The care at the new UCSF Women’s Specialty Hospital at Mission Bay will be based upon the groundbreaking research and understanding of women’s health that are the hallmarks of UCSF. Building on these advances, clinicians and researchers will continue to share insights and ideas, and translate their findings into new models of healing, prevention and treatment. And as a teaching facility, UCSF Women’s Specialty Hospital at Mission Bay will further the training of the next generation of leaders in women’s health – and ultimately advance the health of women locally, nationally and worldwide.

Researchers and Clinicians at UCSF...

• Created the first in-vitro fertilization program in the Bay Area.


• Advanced the treatment of male infertility by successfully adapting for human use the technique of injecting a single sperm into an egg.


• Revolutionized the field of prenatal diagnosis, proving the safety and accuracy of tests now routinely used to screen for birth defects.


• Performed the nation’s first open surgery on a fetus while still in the womb.


• Founded one of only six vanguard birth centers in the nation.


• Launched www.breastcancertrials.org, the first website designed to help breast cancer patients find clinical trials for which they may be eligible.


• Pioneered an adaptive trial design to accelerate the translation of research into the clinical care of breast cancer patients.


• Tested effectiveness of administering a single dose of radiation in the operating room versus a five- to six-week regimen of whole breast radiation.


• Developed a new class of targeted chemotherapy drugs (immunoliposomes), designed to reduce toxicity and increase effectiveness.


• Were awarded the first NIH Specialized Center of Research in Female Incontinence.


• Established the nation’s first family planning fellowship, producing leaders in research, clinical care and public policy impacting the reproductive rights and health of women.


• Initiated and hosted the first international Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility.