UCSF School of Pharmacy

Meet the UCSF School of Pharmacy’s Class of 2029 as they share what inspires them to pursue pharmacy and why they chose UCSF.

At the 2026 White Coat Ceremony that welcomed them into the pharmacy profession, students reflect on their passion for science, patient care, and public service — and their excitement about the many career paths a pharmacist can take, and the profound impact a single medication can have on someone’s quality of life.

Hear what motivates this next generation of pharmacists as they begin the three-year PharmD degree program at UCSF.

Voices of Class of 2029 PharmD Students: Why UCSF Meet the UCSF School of Pharmacy’s Class of 2029 as they share what...

The International Chemical Biology Society is holding its conference this year at UCSF in October. Professor Michelle Arkin is among the organizers and professor Tanja Kortemme will be one of the keynote speakers.

The event brings together leading scientists from academia, industry, nonprofits, and government to explore groundbreaking research at the interface of chemistry and biology.

Speakers will be selected from abstracts. Submit abstracts by Aug. 15 to be considered.

The Quantitative Biosciences Institute, UCSF (QBI) at the University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy is expanding its leadership with the appointments of two nationally recognized leaders in translational science, infectious disease research, and pandemic preparedness to newly created executive leadership roles aimed at scientific and strategic growth.

John Young, PhD, joins QBI as chief strategy officer after leading infectious disease research and pandemic preparedness at Roche. Andy Kilianski, PhD, becomes chief science and technology officer after helping oversee more than $1 billion in biomedical R&D investments at Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).

Together, they'll help accelerate QBI's mission to translate discoveries into new therapies by expanding partnerships across industry, government, and global health.

"John and Andy each bring an exceptional combination of scientific expertise, leadership experience, and translational vision," said QBI Director Nevan Krogan, PhD. "Together, they will help expand QBI's impact by building the partnerships and technological capabilities needed to move groundbreaking discoveries from the laboratory toward improving human health."

Learn more about these new appointments and QBI's growing role in advancing therapeutic discovery: https://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/news/2026/07/qbi-adds-strategic-leaders-to-expand-scientific-innovation-and-partnerships

UCSF Science & Health Education Partnership (SEP)

On Friday, July 17, 129 members of the UCSF School of Pharmacy Class of 2029 received their white coats during the school's 24th annual White Coat Ceremony at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre.

The ceremony marks the beginning of their journey into the pharmacy profession and celebrates their commitment to scientific inquiry, compassionate patient care, and lifelong learning.

Along the way, students heard words of encouragement from Dean Kathy Giacomini, PhD, BSPharm; UCSF Health Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer Noelle RM Chapman, PharmD, MBA; Pharmacy Alumni Association President Matthew Bryant, PharmD, and second-year PharmD student Arielle Chang.

Congratulations, Class of 2029! We're excited to see the impact you'll make while preparing for a profession that is evolving rapidly through advances in artificial intelligence, precision medicine, and emerging technologies.

🔗 Read more: https://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/news/2026/07/white-coat-ceremony-welcomes-pharmd-class-of-2029

🥼 White coats. Big dreams.

Today, 129 members of the UC San Francisco (UCSF) School of Pharmacy Class of 2029 officially received their white coats at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, surrounded by the people who have supported them every step of the way.

This milestone marks the start of an incredible journey of learning, discovery, and caring for patients. We are so excited to welcome this new class and can’t wait to see where the next three years take them.

Join us in congratulating the Class of 2029! 🎉

What can ancient DNA teach us about rare disease?

Tony Capra, PhD, a professor in the UCSF School of Pharmacy's Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, uses computational biology and AI to tackle one of genetics' biggest challenges: understanding which DNA differences matter—and how those discoveries could improve the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

In this Q&A, Capra discusses:
- What Neanderthal DNA reveals about human health
- How AI is transforming genetics research
- Why rare diseases remain so difficult to solve
- The discoveries that excite him most
- Why following your curiosity can lead to unexpected breakthroughs

Read the full Q&A: https://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/news/2026/07/qa-tony-capra-on-ai-ancient-dna-and-the-future-of-genetics

After leading infectious disease surveillance and outbreak investigations at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Faisal Minhaj, PharmD, MPH, DABAT, has joined the UCSF School of Pharmacy as executive director of the California Poison Control System (CPCS).

For Minhaj, what sets CPCS apart is California's uniquely unified statewide poison control system, and the opportunity to strengthen public health through research, collaboration, and patient care.

"Poison centers are this little gem," Minhaj said. "There's so much expertise at the School of Pharmacy, with researchers working in areas where we may be able to help answer their questions with the data we have, and they may have new information that helps us answer our questions."

Each year, CPCS responds to more than 230,000 calls, providing free, confidential, multilingual assistance to Californians while helping identify emerging public health threats and improve patient care.

Read more about Minhaj’s vision for the future of CPCS and its role in advancing public health: https://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/news/2026/07/new-cpcs-executive-director-brings-public-health-vision

Artificial intelligence is transforming biomedical research, and the UCSF School of Pharmacy is helping lead the way.

James Fraser, PhD, professor and chair of the school's Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, is co-leading the new Bakar Computational Biomedicine Initiative, a partnership between UCSF and UC Berkeley that will bring together experts in AI, computing, biology, and medicine to accelerate discoveries that improve human health.

"The real potential of this initiative will be in making the connections that no one saw coming," Fraser said. "It's tremendously exciting to be able to concentrate the innovative talent, scientific expertise, diverse data sets, and technology of both of our campuses to advance biomedical discovery."

Read more about how Fraser's collaboration with Yun S. Song, of UC Berkeley, and Fernando Pérez, co-inventor of the Jupyter open-source platform: https://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/news/2026/07/new-program-at-ucsf-and-uc-berkeley-will-drive-advances-in-medicine

New research published in Cell Host & Microbe from the UCSF School of Pharmacy’s Quantitative Biosciences Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Institut Pasteur, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center found that a single amino acid change in a coronavirus protein can alter how the virus interacts with the immune systems of bats and humans. The study helps explain how benign animal viruses can adapt to humans and cause severe disease.

"The difference between a virus that stays in bats and one that spills over into humans and causes catastrophic disease can come down to remarkably small genetic changes," said QBI Director Nevan Krogan, PhD, a senior author of the study. "By mapping these interactions at the protein level — across two viruses and two species — we can read the molecular signatures that predict spillover risk. It's the kind of early warning system the world needs.”

Read more: https://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/news/2026/07/single-amino-acid-change-may-help-viruses-jump-from-bat-to-human