College of Science and Engineering

The new science building creates a dynamic, inclusive learning environment by ‘putting science on display’

SAN FRANCISCO – January 24, 2025 – San Francisco State University (SFSU) held a dedication ceremony today for its new Science and Engineering Innovation Center (SEIC), an all-electric science building filled with innovative student-centric teaching spaces. Located prominently on 19th Avenue, the building was constructed with the future in mind, specifically designed to prepare students for various STEM workforces while emphasizing student academic support and sustainability.  

“In some ways more important from the local perspective, 80% of our science and engineering alumni live in the Bay Area, 83% stay in California and 8% of the employees in the largest Bay Area biopharma companies are [from] San Francisco State. This new center will grow the already significant number of alumni working in the Bay Area STEM industries by preparing our graduates to better compete in these fields. An investment in San Francisco State is an investment in the health and future of California,” said San Francisco State University President Lynn Mahoney during the ceremony.

At the ceremony, San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, District 19 Assemblymember Catherine Stefani and CEO of Gilead Daniel O’Day shared SF State’s role in the biotech and engineering pipelines and how SEIC will prepare SFSU’s diverse students for the industry workforce. 

The ceremony marked the completion of the new 125,000-square-foot SEIC building and renovation of the existing adjacent Science Building. SEIC is home to the College of Science & Engineering’s (CoSE) Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and School of Engineering (SOE), as well as the CoSE dean’s office and the College of Professional & Global Education (CPaGE) campus operations on the fifth floor.  

The college anticipates SEIC will serve all 7,000 CoSE students and thousands of general education students each year. The building is also open to the University community for seminars, workshops, student activities and more. CoSE Dean Carmen Domingo hopes that the building will be an inclusive space where students can see themselves as future engineers, chemists and scientists. By “putting science on display,” SEIC can help demystify what it means to be a scientist — and who can be in these fields.  

“The SEIC is more than a science building; it’s an inclusive space for students to explore, innovate and learn with cutting-edge technology and talented faculty,” said Domingo. “This major achievement, made possible by our generous partners and donors, will help thousands of diverse graduates make a profound impact on our regional workforce.”

A few of SEIC’s highlights include: 

• A configurable large learning space for over 100 students on the first floor that can be rearranged to facilitate group work, with an interactive AV system that allows students and instructors to dynamically share work and learn from each other. 
• Three studio-style integrated lecture/lab chemistry classrooms  
• Chemistry research labs with industry-standard equipment, introducing new experimental capabilities for protein crystallography, enzyme kinetics and drug development 
• A robotics and mechatronics lab with a multi-robotic-arm-automatized assembly line 
• Power systems (a collaboration with PG&E) and energy systems labs (supporting a Department of Energy-funded Center of Excellence in energy efficiency) to study power distribution and HVAC/energy research, respectively 
• A structural and seismic engineering lab with strong wall and floor and a robotic motion platform to test structural dynamics, hazard mitigation and more 
• A makerspace and two garages with large and small machining equipment for student projects, like concrete canoes, Formula 1 SAE racecars, steel bridges and other senior projects 

New equipment and programs in the building were funded by the Catalyze the Future campaign, which raised over $25 million from private sources. Individual donors — alumni and non-alumni alike — made generous gifts to support SFSU’s continued leadership in fueling the region’s biotech and tech workforce pipelines. Industry partners such as the Genentech Foundation, Gilead Foundation, Agilent and Keysight were among the generous corporate donors helping outfit SEIC with the cutting-edge research equipment and support for student success initiatives and programming. Additionally, a $5 million challenge grant from the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation was crucial to the campaign’s success. 

Based on student feedback, SEIC includes comfortable study spaces with ample natural light throughout the building. The design also incorporated spacious workspaces for group work, such as tutoring and senior projects. Many of the rooms and labs have large windows so visitors can see research happening in real time.  

“It’s really cool. We have a building we can be proud of and say, ‘Come, check out this work,’” said Senior Computer Engineer Emely Villa, who has been looking forward to working in SEIC since coming to SFSU in 2021. “There are a lot of display areas, too, where our old projects are going to be able to be displayed. … It’s very nice to be proud of showcasing the work at the new [SEIC].” 

SEIC is on track for LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Gold certification. In November, at the CSU Facilities Management conference, SEIC won two awards for the architecture and engineering and the energy efficiency categories. The building is SFSU’s first all-electric building with a micro-grid; it has roof-top solar panels and a battery back-up power system. The landscaping incorporated adaptive and native plants, no-mow grass and bioswale to improve its resistance to climate change.   

Learn more about SFSU’s College of Science & Engineering.  

Student research at SFSU leads to a new article on frog calls and deadly infections in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 

What noise does a frog make? Many of us would say “ribbit, ribbit.” Funnily enough, the Pacific tree frog (aka Pacific chorus frog) is the only species that really ribbits. (Listen to the variety of “peep,” “waaaaaaa,” “pa-tank,” and more sounds from other species on AmphibiaWeb.) Given how widespread Pacific tree frogs are in California, there’s a chance you’ve seen or heard their ribbits yourself. 

During mating season, female frogs in this species choose males based on variations in their call — something scientists find intriguing from an evolutionary standpoint. “If all females have the same preference for type of call, then why haven’t all males evolved to have the exact call and be uniform?” said Julia Messersmith (M.S., ’21). “One theory is the Hamilton-Zuk hypothesis.”

The hypothesis connects male frog calls to their possible resistance to parasitism, a serious global problem facing amphibians. Messersmith studied this hypothesis for her master’s thesis at San Francisco State University and published her findings in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. She and two other SFSU students co-authored the paper with their faculty advisers, SFSU Biology Professor and Department Chair Vance Vredenburg and Associate Professor Alejandro Vélez (now at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville).

The 40-year-old Hamilton-Zuk hypothesis posits that male frogs’ mating call traits (or plumage traits in birds) are related to their health, specifically their resistance to parasitism. Like other amphibians, Pacific tree frogs are in danger of contracting Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a fungal pathogen killing amphibians worldwide. If the Hamilton-Zuk hypothesis is right, it’s possible that female frogs are preferentially choosing the calls of “healthier” males. Although Bd infection is normally lethal, Pacific tree frogs sometimes fare better than other species — but this makes them effective carriers for disease who can spread the pathogen to other amphibians via water or direct contact.

“[Vredenburg] had a lot of trust in me and a lot of the undergrads in his lab. He let us do things that maybe wouldn’t be done in other labs, but I think totally could be done by a lot of undergrads,” Lutz said. As he’s progressed in his own career, he says that level of trust in undergrads is not always the case elsewhere. As an SFSU graduate student, his research experience even led him to collaborate with H.T. Harvey & Associates — a consulting firm providing ecological support to public agencies, private entities and nonprofits — and get a job with Applied Technology and Science, another consulting firm in the area.

“SF State is such a beautiful place for a growing scientist. They really allow you to reach your maximum potential,” Azar said. “They are there for you and want you to succeed.” 

Learn more about the SFSU Department of Biology.

The grants expand research opportunities in engineering, robotics and quantum computing

Technology is constantly evolving, which means industries — and the people who work for them — must change to keep up. San Francisco State University faculty want to make sure their students have the skills and flexibility they need to compete in these growing, ever-shifting fields such as civil, mechanical and computer engineering and quantum computing.

Three new grants — two from the Department of Defense (DOD) and one from the Department of Energy (DOE) — will expand the research capabilities of San Francisco State students and better prepare them to achieve their academic and career goals. The faculty leading these projects are in SF State’s School of Engineering (SOE) and Department of Computer Science. 

Structural hazard mitigation research

A $541,541 DOD grant was awarded to SOE Professor Zhaoshuo Jiang, who leads the Intelligent Structural Hazard Mitigation lab. The funds support purchasing two state-of-the-art shake tables (Quanser Corporation’s six-degrees of freedom hexapod motion platforms) and a high-throughput data acquisition system (DAQ). This new equipment will significantly advance the capacity of performing experimental testing with accurate sensing and control, thereby enhancing the institution’s ability to support diverse research areas that are of interest to DOD. The new tables can hold a load of up to 100 kg per platform and shake objects in all three axes, a significant step up from the currently available tables, which only move along a single direction and can accommodate a maximum of 7.5 kg. This means researchers can assess larger prototypes under more realistic conditions. The DAQ system from Crystal Instruments is a high-performance, modular platform designed for real-time dynamic signal analysis, offering flexibility in channel configurations and real-time processing capabilities. The DAQ system will be integrated with the shake tables to assemble a complete instrumentation that supports a wide range of state-of-the-art research and offer unprecedented research capacity in SOE at SF State.

“This new equipment will allow students to gain hands-on experience with common research purpose of characterizing, modeling, and testing various systems,” Jiang said. “By working directly with state-of-the-art technology, our students will develop skills that make them highly competitive and well-prepared for careers in these fields.”

The new instrumentation will be housed in the applied project space in the University’s new Science & Engineering Innovation Center (SEC). Jiang’s collaborators include SOE Professors Cheng Chen and Xiaorong Zhang, Associate Professor David Quintero and Jenna Wong, and Assistant Professor Zhuwei Qin.

Human-machine performance lab

DOD awarded another $409,433 grant to School of Engineering Associate Professor David Quintero to acquire state-of-the-art instrumentation for a human-machine performance lab. The new equipment will include a treadmill, markerless motion capture and human-machine interaction equipment like a robotic leg, hip exoskeleton and rehabilitation robot. Combining these instruments will help establish a research system that integrates humans and machines to enhance human physical and cognitive performance. 

Quintero leads SF State’s CARE (Controls for Assistive and Rehabilitation Robotics) lab, which focuses on designing wearable robotic systems that can be viable solutions for movement assistance for people with limited mobility, such as amputees or people with impaired limbs from neuromotor control deficiency. Current projects include an exoskeleton glove to help individuals with limited mobility. For this new interdisciplinary lab space, Quintero is collaborating with School of Engineering Professors Xiaorong Zhang and Zhaoshuo Jiang and Assistant Professors Sanchita Ghose and Alyssa Kubota, and Department of Kinesiology faculty Professor Kate Hamel and Associate Professor Leia Bagesteiro.

“This equipment is an important accomplishment for having SF State students access to get hands-on research practice using such equipment that will allow our students to be competitive in the job market and/or pursue Ph.D. programs,” Quintero explained. “The robotic leg alone has only be at R1 institutions and the company has stated we are the first West Coast region to acquire the robotic leg.”

Quantum computing comes to SFSU

SF State, along with Lawerence Berkeley Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory, is part of new multi-institutional project funded by the DOE. Associate Professor of Computer Science Wes Bethel and Assistant Professor Daniel Huang were awarded $250,000 as part of the larger five-year grant aiming to bridge the gap between theoretical quantum advantages and practical scientific applications. 

Researchers will develop quantum algorithms and quantum machine learning methods applicable across diverse scientific domains. Quantum algorithms might help overcome limitations of classical data encoding such as its high computational expense of time and memory. Unfortunately, these quantum approaches have not yet improved speed. The scientists will therefore focus on efficient quantum data encoding and error mitigation. Their project will study the relationship between scientific data analysis algorithms, data types, quantum data encoding and current quantum hardware. In addition to introducing new research prospects at SF State, this project provides students new opportunities to collaborate with prestigious national labs. 

“The grant also results in new opportunities for SFSU students in the form of education and research,” Bethel said. “The SFSU Computer Science Department offers a new course in quantum computing, and the grant provides support for a limited number of students to work as part of the multi-institutional team.”

Learn more about opportunities in SFSU’s School of Engineering and Department of Computer Science. 

Using this tool, organizations can prioritize finding the right candidates to maintain healthy work culture

It feels like narcissism is everywhere these days: politics, movies and TV, sports, social media. You might even see signs of it at work, where it can be particularly detrimental. Is it possible to keep a workplace free of destructive, manipulative egotists? 

More and more organizations have come to San Francisco State University’s experts in organizational psychology asking for help doing just that. In response, University researchers developed a tool for job interviews to assess narcissistic grandiosity among potential job candidates. San Francisco State Psychology Professors Kevin Eschleman and Chris Wright and four student researchers led the project, published in the Journal of Personality Assessment.

“We focused on narcissism because it’s one of the most commonly talked about characteristics of people. Really, it represents a lot of things that can go bad in terms of a team,” Eschleman said. “But it’s a characteristic that is very attractive in the short-term. [Narcissists] often have tendencies to be very goal-oriented and are often very successful. There’s a lure to somebody who is high in narcissism.” 

The tool developed by the SF State researchers — the Narcissism Interview Scale for Employment (NISE) — is a set of behavioral and situational questions that can be incorporated into a job interview. One question asks respondents to describe their approach to leading a team. Another asks how candidates would procced if they disagree with a plan that the rest of their team likes — and the project requires unanimous consent to move forward. Interviewers are trained to rate candidate responses, providing a more scientific and consistent way to evaluate a candidate’s propensity for narcissistic grandiosity. 

The project started four years ago when Eschleman noticed an uptick in organizations asking about effective teams, candidate selection and how to avoid “bad apples.” It’s easy for organizations to be enticed by how a candidate’s skills appear on paper, but failing to properly consider personality might derail team-oriented environments, Eschleman notes. Employees with narcissistic grandiosity tend to have inflated views of self and make self-focused and short term-focused decisions instead of considering long-term organizational needs. They may also abuse and try to protect their sense of power and control, he adds.

“This isn’t a categorical diagnosis,” Eschleman clarified, noting that everyone probably falls somewhere on the continuum of narcissism. “What we’re looking at are people’s consistencies over time. It’s how they view themselves or how others view them consistently over time. Do they engage in these actions consistently?”

The authors acknowledge that this assessment is not a perfect science. There are many other factors in building a successful team and healthy work environment. But they hope their tool will increase the odds for success.

While the researchers have been studying these topics for years, they wanted to make sure their tool was easy to use and could be adapted by different work environments. It is why they focused on job interviews, something accepted and considered appropriate by both organizations and applicants in the hiring process.

Sharon Pidakala (M.S., ’22), one of the study authors, is now a People & Development Manager at Lawyers On Demand in Singapore. Her work involves talent acquisition, culture, development, organizational policies and employee engagement. 

“I’ve been grateful to put my research into daily use. It’s really important to make sure that these questions are not outrightly direct because you don’t want it to look like you’re asking someone, ‘Are you a narcissist?’” explained Pidakala, whose SFSU thesis focused on developing the NISE tool. “These questions are raised in a way to make it look favorable for the candidate.”

Pidakala came to SF State specifically to get this type of training. With an undergraduate background in psychology, she sought specialized training in organizational psychology to further refine and expand her expertise in the field.

"Attending SF State and studying organizational psychology has been incredibly valuable, equipping me with versatile skills that can be applied globally," she said. 

Learn more about SFSU’s Industrial/Organizational Psychology program.

Two new papers could help improve understanding of octopus arm function, development, evolution and more

Octopuses are fascinating. Their eight arms gracefully whip through water and can accomplish extraordinary tasks like using tools and opening jars. While humans have one spinal cord attached to their brain, in octopuses, it’s almost like each arm has its own spinal cord (minus the actual spine) and nervous system. These arms can even initiate a response without consulting the brain. 

How octopus arms can do all this at a cellular level has largely remained a neuroscience mystery — one that’s proved difficult to study because of technological limitations and the expense of research. But now San Francisco State University researchers are starting to provide answers. 

Trying to overcome those previous limitations, the San Francisco State researchers created three-dimensional molecular and anatomical maps of the inner neuronal circuitry of octopus arms. Their recent findings were published in two scientific papers in the journal Current Biology.

“Having [these two papers] converging at the same time means the amount we can learn from any single experiment is just astronomically higher,” SF State Biology Associate Department Chair and Assistant Professor Robyn Crook said of her lab’s research. “I would say these papers are really facilitating discovery in new ways.” 

This research was supported by an Allen Distinguished Investigator Award, a Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group advised grant of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Crook’s Allen Distinguished Investigator (ADI) grant was the first recipient in the California State University (CSU) system since the grant’s inception in 2010. 

A traditional two-dimensional look at the octopus arm is comparable to taking a thin slice out of the middle of a fruit loaf. It’s difficult to know if distribution of fruits and nuts in that slice is representative of distribution and interactions throughout the loaf. Instead, postdoctoral fellow Gabrielle Winters-Bostwick and graduate student Diana Neacsu took multiple sections along the octopus arm to create 3D reconstructions of cell distribution and gross anatomy, respectively. 

The ADI project and Crook’s mentorship were instrumental for Neacsu, now a Ph.D. student at Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven in Belgium. During her two years in Crook’s lab, Neacsu gained advanced technical skills and networked and collaborated with more senior researchers, and now she has more scientific research papers in the pipeline. 

“Before I met her, I never really understood the concept of mentorship,” Neacsu said of Crook. “I kind of just thought [mentors] were teachers that are available during office hours.” 

Neacsu’s and Winters-Bostwick’s papers enabled a myriad of research opportunities both within Crook’s lab and beyond. Other labs have already showed interest in using these tools for cephalopod neuroscience research. 

The SF State team is looking at live tissues and seeing how they respond to chemical and mechanical stimulation, trying to understand neurons firing in real time. With the new 3D maps, they can make realistic predictions about what’s happening inside an octopus arm to create these responses. There are also a lot of evolutionary questions Crook’s lab is eager to answer. 

“Why do you have an animal with this much complexity that doesn’t seem to follow the same rules as our other example — humans — of a very complex nervous system?” Crook asked. “There’s a lot of hypotheses. It might be functional. There might be something fundamentally different in the tasks octopus arms have to do. But it could also be an evolutionary accident.”

Learn more about research in SF State’s Department of Biology. 

Enjoy scenic views, sea critters, oysters and science at the center’s annual Marine Lab Open House

Across the Golden Gate Bridge in Tiburon is the only marine lab on the San Francisco Bay: San Francisco State University’s Estuary & Ocean Science (EOS) Center. This October, the center opens its doors to the public for its annual Marine Lab Open House to give the community an opportunity to learn about the San Francisco Bay, partake in family-friendly fun and enjoy gorgeous views — all for free. 

“The Open House gives the EOS Center an opportunity to open our doors to the community and share our passion for marine and estuarine science and conservation,” said Katharyn Boyer, EOS Center interim executive director. “It is fun and fulfilling to share what we do with a swath of the public eager to learn.”

This year’s event is Sunday, Oct. 13, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the EOS Center at the Romberg Tiburon Campus (3150 Paradise Drive Tiburon, CA 94920). Everyone (students, adults, children, scientists and non-scientists) is encouraged to come. Past events have attracted hundreds of attendees — the 2019 event drew over 1,000 attendees — and last year’s event was the first in-person event after a three-year hiatus. 

“My favorite thing is seeing the curiosity and interest in children and adults who attend from all around the Bay Area — it gives me great hope,” Boyer said. “I love to be surprised by the questions that make me realize we have not told our science and conservation stories well enough or in quite the right way.” 

But the EOS Center’s scientists are certainly trying, developing a variety of exhibits and immersive experiences about the ocean, marine life and solutions to environmental issues. Nearly 100 active marine lab scientists from the EOS Center and onsite partners like the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve will greet visitors and answer questions.

Other partners will highlight the intersection between art and science. This year, the Tremology Lab — an arts and science collaborative — will showcase whale and dolphin sounds outdoors via a portable 16-channel immersive audio system. Tremology Lab projects have been exhibited at the National Geographic Society Museum, South by Southwest (SXSW) and more. SF State School of Design Lecturer Josie Iselin will also be on hand to teach visitors how to make their own algae cyanotypes. A “seaweed enthusiast,” Iselin has been a longtime EOS Center collaborator and has produced art and books about seaweeds and kelp.

“People learn in different ways and art can be an effective way to inspire curiosity. For example, when people see the beautiful and varied forms of seaweeds while using them to make sun prints, their interests might be sparked to learn more,” Boyer said. “We love to watch those sparks fly. This is what our Open House is all about.”

Register for the free Marine Lab Open House and learn more about the EOS Center

Students gain marketable skills and mentorship at the cutting-edge facility, paving the way for success in research and industry

Back in grade school, many of us read biology textbooks filled with illustrations of cells, organelles and chromosomes. But in the real world, scientists have methods to light up cells (sometimes colorfully) to view these elements with their own eyes. At San Francisco State University, these researchers are students using the on-campus Cell and Molecular Imaging Center (CMIC).

“When you are the person who gets to prepare the samples and put it in the microscope and are able to take those pretty images … wow, it’s amazing. I didn’t know I could do that,” said Judy Abuel (B.S., ’22; M.S., ’24).

The CMIC recently achieved a major milestone: It surpassed 1,000 student trainees since 2003. Many of those were master’s students, and even more were undergraduates getting a taste of hands-on high-tech science in Hensill Hall. Approximately 36% of all CMIC students are from underrepresented communities.

The CMIC provides San Francisco State researchers access to cutting-edge equipment, data analysis tools and extensive training. It’s that last point — the extensive training — that is key to the students’ success.

Marketable skills

“Ultimately, we’re trying to get students jobs, so a lot of the CMIC’s mission is to try to make sure that they’re trained on up-to-date scientific equipment and that they get research experience, which will make them more competitive at getting jobs,” CMIC Director Annette Chan said. Faculty like Biology Professor Diana Chu periodically write grants to ensure the CMIC has the best equipment, including awards from the National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation program.  

“I think when [students] leave, they can feel more confident that they understand what they are doing. They know how to use the technology that’s relevant to where they are going. It’s very impressive,” Chu said. The resulting high-quality data helps students publish in scientific journals and present at local, national and international conferences, making them competitive for graduate school and industry.

“I did an oral talk last year at a conference. That was my first time showing my pretty [CMIC] images to people, and I could tell that a lot of people were so surprised because I was just a first-year master’s student,” said Abuel, who just started working on her Ph.D. at UC Davis, largely because of her CMIC experience. Like most students, Abuel came to the CMIC with no prior advanced microscopy training.

“I am pretty confident that if I go to a different institution and use their microscope, I would not need a lot of help trying to figure out how to use it,” she added, crediting the variety of CMIC equipment and training.

Training experts

Molecular Biology senior Angelo Orozco first used the CMIC as a sophomore to learn flow cytometry (a way to quantify cells based on physical/chemical properties), a skill widely used in biomedical research and industry. He says it was stressful but the experience gave him a deep understanding of the technique so he could mentor his colleagues.

“I was the [lab’s] resident flow cytometer expert so I had to teach all of these master’s students who might need it for their projects,” Orozco said.

These days, he’s shifted to the CMIC’s microscopes. He’s surprised by the variety and caliber of experiences he’s had this early in his career.

“It just opens so many doors. Even if you don’t use it in the future, it’s still something to show that you are getting out there and you’re learning new things. It also helps you gain new perspectives on anything you might do in the future,” he explained.

Orozco and Abuel admit that working in the CMIC can be intimidating. Coming in with minimal or no prior experience, they were trained to independently use equipment that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. Damaging a device can be costly, ruin experiments and halt work in multiple labs for weeks or longer. However, Chan credits students for the fact that the CMIC equipment rarely encounters issues.

‘The best mentor’

The students and Chu stress Chan’s role in the CMIC’s story. Her expertise, mentorship and patience are critical to the CMIC’s success, they say.

“She’s probably one of the best mentors I’ve ever had,” Orozco said. “I would be in the CMIC very late at night, and [if I have a] question or anything went wrong, all I had to do is email her and she would respond very quickly. She’s always there for you.”

Chan, the sole person running the day-to-day CMIC operations, trains multiple students per week. Each training can last multiple hours and span several days. This level of output is rare and impressive.

“I think [Annette] provides the most thorough training you can imagine,” Chu said. “I think that’s very different from other facilities and facility managers. I think the training [students] get at CMIC is one of the best anywhere.”

As for Chan, she beams with pride thinking of the students working at the CMIC. She’s inspired by the students and in awe of their work, dedication and conscientiousness.

“I always tell people I get the cream of the crop at San Francisco State because these students are highly motivated,” Chan noted. “At SF State, teaching is a big component, which is why I love it here.”

Learn more about the College of Science & Engineering’s centers and research facilities.

With faculty support, a student expands class project into a graduate research project

It’s not often that one gets to throw starfish a birthday party. Some species — like the six-rayed sea star Leptasterias — are notoriously difficult to keep alive in the lab, making even first birthdays a rarity. So when San Francisco State University researcher Berenice Baca achieved the seemingly impossible feat of raising Leptasterias specimens for an entire year, her lab made sure to celebrate.

Happy birthday, dear Leptasterias…

Baca studies the developmental patterns of two species of Leptasterias sea stars (Leptasterias pusilla and Leptasterias aequalis). These species reproduce via brood-fostering, which is akin to a hen sitting on her eggs. While somewhat common among other animals, it’s a rare approach among marine species. In the wild, maternal sea stars protect 50 – 1,500 embryos on their underside until their young stars are ready to be independent. Baca successfully raised these embryos to a juvenile stage in the lab without maternal care (i.e., without brooding). As part of this project, she developed protocols for this process and gleaned unique insight about Leptasterias development.

“As I was starting this project, I realized there’s no information on this, which drove me a little crazy,” Baca said, noting that the knowledge gap fueled her curiosity and determination.

Her first step was to give the sea stars a laboratory home as cold as their native habitat. Baca first raised the stars at 9 to 10 degrees Celsius in a classroom cold room before moving them to a dedicated deli fridge set at 12 to 13 degrees Celsius. Next, she needed to ensure that the stars didn’t starve. This was quite the saga, Baca explains, because the stars kept losing interest in readily available fish food. It turned out Baca’s microscopic juvenile starfish — approximately 0.2 cm in size — required live sea snails, copepods and barnacles they could hunt.

“I ended up getting these microscopic snails that required really fine tweezers to get them out of barnacles. I was doing this at 5 in the morning or very late at night because I have to correlate [my work] with the tides,” she explained.

Comparable studies on Leptasterias failed to grow the early juveniles in the lab and only one known study was able to hatch these stars. Extending Leptasterias’ lifespan in the lab gave Baca the opportunity to document their development as early as eight hours to 31 days, allowing her to capture beautiful images of fertilized eggs and snapshots of intermediate stages. By day 44, her juvenile stars began taking on a familiar six-armed star shape, and by 10 months the stars were 1.3 cm or bigger and started exhibiting hallmark coloration and patterns. Sharing her work at conferences, she was heartened to hear other scientists share excitement for her work and give her words of encouragement.

Baca and the Cohen lab even worked with KQED to feature Leptasterias in a new episode of its science video series “Deep Look.” Scroll to end of story to see the video. 

Growing up alongside her stars

“I’m really thankful for the entire Cohen lab,” Baca said, adding that Cohen’s and her lab mates’ support and encouragement have been instrumental. “I believe without them I wouldn’t have anything.”

Learn more about SF State’s Biology Department.

New funding will support students like Sergio Gonzalez Jr. (above) via financial support, mentorship and career prep so they can enter the workforce.

Over five years, the funds will support hundreds of STEM students through scholarships, research opportunities and career prep

SAN FRANCISCO – May 15, 2024 – San Francisco State University announced today that it received $14 million from the Genentech Foundation to support two University programs that are training the next generation of life sciences leaders. The new five-year grant is the latest in the Genentech Foundation’s transformational support for University programs, which has totaled more than $33 million during their long-lasting partnership. This partnership has impacted more than 700 students since 2008, and an additional 350 students are projected to be supported by the new funding.

The new funds will continue sponsoring San Francisco State’s Genentech Foundation Scholars and PINC (Promoting Inclusivity in Computing) programs. In 2008, an earlier iteration of the program that would become the Genentech Foundation Scholars program began at SF State to support graduate-level students with tuition and scholarships, mentorship, career preparation and research experience. In 2019, the Genentech Foundation awarded the University a historic $10.5 million grant to continue this program and expand support to undergraduate students, followed soon after by additional funding for the PINC program from the Genentech Foundation and Genentech Inc.

This latest $14 million grant will extend tuition support to freshmen and sophomores to cover full tuition for all undergraduate students in the Genentech Foundation Scholars Program for the first time. It will also increase support and research opportunities for students in the PINC programs.

Since the Genentech Foundation-SF State partnership began, the Genentech Foundation Scholars program has had a tangible impact on diversifying the STEM Ph.D. pipeline and increasing the number of underrepresented students in Ph.D. programs. One hundred and six students — 22 undergraduate and 84 master’s students — have enrolled in Ph.D. programs. Thirty-eight students have completed their Ph.D. program, with students from the 2019 grant cohorts still working on their Ph.D. degrees.  Additionally, due to the support provided to remove barriers that typically prevent underrepresented students from completing their degrees in four years, the on-time graduation rate for undergraduate scholars in the program is three times higher than that of SF State students from similar backgrounds who are not in the program.

“The Genentech Foundation Scholars program isn’t just launching more students into Ph.D.s in science and medicine — it’s challenging the status quo perception of which institutions can produce top Ph.D. talent and which students are capable of leading tomorrow’s innovation,” said Kristin Campbell Reed, executive director of the Genentech Foundation. “SF State truly meets students where they are and believes in their boundless potential. We are proud to be doubling down on our investment and invite others to join us in what we believe is a scalable model for change.”

Genentech Foundation Scholars Program

$11.7 million of the grant will go to SF State’s Genentech Foundation Scholars Program. Each year, approximately 120 students participate in the year-long program. In addition to tuition, students receive a stipend and participate in research activities with the support of peer and faculty mentorship. The program offers summer research opportunities, preparatory calculus and chemistry courses for pre-freshmen participants, weekly career-preparation seminars and graduate school application prep.

PINC (Promoting Inclusivity in Computing) Program

The remaining $2.3 million of the grant will support SF State’s Gen-PINC Scholarship and PINC Summer Program, programs that empower students to develop computational skills applicable to real-world research and provide opportunities to work with researchers from industry and other academic institutions. For the Gen-PINC program, the grant renewal will increase the amount of scholarship funding each scholar receives, provide partial tuition for undergraduate scholarship recipients for the first time and expand the budget for student-mentor support. The new grant will also provide students in the eight-week PINC Summer Program more opportunities to explore their interests and develop skills critical for their future careers.

“Our partnership with the Genentech Foundation has accelerated the expansion of successful training programs preparing our diverse students for exciting graduate programs across the country,” said College of Science & Engineering Dean Carmen Domingo. “Working with Genentech scientists, our faculty are creating innovative curricula that apply machine learning approaches to solve real-world biotech problems. These experiences are making our students uniquely prepared for the biotech workforce needs of the future.”

Student impact

SF State undergraduate Sergio Gonzalez Jr. plans to become a professor at a research institute and a biotech leader in regenerative medicine. He’s also quick to emphasize that he wants to be an impactful mentor like the ones he has had at SF State and start programs like the ones he has benefited from. He was supported by both the Genentech Foundation Scholars Program and the Gen-PINC scholarship and has participated in other PINC programs. He originally transferred to SF State in 2013 but left in 2016 for personal reasons. During his academic hiatus, he began working as a medical assistant during the COVID-19 pandemic and realized his desire to help his community through research. He returned to SF State in 2022 to complete his education. Now, he’s making major strides toward his career goals by starting Vanderbilt University’s Interdisciplinary Graduate Ph.D. program in the fall to pursue biomedical research. He’s been awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research fellowship (NSF GRFP).

“I was able to tap into my inner confidence that everyone else saw in me, but I wasn’t really tapping into because of my situation,” he said of the impact of these programs. Gonzalez, like many students, was supporting himself. The financial support and mentorship from these Genentech Foundation-funded programs gave him the time and space to focus on research and achieve a 4.0 GPA.

“Learning that you don’t have to be this picture-perfect person to obtain these fellowships was crucial for me to pursuing them further because I left school,” Gonzalez explained. “When I came back, I remembered these programs and I told myself that in order for me to succeed, I need to be fully funded. These programs will help me get there.”

For more information about these programs, email Professor Emeritus of Biology Frank Bayliss at fbayl@sfsu.edu for Genentech Foundation Scholars and Program Manager Michael Savvides at pincsfsu@sfsu.edu for PINC.

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About San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University is a public university serving students from the San Francisco Bay Area, across California and around the world, with nationally acclaimed programs that span a broad range of disciplines. More than 23,000 students enroll at the University each year, and its nearly 294,000 graduates have contributed to the economic, cultural and civic fabric of San Francisco and beyond. Through them — and more than 1,800 world-class faculty members — SF State proudly embraces its legacy of academic excellence, community engagement and commitment to social justice. For more information, visit sfsu.edu.

About the Genentech Foundation

Since 2002, the Genentech Foundation has worked to unlock access to educational and career pathways in the life sciences and medicine. The U.S.-based, private charitable foundation was established by Genentech, a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines to treat people with serious or life-threatening medical conditions. Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, has headquarters in South San Francisco, California. For further information, visit www.gene.com/good/giving.