BECKMAN CENTER 279 Campus Drive West Stanford, CA 94305 650.723.8423 Stanford University | Beckman Center 2019 Annual Report Annual 2019 | Beckman Center University Stanford beckman.stanford.edu 2019 ANNUAL REPORT ARNOLD AND MABEL BECKMAN CENTER FOR MOLECULAR AND GENETIC MEDICINE 30 Years of Innovation, Discovery, and Leadership in the Life Sciences CREDITS: Cover Design: Neil Murphy, Ghostdog Design Graphic Design: Jack Lem, AlphaGraphics Mountain View Photography: Justin Lewis Beckman Center Director Photo: Christine Baker, Lotus Pod Designs MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR Dear Friends and Trustees, It has been 30 years since the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine opened its doors in 1989. The number of translational scientific discoveries and technological innovations derived from the center’s research labs over the course of the past three decades has been remarkable. Equally remarkable have been the number of scientific awards and honors, including Nobel prizes, received by Beckman faculty and the number of young scientists mentored by Beckman faculty who have gone on to prominent positions in academia, bio-technology and related fields. This year we include several featured articles on these accomplishments. In the field of translational medicine, these discoveries range from the causes of skin, bladder and other cancers, to the identification of human stem cells, from the design of new antifungals and antibiotics to the molecular underpinnings of autism, and from opioids for pain without the side-effects of morphine to new approaches to vaccines. Beckman Center scientists have also developed innovative technologies that include DNA microarrays, novel optical probes to observe tiny subcellular structures, novel new molecules that bind to receptors on cell surfaces in more specific ways than those found in nature, computational tools to harness the power of bioinformatics to sequence genes and link genetic variation to human 1 disease, and video games that recruit citizen scientists to help determine how RNAs fold. In addition, contributing to these discoveries and innovations over the last 30 years have been a group of amazing women scientists at the Beckman Center, whose research is highlighted and celebrated in a special featured article. This year’s Beckman Symposium, “The Revolution in Diagnostics,” focused on some of the latest developments in the field including single cell DNA sequencing, liquid biopsies for cancer and fetal DNA, implantable devices, state-of-the-art imaging technologies and other biomedical breakthroughs that are opening up whole new worlds of diagnostic possibility. This highly successful, well-attended symposium brought scientists from around the country and Stanford faculty together to explore the latest diagnostic advances. The event was co-hosted by Stephen Quake, DPhil, the Lee Otterson Professor in the School of Engineering, professor of bioengineering and of applied physics, and Lucy Shapiro, PhD, the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research, professor of developmental biology, and director of the Beckman Center. The Beckman Center awarded five new Technology Development Grants this year from a truly outstanding applicant pool that included 62 faculty members representing 37 separate disciplines drawn from the Schools of Medicine, Engineering, and Humanities and Sciences. The grants support the exploration of novel research ideas that have enormous potential for developing new and improved instruments or devices, or the development of new methodologies to be used in biomedical research. Awards went to a team of researchers developing a next-generation imaging technology for human tissue atlases with the aim to deliver a powerful, practical and accessible tool that can revolutionize single-cell analysis in basic science and clinical medicine; a group whose goal is to target the influenza matrix layer through hyper-stabilization with the hope of developing a successful strategy for antiviral treatment; a set of researchers optimizing a new technology called CODEX (co-detection by antibody indexing) to reveal the cutaneous T cell lymphoma tumor microenvironment in response to immunotherapy; a computational group looking to build a scalable long-term DNA storage system allowing for random access to data; and a research group proposing to use optical tools to assess neuronal function in human stem cell- based disease models, with an emphasis on neuropsychiatric diseases, such as 2 autism and schizophrenia, which are difficult to study because there is limited access to human material. This year, the Cell Sciences Imaging Facility (CSIF), one of the four Beckman Service Centers, in collaboration with Dr. Joanna Wysocka, the Lorry Lokey Professor in the School of Medicine, professor of developmental biology, and chemical and systems biology, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, received an HHMI grant totaling nearly $1 million, for the purchase of an Intelligent Imaging Innovations (3i) V2 Lattice Light Sheet Microscope (LLSM). The new microscope has the capacity to facilitate high spatio-temporal resolution live-cell imaging with minimal photo damage. This will allow the CSIF users to expand live-cell observation times, making them 50 to 100 times longer than current imaging techniques without compromising resolution. The ability to make observations over long time periods is particularly important for processes like chromosome transcription which takes place in bursts that in the past were impossible to capture because of photobleaching and toxicity. Finally, the Beckman Center is in the process of organizing a special 30th anniversary symposium that will be held in early 2020. Stay tuned for more on this very exciting event. As always, I want to thank each of you for all that the Foundation has done for the Stanford Beckman Center since its founding in 1989. We are grateful for your support and look forward to working together as we continue to innovate, discover, and lead technology development in medicine and the life sciences. Sincerely, LUCY SHAPIRO Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research Director, Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR 5 FEATURED ARTICLES Beckman’s Focus on Translational Medicine Yields Benefits for Patients Women Scientists of the Beckman Center Three Decades of Technology Innovation at the Beckman Center 59 BECKMAN CENTER OVERVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS Overview Programs at a Glance 2018-2019 Highlights 66 EXPENDITURE REPORT Foundation Funds in the Context of Beckman Center Operations Importance of Foundation Funds to Stanford’s Mission and Goals External Review Fund Distribution 70 PROGRAMS Technology Development Seed Grant Program Seminars and Symposia Faculty Recruitment Program Beckman Medical Scholars Program 82 TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES Cell Sciences Imaging Facility Protein and Nucleic Acid Facility Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting Facility Computational Services and Bioinformatics Facility 106 ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS Department of Biochemistry Department of Developmental Biology Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology Other Beckman Faculty 132 MEDIA COVERAGE List of News Articles 4 FEATURED ARTICLES Translational Medicine 6 Beckman’s Focus on Translational Medicine Yields Benefits for Patients BY RUTHANN RICHTER hen biochemist Jim Spudich, PhD, and collaborative environment all have began studying molecular motors created fertile ground for translational Wthree decades ago, he said it was medicine. unimaginable that he would find himself starting two companies. He saw himself as Since the center’s inception in 1989, a pure bench scientist, immune from the Beckman scientists have devised new “taint” of industry, as was the mindset back treatments for heart failure, amyotrophic then. lateral sclerosis, topical dermatitis and fungal disease. They’re creating new “I had no idea – no thoughts whatsoever opioids for pain without the side-effects of – that any of my work would translate into morphine. They’ve identified the molecular clinical issues,” he said. causes of skin, bladder and other cancers and probed the molecular underpinnings of It was just his innate curiosity about these autism. They have opened the way to new motors, which helped power movement, therapies for diabetes and are developing that led to some discoveries which Spudich new approaches to vaccines to prevent realized could help patients with major infections that afflict millions worldwide. heart and neurologic problems. In doing so, they’ve helped fulfill the goal “It just seemed there should be some of Beckman’s founders 30 years ago, good drugs that needed to be developed who envisioned it as a bridge between for these terrible diseases and we wanted basic science and clinical medicine so lab to make that happen,” said Spudich, the discoveries would reach patients more Douglass M. and Nola Leishman Professor rapidly. of Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford. The idea for the center emerged at a time That inherent curiosity has proven to be a when there was a revolution underway powerful force among Beckman scientists, in the fields of genetic engineering, cell many of whom have moved fundamental imaging and genomics, an explosion of new findings into the clinic. They have done knowledge that could have implications for so with active encouragement from the clinical medicine. Beckman Center, whose programs, facilities Beckman scientists have