Brenner receives Director of the Year award for leading “companies in transition”
AuthorScott LaFee
Date
September 5, 2024
Congratulations to Sanford Burnham Prebys President and CEO David Brenner, who received last night the 2024 Director of the Year award in the category of “companies in transition” from the Corporate Directors Forum, a San Diego-based network of top executives.
The award was presented in ceremonies at the Hyatt Regency in La Jolla.
Brenner, who became president and CEO of Sanford Burnham Prebys in September 2022, was honored for his bold and dramatic vision of the institute as a 21st century leader in biomedical research.
“This award is given to directors who have contributed significantly in times of change and have brought positive and productive conclusions,” said Lori Moore, a former award recipient and Sanford Burnham Prebys trustee in her introduction at the event.
“David is both passionate and humble. He is both a physician and a scientist. Most importantly, David leads a cultural shift at Sandford Burnham Prebys with tenacity, passion, and humility! He has brought in exceptional new scientists and restructured the organization. His passion is to create a culture in our community where people synergize and find resources to work together. He indeed translates science into health.”
In just two years, Brenner has restructured the institute as home to four disease-focused centers (cancer, cardiovascular, neurologic and metabolic) and three technology-enabling centers for drug discovery, multi-omics and artificial intelligence.
With a landmark $70 million gift from philanthropist T. Denny Sanford, he has recruited a dozen new and established scientists.
“The old ways of thinking about and doing science no longer adequately address the complexities of modern science or the realities of the public health challenges we face,” said Brenner. “As scientists and physicians, we must transform how we work even as our work continues to transform itself.”
Institute News
Life 101: Lessons from Nicolina
AuthorScott LaFee
Date
June 18, 2024
Every multicellular organism has a finite lifespan, a point in which time-related deterioration prevails over synthesis (apart from factors like disease) and death occurs. It’s the biology of senescence.
In the United States, the average life expectancy for a multicellular human being at birth is currently slightly more than 79 years – a little higher for women, a little lower for men.
Of course, some people live much longer. There are an estimated 101,000 centenarians in the U.S., people who are 100 years and older. There are approximately 722,000 centenarians in the world. These “super-aged” folks belong to a fast-growing age demographic. By 2054, the U.S. population is projected to quadruple and the global centenarian population to reach 4 million.
How and why do these people live so long? What can we learn from them? Researchers everywhere are asking these questions, including at Sanford Burnham Prebys and the San Diego Nathan Shock Center, a National Institute of Aging-supported collaboration with UC San Diego and Salk Institute.
Longevity is the particular subject of many scientific projects, including an ongoing longitudinalstudy in the Cilento region of southern Italy, which is famous for healthy aging and the Mediterranean Diet. Researchers from Sanford Burnham Prebys, the Sanford Stem Cell Institute at UC San Diego and the University of Rome La Sapienza seek to learn how their lifestyles and health behaviors, particularly their diet, may contribute to remarkably long lives with low rates of heart disease and dementia.
One of the co-principal investigators of the Cilento Initiative on Aging Outcomes (CIAO) study is David Brenner, MD, president and CEO of Sanford Burnham Prebys. Recently Brenner and colleagues visited one of the study’s participants: a 101-year-old woman named Nicolina.
Institute News
A year-end note from David Brenner
AuthorDavid Brenner
Date
December 19, 2023
This past year — my first full calendar year as president and CEO of Sanford Burnham Prebys — has been exciting and immensely rewarding. We’ve accomplished a lot and, more importantly, laid the groundwork for a wealth of future achievements.
It begins with having a plan. We are in the midst of a biomedical revolution, one in which the old ways of thinking about and doing science no longer address the complexities of modern research or the greater needs in public health.
Sanford Burnham Prebys is particularly positioned to adapt and lead in this new world by combining distinct and powerful resources with a unified mission driven by ambitious goals that emphasize disease-focused centers combined with enabling technology programs.
Of course, doing so requires a brilliant faculty, one that boasts exceptional skills and vision not just in this moment, but in the years to come. Our faculty know what to do. Our newest faculty promise to further propel and elevate. In less than a year, we have hired eight early-career scientists and physicians, an unprecedented number in such a short time.
They are among the best and brightest, coming from elite labs and institutions across the country: Shengie Feng, PhD (Howard Hughes Medical Institute and UCSF); Kelly Kersten, PhD (UCSF); Angela Liou, MD (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) Sanjeev Ranade, PhD (Gladstone Institutes); Sanju Sinha, PhD (National Cancer Institute); Xueqin Sherine Sun, PhD (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory); Kevin Tharp, PhD (UCSF); and Xiao Tian, PhD (Harvard Medical School).
A couple have already started their next chapters of their careers at Sanford Burnham Prebys, including already landing new grants! Others begin in January or March. Please welcome them.
These eight scientists represent the first wave. There are more to come, the benefit of Denny Sanford’s landmark gift early in 2023.
It has been a robust year in science at Sanford Burnham Prebys, too.
The Cancer Center received a merit extension from the NCI related to its support grant, a rare recognition of ongoing excellence. The Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics continues to be the go-to place for drug discovery, highlighted by a trio of recent awards totaling almost $25 million to pursue novel leads and promising therapies to treat all manners of addiction.
Sanford Burnham Prebys’ latest gala celebrated an old, dear friend, a brand-new vision and a crowd in fab form.
The event began with an evening filled with gratitude, recognition and, well, a look to the future.
On Saturday night, more than 280 friends, faculty and supporters of Sanford Burnham Prebys gathered at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa to celebrate the event’s theme: “A Future Filled with Discoveries and Cures.”
But more specifically, attendees paid homage to two men: philanthropist T. Denny Sanford, whose long and enduring support has helped shape and sustain Sanford Burnham Prebys; and David Brenner, MD, the institute’s (newish) president and CEO, who is using Sanford’s most recent gift to implement a bold, new strategic plan.
“Denny has always been a friend, guide and mentor,” said Brenner. “He has made much of what I do—what we will do together—possible.”
It was an evocative evening, with sartorially splendid guests arriving to a scene best described as a 1960s-era “lavish London lounge,” featuring vibrant colors and rich materials, roaming magicians; and a strolling trio of trumpet, trombone and tambourine players.
The festivities formally opened with welcoming remarks from Honorary Trustee Malin Burnham, who noted that “the Institute is at a dramatic time and place—with new faces, a new vision and an old friend.”
Burnham, who has served on the Board since 1982, noted that Sanford, who could not attend the event, was watching a live stream of the event from his home in South Dakota. “He can see and hear us,” Burnham said, waving.
Following dinner, Bill Gerhart, the current chair of the Sanford Burnham Prebys Board of Trustees, stepped up to acknowledge Sanford’s long history of support to the Institute and all of the donors, supporters and staff in the room who “make things happen”; and to introduce Brenner as “a guy who really can make things happen.”
Brenner, who also holds the Donald Bren Chief Executive Chair, spoke eloquently about Sanford before briefly detailing strategic plans for the Institute, one intended to put Sanford Burnham Prebys at the forefront of the current biomedical research revolution.
“Here’s my elevator speech,” Brenner said, inviting attendees to follow along by reading a program insert.
Our Mission
We translate science into health.
Biomedical research is undergoing a revolution, driven by big data, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
We are uniquely positioned to lead because…
We study the toughest diseases: cancer, heart, mind and metabolic. We are forward-looking, unafraid of change or challenge. We are collaborative, flexible, multi-disciplinary and team-focused. We embrace data science. We promote entrepreneurship. We are central to a vibrant, local biomedical community.
A key part of the strategic plan, Brenner said, is embodied in the new cadre of young scientists recently recruited to Sanford Burnham Prebys from “some of the best labs at some of the best institutions in the country.”
Their recruitment (and new hires to follow) are the benefit of a $70 million gift from Sanford to create up to 20 new faculty positions in the next few years in diverse research areas including cancer, neurodegeneration and computational biology.
Four of the six new scientists were in attendance: Sanju Sinha, PhD, from the National Cancer Institute; Sanjeev Ranade, PhD, from Gladstone Institutes; Kelly Kersten, PhD, from UC San Francisco; and Xiao Tian, PhD, from Harvard Medical School.
Sinha joined the Institute in June. Kevin Tharp, PhD, from UCSF, arrives in November. The other four researchers, including Shengjie Feng, PhD, from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and UCSF, officially join Sanford Burnham Prebys in January 2024.
Brenner then introduced a special four-minute video: a visual thank-you to Sanford and a visionary peek at the Institute’s next steps and aspirations. The video ended with a standing ovation.
With the lights still dim, the entertainment portion of the evening began: a live reimagining of John Lennon’s beloved 1971 song “Imagine,” dedicated to Sanford and the new strategic plan.
“Imagine there’s no illness It’s easy if we try…”
“You may say Denny’s a dreamer But he’s not the only one. We hope someday you’ll join us And the world can be as one.”
Then it was the Beatles’ tribute band “Abbey Road Show,“ a 70-minute set of music and narration chronicling the Fab Four, followed by nightcaps, conversation and thoughts about the next day—when the future begins.
Note: For your own free, handy, wallet-sized mission card or more information about how you can support Sanford Burnham Prebys, please contact the Philanthropy team.
Institute News
The Kyoto Connection
AuthorSusan Gammon
Date
July 14, 2023
Sanford Burnham Prebys president and CEO David Brenner, MD, was recently in Japan for a scientific conference, but his links to the country and its scientists go back decades, beginning in the 1990s with Yoshio Yamaoka, MD, considered among the best liver surgeons in the world.
Yamaoka was also a champion of academic research in hepatology, the area of medicine that focuses on diseases of the liver. Brenner, a gastroenterologist-by-training, was also a liver disease researcher at UC San Diego.
Over the years, physicians from Kyoto University came to UC San Diego to work as fellows in Brenner’s lab for two to four years at a time. “Their scholarship and productivity have been spectacular,” said Brenner, pictured above with his wife, Tatiana Kisseleva, MD, PhD, Professor of Surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
The Kyoto fellows have made their mark, Brenner notes proudly, with substantial contributions to the understanding of basic signal transduction in the liver (how cells respond to external substances through signaling molecules on their surface and inside), the cellular origin of myofibroblasts in the fibrotic liver and the role of metabolic syndrome in liver fibrosis, which is characterized by excessive scarring and found in most types of chronic liver disease.
Like Yamaoka, the fellows have risen through the ranks to become professors themselves, most notably Keiko Iwaisako, MD, PhD (Brenner’s right) and Etsuro Hatano, MD, PhD, (Brenner’s left) chair of surgery at Kyoto University. Hatano continues the tradition, sending new, bright surgeons to Brenner’s lab for scientific training.
“It was with great joy that I gave that seminar at Kyoto University,” said Brenner, recalling his recent visit. “It was my first since before the pandemic, and it was attended by all of the Kyoto alumni from our lab—and my now-retired dear friend Professor Yamaoka.”
Institute News
Tight employment a sign of resilience: Interview with David Brenner
AuthorMiles Martin
Date
February 9, 2023
Sanford Burnham Prebys recently received a substantial gift from namesake benefactor T. Denny Sanford, specifically to hire 20 new faculty positions in research areas including cancer, neurodegeneration and computational biology.
For president and CEO David A. Brenner, MD, the gift provides the opportunity to bring the very best and brightest to the Institute. It is also a sign of how resilient and successful the biomedical research sector is in the San Diego region.
“Our goal is to recruit the smartest, most innovative scientists from the best laboratories in the top institutions in the world,” said, David Brenner. “In addition, this new gift will be used to invest in our current faculty and research infrastructure.”
The success of life science as an industry has made finding talented researchers harder over the years. According to a report published by CBRE, the number of researchers working in life sciences grew 79% from 2001 to 2021. Yet despite that growth, life science occupations had the second-lowest unemployment rate of all U.S. occupations at just 0.6%.
“There is an incredible demand for researchers and scientists, and shortage of biomedical skilled labor in general. This tight labor market and competition for talent is linked to the success of institutes and need for world-class scientists,” Brenner said, adding that to help meet the demand, Sanford Burnham Prebys doubled the size of its entering class of its graduate school this year.
Research institutes like Sanford Burnham Prebys compete against for-profit private and public companies for talented graduates to come work for them, which is why philanthropic donations like the one from Sanford are important to nonprofit research enterprises.
“If you look at how nonprofit biomedical research institutions get support, there are not as many avenues for funding. Competitive grants do not provide project startup funds,” Brenner said. “T. Denny Sanford’s recent gift will allow Sanford Burnham Prebys to attract the most promising scientists from around the world and support them as they develop into world-class scientists. In addition, the donation will allow Sanford Burnham Prebys to invest in our research infrastructure and technology, imperative when recruiting the brightest minds in biomedical research.”
