Genentech

Human Imaging Center at Byers Hall

The mission of the Surbeck Laboratory for Advanced Imaging at Byers Hall at Mission Bay Campus is to create an optimal environment for creating and optimizing new imaging technologies for investigating disease, health, and treatment. The overall objective is to contribute to the understanding of normal physiology and to elucidate the underlying biological mechanisms of health and disease. Critical factors that can be investigated through imaging are disease progression, the biochemical basis of different diseases, and response to treatment by individual patients. Translating these factors into bioengineering developments involve the integration of the underlying principles of MR physics with the design of new algorithms for reconstruction, post-processing and quantitative interpretation of the resulting multi-dimensional and multi-faceted imaging data, as well as the development of innovative RF coils and coil arrays for high-field and metabolic imaging. These new imaging techniques are then applied in novel research studies of healthy volunteers and patients with a broad range of diseases. 

Research

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A technologist prepares a patient on the exam table before an MRI scan, adjusting their position as the patient lies ready to enter the scanner.

For Patients

Visitor Information – Surbeck Lab
The Surbeck Lab is located at 1700 4th Street, San Francisco, within Genentech Hall at Mission Bay. Visitors should enter via Campus Way and call the front desk upon arrival for escort. Please complete your MRI screening form before your appointment and arrive 30 minutes early. The lab is fragrance-free, and parking validation may be available for certain studies.

Find directions, visitor guidelines, and nearby café options

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A radiology workstation showing MRI scan images on a computer monitor inside a clinical imaging control room.

For Researchers

7T and 3T Whole-Body MRI at Mission Bay
Researchers must submit a full imaging application for approval before scheduling studies. All scan reservations are managed through Qualtrics, and MRI safety training is required for access to imaging zones. A mock MRI simulator is available to help participants acclimate to the scanner environment.
 

Learn more about scheduling, safety training, and available resources.

History

About Surbeck

margaret-hart-surbeck.jpgThe late Margaret Surbeck established INDNJC, Inc. (a non-profit corporation) to fund health-related research reflecting her lifelong interest in electromagnetic radiation. After conducting a nationwide search, the INDNJC board of directors selected UCSF as the best institution, and Professor Sarah Nelson as the distinguished researcher, to lead this effort. The result is the Surbeck Program in Advanced Imaging. “Margaret Surbeck had a lifelong dream of using radio waves to improve the health of mankind. She would be pleased to learn that we now use electromagnetic radiation to produce internal images of immense diagnostic and investigative value,” says Reg Kelly, PhD, UCSF Executive Vice Chancellor. “This support will enable us to employ this technology to observe the processes of disease and hasten progress toward new therapies."

Past Symposiums

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Group of eleven people posing indoors behind a table with a decorated cake that reads Celebrating 10 Years Surbeck Scholars. Three individuals in the front hold framed certificates while others stand around them smiling."
(L-R) Richard Gowen, INDNJC Board President, Chair Ron Arenson MD, Third Place Awardee Chloe Najac, PhD, Vice-Chair, Bill Dillon, MD, Awardee Llewellyn "Trey" Jalbert, PhD, Awardee Robert Flavell, MD, PhD, Surbeck Director Sarah Nelson, PhD and INDNJC Foundation Members Nancy Gowen and Sharon McCauley.

UCSF's Margaret Hart Surbeck Laboratory and the INDNJC Board of Directors were proud to recognize three winning young investigators, Llewellyn ‘Trey’ Jalbert, PhD (first place), Robert Flavell, MD, PhD (second place), Chloe Najac, PhD (third place) at the tenth Annual Surbeck Awards held at Genentech Hall, Mission Bay Campus on March 2016.


 

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Group of eight people posing indoors. Three individuals in the center hold framed certificates, while others stand on either side of them smiling.
(L-R): Nancy Gowen, Hal Lane, Wenwen Jiang, Wei Bian, PhD, Valentina Pedoia, PhD, Sarah Nelson, PhD, and Dick Gowen, PhD (President of the INDNJC Board of Directors).

Research done by the three young investigators honored with the 2015 Surbeck Awards. Wei Bian, PhD (first place), Wenwen Jian (PhD Candidate, second place), and Valentina Pedoia, PhD (third place) presented their work at the nineth annual award ceremony on March 2015 at UCSF Genentech Hall, Mission Bay.

 

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Group photo of ten people indoors. Three individuals in the front row hold framed certificates, while others stand behind them smiling.
Sarah Nelson, PhD, director of the Surbeck Laboratory and Richard Gowen, PhD, president of the INDNJC Foundation, which supports the awards, presented the awards. (L-R) Aditi Guha, MS, Marc Mabray, MD, accepting award for Akash Kansagra, MD, and Christine Leon Swisher, MS.

Research done by the three young investigators honored with the 2014 Surbeck Awards. Aditi Guha, MS (first place), Marc Mabray, MD, accepting award for Akash Kansagra, MD (third place), and Christine Leon Swisher, MS (second place) presented their work at the eighth annual award ceremony on March 2014 at UCSF Genentech Hall, Mission Bay.

 

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Large group of people posing indoors for a group photo. Four individuals in the front row are kneeling and holding framed certificates, while others stand behind them smiling.
Department Chair Ron L. Arenson, MD (back row, center) and Surbeck Laboratory faculty join INDNJC board members in congratulating the 2013 Surbeck award winners (front row, L-R) Galen Reed, Olga Tymofiyeva, PhD, Myriam Chaumeil, PhD and Gerd Melkus, PhD.

The move to more personalized medicine characterizes the research done by the four young investigators honored with the 2013 Surbeck Awards. Galen Reed, Myriam Chaumeil, PhD, Olga Tymofiyeva, PhD, and Gerd Melkus, PhD, presented their work at the seventh annual award ceremony on March 15, 2013 at UCSF Mission Bay’s Genentech Hall.

 

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Group of five people standing indoors on a staircase, each holding a framed certificate. Three people stand in the back row and two in the front row, all smiling toward the camera.
(L-R top row) Galen Reed, Simon Hu, PhD, Kayvan Keshari, PhD, (L-R bottom row) Ilwoo Park, PhD, Myriam M. Chaumeil, PhD.

Five talented scholars, Galen Reed, Simon Hu, PhD, Kayvan Keshari, PhD, Ilwoo Park, PhD, Myriam M. Chaumeil, PhD, earned awards at the sixth annual Surbeck Investigators Awards presentation in March 2012. They presented their work to an admiring audience in Genentech Hall, at an event moderated by Professor Sarah J. Nelson, PhD, director of the Surbeck Laboratory of Advanced Imaging and Richard Gowen, PhD, president of the INDNJC Foundation.

 

 

Contact Us

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Human Imaging Center at Byers Hall

Director of Human Imaging Core
Dan Vigneron, PhD
Ph: (415) 476-3343
dan.vigneron@ucsf.edu

Research Center Program Manager
Kim Semien
Ph: (415) 514-4815
kim.semien@ucsf.edu

Director of Preclinical-Clinical Translation
Robert Bok, MD, PhD
Ph: (415) 514-4873
bob.bok@ucsf.edu

Research Technologist
Mary Frost (McPolin)
Ph: (415) 514-4464
mary.mcpolin@ucsf.edu

Research Nurse
Kimberly Okamoto
Ph: (415) 476-2590
kimberly.okamoto@ucsf.edu

Mission Bay Campus
UCSF MC 0775
Byers Hall Suite 103
1700 4th St
San Francisco, CA 94158-2330