetic roots of human health disorders, translating that unearthed knowledge into tangible treatments.

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  • liver cell

    Metabolic and Liver Diseases Program

    One in three American adults has metabolic syndrome, a group of conditions that includes coronary heart disease, diabetes and stroke. This trend is mirrored in diseases of the liver, an organ crucial to metabolic function. By understanding what drives these diverse conditions, we can find ways to prevent, slow and even stop the rising onslaught.

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Research Themes

Four overarching themes focus our efforts on key questions and challenges in biomedical research.

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Shared Resources

State-of-the-Art Instrumentation, Facilities and Services

Sanford Burnham Prebys has an extensive Shared Resources system with more than 20 core facilities. These facilities provide investigators with advanced technologies, expertise and instrumentation that may not be easily acquired or fully used by individual laboratories.

Our core facilities are staffed by expert technicians and provide high-quality interactive services for cost-effective sample analyses, as well as assistance in experiment design and grant or manuscript preparation. Many of these core services offer multiple levels of service assistance or hands-on investigator training for independent use of advanced instrumentation.  

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Most core facilities can provide services for outside researchers. Contact the facility manager or director for more information.

A scientist working in a lab