In the mid-1990s, few doctors knew exactly how to interpret a patient’s level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)—a substance that can be elevated when prostate cancer is present, or with a noncancerous condition, such as an enlarged prostate. So when Kern’s doctor saw an elevated reading, he said, “Don’t worry.” After all, Kern was not yet 50 years old, and he was healthy.
UCSF at Mission Bay will be a place where 21st-century science meets 21st-century medicine, with the best research and the best care available.
But when Kern mentioned his PSA level to an endocrinologist he knew from UCSF, he heard different advice: See Dr. Peter Carroll, a leading expert in prostate cancer. “Being treated by Peter probably saved my life,” Kern now says. Gratitude, combined with the same thirst for innovation that made him a business leader, inspired Kern to cross over from prostate cancer patient to research advocate.
Along with Andy Grove, then CEO of Intel, and Van Van Auken of the venture capital firm Mayfield Fund, Kern helped organize fellow prostate cancer survivors to share their recovery experiences and raise research funds. Six times a year, for more than five years, the group met with UCSF cancer research leaders, asking civilian questions and providing outside perspective. “Through that experience, I came to deeply appreciate the work those scientists do,” Kern says.
According to Dr. Carroll, the feeling was mutual. “Art brought CEOs from major Silicon Valley companies to offer invaluable feedback on our work processes,” says Carroll. “Based on their input, we started focusing on multidisciplinary care, and organized our research engines around a few key priorities,” including personalized medicine, which tailors treatment to each patient’s tumor profile.
Kern deepened his connection to the medical center by serving two terms on the UCSF Foundation board of directors. “The more involved I get, the more I admire the people and the spirit here,” Kern says. “Collaboration has always been the ‘secret sauce’ of UCSF. And, just as Silicon Valley’s innovations grow from teamwork, it’s increasingly clear that solutions to diseases like cancer aren’t going to come from one researcher working alone." Kern believes that The Campaign for UCSF Medical Center is going to fuel collaborative breakthroughs. “The chance to make a difference quickly has never been greater, especially at Mission Bay, where we can practice medicine combined with science in real time,” Kern says. “If the promise of personalized medicine is going to happen anywhere, it will be at UCSF.”
