For more information, visit us at sbpdiscovery.org.
Sanford Burnham Prebys is an independent biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding human biology and disease and advancing scientific discoveries to profoundly impact human health. Sanford Burnham Prebys is an independent nonprofit research organization that blends cutting-edge fundamental research with robust drug discovery to address unmet clinical needs in the areas of cancer, neuroscience, immunity and addiction. The Institute invests in talent, technology, and partnerships to accelerate the translation of laboratory discoveries that will have the greatest impact on patients. Recognized for its world-class NCI-designated Cancer Center and the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics, Sanford Burnham Prebys employs more than 500 scientists and staff in San Diego (La Jolla), Calif.
02/19/2026
This year marks 50 years of Sanford Burnham Prebys. 🎉🎉🎉
Our interactive timeline traces the discoveries, milestones and philanthropy that have guided the Institute’s evolution from its founding to today. Visionary donors and dedicated scientists have driven progress that improves human health.
Explore the anniversary timeline to see the breakthroughs and generosity that made this impact possible and continue to fuel what comes next.
Wonderful to see Hudson H. Freeze, PhD, featured at the 2026 CDG Scientific & Family Conference — a reflection of his lifelong commitment to the CDG community.
💚🎤 2026 CDG Scientific & Family Conference Speaker Series #6:
We are honored to feature Dr. Hudson H. Freeze, PhD, Director of the Human Genetics Program and Professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute.
Dr. Freeze is a globally recognized pioneer in Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation (CDG) research and has been instrumental in identifying and characterizing many known CDG subtypes. For over four decades, his work has advanced our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying glycosylation disorders and opened the door to potential therapeutic strategies.
A dedicated collaborator, educator, and long-standing Medical Advisory member of CDG CARE, Dr. Freeze continues to shape the scientific foundation that drives progress across the CDG community.
What do medieval plant poisons have to do with modern diabetes treatments?
In the latest episode of the Discovery Dialogues Podcast, hosts Ani Deshpande and Pamela Itkin-Ansari explore how nature’s chemical defenses became some of medicine’s most important therapies.|
From ancient remedies to today’s blockbuster drug Metformin, this conversation traces how scientists learned to harness compounds plants evolved to deter predators and turn them into lifesaving treatments.
Featuring insights from surgeon and writer Ambarish Satwik, endocrinologist David Nathan, and longevity researcher Nir Barzilai.
As part of the 50th anniversary of Sanford Burnham Prebys, we asked our faculty a simple question:
What challenge in science do you most want to resolve?
We start with Lukas Chavez, PhD, who shares the scientific problem that drives his work and the bigger question behind the research in his lab.
Explore the series and the thinking shaping the next 50 years of discovery. https://sbpdiscovery50.org/big-questions/
02/04/2026
Cells operate on rules not vibes, including when on the precipice of persisting or perishing. Yet, with prior research methods, scientists studying this phenomenon had to infer how cells choose to sustain themselves or self-destruct based on the output of their protein factories.
While much more advanced than a pundit’s vibe check, these analyses were constrained by the inability to account for the activity of these proteins after their construction.
Advancing Together: 50 Years of Sanford Burnham Prebys
For 50 years, bold ideas, dedicated scientists, and a shared commitment to discovery have shaped who we are today. Join us as we celebrate this milestone year and look ahead to the next 50.
Learn more: https://sbpdiscovery50.org
01/08/2026
Neuroinflammation is a hidden driver of many brain diseases — and a major challenge in neuroscience. Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute—working with biophysics technology company Fareon and biotechnology company Inapill—are exploring a new magnetic therapy approach that could change how these conditions are treated.
Neuroinflammation is the body's response to injury, infection, toxins, or autoimmune dysfunction in the brain and spinal cord. Institute researchers —working with biophysics technology company Fareon and biotechnology company Inapill—describe a new form of magnetic therapy that demonstrated anti...
12/03/2025
New research from Su-Chun Zhang, MD, PhD, and an international team of collaborators is shedding light on the biology behind Alexander disease—a rare and devastating neurodegenerative disorder.
In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers uncovered a surprising new role for a ropelike structural protein that helps maintain the shape and integrity of our cells.
Their work shows that this protein is essential for keeping mitochondria—the energy-producing “power plants” of our cells—healthy and balanced. When the gene that encodes this protein mutates, it disrupts the delicate cycle of mitochondrial splitting and merging. This imbalance may help explain why Alexander disease leads to progressive damage in the brain and nervous system. https://sbpdiscovery.org/press/structural-support-protein-takes-center-stage-in-maintaining-mitochondria/
11/29/2025
👉Application Deadline is December 1, 2025!👈
With state-of-the-art technology, an entrepreneurial mindset and a highly personalized program, the Sanford Burnham Prebsy Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is dedicated to educating the next generation of outstanding biomedical scientists who will drive future cutting-edge basic and translational research.
Learn more at https://sbpdiscovery.org/education/graduate-school/
11/19/2025
In a new study published November 7, 2025, in Cancer Research, Cosimo Commisso, PhD, the deputy director of the institute’s cancer center and a professor in the Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment Program and his colleagues advanced the possibility of age-based pancreatic cancer treatment by investigating how aging affects cancer cells and the environment surrounding them.
The research team began by comparing the progression of pancreatic cancer in mice that were about two months old and mice that were more than a year and a half old. The cancer cells implanted into the mice were genetically identical, yet the older mice had faster-growing tumors and more cancer cells spreading into other tissues to form metastases.
“It was clear to us that aging was accelerating cancer progression as the primary tumors were larger, and the metastases were larger,” said Priyanka Gupta, PhD, a staff scientist in the Commisso lab and lead author of the manuscript. “It shows the limitations of using young mice to test drugs and model diseases that mostly affect older patients.”
The scientists hypothesized that the change was due to aging altering the tumor microenvironment, the neighborhood of immune cells, connective tissue, blood vessels and a sea of proteins and carbohydrates that cancer cells hijack to avoid the immune system and support their growth.
The researchers began comparing the tumor microenvironment differences by studying gene expression in each group. Nearly 550 genes were either more or less expressed in the tumors of the young and older mice. The older mice’s gene expression indicated a decline in the function of T cells, one of the immune system’s primary tools for detecting and eliminating cancer cells. There also were fewer T cells found in the tumors of older mice.
This finding fit with the result of a follow-up experiment showing that the tumors in older mice featured more collagen, characteristic of a stiff tumor microenvironment that serves as a barrier blocking the entry of T cells.
“The presence of collagen is indicative of fibrosis near the tumors, which we found also was present in data from human patients with pancreatic cancer,” said Commisso. “We know that fibrosis is a driver of tumor progression and makes it harder to deliver drugs across different tumor types, including pancreatic cancer.”
The scientists also discovered that aging was associated with the remodeling of the jelly-like substance between cells called the extracellular matrix. This remodeling contributes to a more fibrotic tumor microenvironment, presenting further obstacles to T cells and promoting tumor metastasis.
“We then asked if it was possible to reverse this remodeling by restoring some of the characteristics in the tumor microenvironment of the older mice to what we observed in their younger counterparts,” said Gupta.
To test this, the scientists turned to cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF), support cells surrounding the tumor that provide nutrition in the form of metabolites as well as growth signals. After implanting CAFs from young and older mice along with cancer cells, the researchers observed the effects on tumor growth and metastasis.
“In the older mice, we saw a revitalization of the tumor microenvironment when implanted with the young CAFs,” said Commisso. “It reversed the metastasis that we saw in the older animals.”
In the future, it may be possible to trigger this revitalization in human patients using a drug or gene therapy. This could slow down the progression of the disease and make tumors more susceptible to other treatments, including immunotherapies that rely on the immune system breaking through a more porous tumor microenvironment.
“This study supports the paradigm shift I believe we need in the field of pancreatic cancer,” said Commisso.
“If we take a more patient-centered approach, we can use preclinical models that factor in age to better reflect who bears the biggest burden of this disease. And that will give us a better shot at discovering and developing therapeutics that get through clinical trials and FDA approval because they work in the patients that most need them.”
Ever wonder how PCR got its start? 🧬
It all began with a heat-loving bacterium discovered in a Yellowstone hot spring in 1966.
That tiny microbe—Thermus aquaticus—was found by microbiologist Thomas Brock and his undergrad assistant Hudson Freeze, now director of the Sanford Children’s Health Research Center at Sanford Burnham Prebys.
Their discovery paved the way for PCR, which has since proven to be an indispensable and ubiquitous tool throughout biomedical research and medicine.
This week, Nature featured it among “7 basic science discoveries that changed the world.” 🌍
Our “A Conversation About” series brings together Sanford Burnham Prebys researchers, clinicians, and community members to explore how aging influences key health issues that affect older adults.
The latest event, 𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐀𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬, featured experts discussing how metabolism changes with age—including the role of 𝐆𝐋𝐏-𝟏 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬—and how these changes influence diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Speakers also shared what science is revealing about how lifestyle and emerging therapies can support healthier aging.
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Sanford Burnham Prebys posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) is a preeminent, independent biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding basic human biology and disease, and advancing scientific discoveries to profoundly impact human health.
Our track record of pioneering research, anchored by our NCI-designated Cancer Center, spans more than 40 years, and has produced breakthroughs in cancer, neuroscience, immunology and children’s diseases.
• Our scientists are prolific in their pursuits, publishing nearly one peer-reviewed research article per day.
• SBP consistently ranks among the top 3 percent of research organizations worldwide in total number of publication citations, which attests to the quality and impact of its science.
• SBP ranks among the top three independent research institutes in the amount of NIH funding it receives, and in 2017 alone, increased NIH grant revenue 15 percent over the previous year.
Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and one of the most advanced nonprofit drug discovery centers in the world, we harness breakthrough discoveries to develop prototype therapies with the potential to improve human health and save lives.
Supported by a deep culture of collaboration, generous benefactors and a global network of partners, we’re also committed to educating and training the next generation of scientific leaders to ensure our legacy continues.
