Doctors in the Bay Area have been at the forefront of research on the brain.
Now a center at UCSF is bringing together scientists, doctors and patients to develop new treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or depression – they're all diseases and disorders of the brain.
Scientists developing treatments might do so in a lab that is separate from clinics actually seeing patients.
Dr. S. Andrew Josephson, Professor and Chair of Neurology at UCSF, told KCBS Radio's "As Prescribed" the new Joan and Sanford I. Weill Neurosciences building will close some of those gaps.
"The idea is we will be in one building investigating in our laboratories important insights into these diseases, which are just all so common, and then be able to rapidly translate them to our patients who are being seen in the building," he said.
Dr. Stephen Hauser, Director of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences, explained they're changing the way doctors think about mental illness.
"We also understand that our old models are not correct," Hauser added. "We used to say that if we could see a problem in the brain, it was neurologic or neurosurgical, and if we couldn't it was psychiatric, and that was because we couldn't see with clarity."
The six-story building, which serves as a cornerstone of neurological care for UCSF Medical Center, is located at 1651 4th St. in San Francisco. It was made possible by a $185 million gift from Joan and Sanford "Sandy" I. Weill and the Weill Family Foundation, one of the largest in the U.S. for neuroscience.
Related
