Established | 1924 |
---|---|
Faculty | 173 |
Staff | 2,100 |
Location | , US |
Coordinates | 32°53′34″N117°14′34″W / 32.8929°N 117.2427°W |
Website | www |
Scripps Research is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the institute has over 170 laboratories employing 2,100 scientists, [1] technicians, graduate students, and administrative and other staff.
The institute holds over 1,100 patents, [2] has produced 11 FDA-approved therapeutics, and has generated over 50 spin-off companies.[ citation needed ] The Scripps Research graduate program is ranked 9th nationally in the biological sciences, 6th for organic chemistry, and 6th for biochemistry. [3]
In 2022, their Jupiter, Florida, campus became a part of the University of Florida. [4] Jupiter-based graduate students remain part of the Scripps Research graduate program.
Scripps Research began with the Scripps Metabolic Clinic, founded near the current site in the La Jolla area of San Diego in 1924 by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, [5] [6] who was inspired by the discovery of insulin. In 1946, the metabolic clinic separated from Scripps Memorial Hospital.
In 1956, Scripps Research was renamed Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation to reflect its broader focus and management's renewed commitment to biomedical research. Harvard biochemist A. Baird Hastings joined the institute in 1959, followed by immunologist Frank J. Dixon and colleagues William Weigle, Joseph Feldman, Charles Cochrane, and Jacinto Vazquez in 1961, biochemist Frank Huennekens and microbiologist John Spizizen in 1962. Dixon was appointed director of research operations in 1974, and in 1977 these operations assumed the name of The Research Institute of Scripps Clinic. [7]
Upon Dixon's retirement in 1986, Richard Lerner, who had been chair of the Scripps Department of Molecular Biology, was appointed the research institute's new director. In 1989, the institute launched a graduate program. In 1991, as the result of a merger of hospitals, the research branch became part of a larger organization, the Scripps Institutions of Medicine and Science. In 1993, the research division separated from the clinical side, becoming an independent nonprofit organization under the name of the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). [7] An additional campus in Florida was instituted in 2004.
Michael Marletta became president and CEO in 2012, assuming the position from Lerner. [8] Marletta announced his resignation on July 21, 2014, and James C. Paulson was subsequently appointed acting president and CEO.
In September 2015, Peter G. Schultz was appointed CEO, and Steve A. Kay, president. [9] Kay announced he was returning to the University of Southern California in August 2016. [10]
In October 2016, TSRI announced a strategic affiliation with the non-profit California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr). The two organizations had already collaborated on several research programs in recent years, including the development of an antibody engineering platform aimed at improving treatments for chronic diseases such as diabetes and COPD, and immune therapies for the treatment of cancer. [11] Calibr now represents the drug discovery and development division of Scripps Research.
In February 2017, 5AM Ventures' John Diekman was named chairman of the board. [12]
In July 2018, TSRI was officially rebranded to Scripps Research.
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography is often incorrectly associated with Scripps Research; it is in fact a nearby research facility that is part of UCSD. Scripps Research is a private nonprofit institute not directly associated with UCSD. Confusingly, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography was once called the Scripps Institution for Biological Research.
In 2022, Scripps Florida separated from Scripps Research and became a part of the University of Florida. [13]
Scripps Research's California campus is located on 35 acres (140,000 m2) of land between Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla.
Scripps Research emphasizes interdisciplinary studies. Scripps Research scientists possess deep expertise in a range of scientific fields[ citation needed ] and are organized into five interrelated departments: Chemistry, Immunology and Microbiology, Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, Molecular Medicine, and Neuroscience.
The institute also incorporates the:
Among the 173 members of faculty are Nobel laureates Ardem Patapoutian, K. Barry Sharpless, and Kurt Wüthrich, as well as many other notable scientists, including Phil S. Baran, Donna Blackmond, Dale L. Boger, Benjamin Cravatt III, William R. Roush, Paul Schimmel, Peter G. Schultz, Gary Siuzdak, Eric Topol, Charles Weissmann, Ian Wilson, Peter Wright, Chi-Huey Wong and John R. Yates. [23]
In addition to the Nobel laureates, the Scripps Research faculty includes numerous members of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Philosophical Society, as well as winners of the Wolf Prize in Chemistry and MacArthur Fellows Program ("genius grant"). [24]
The board of directors includes John D. Diekman (founder of 5AM Ventures), William R. Hearst III (chairman of the board, Hearst Corporation), Ge Li (founder of WuXi AppTec), and Joel S. Marcus (founder, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.).
According to the 2017 Nature Innovation Index, Scripps Research is the #1 most influential research institution in the world (LENS score of 18.1), followed by The Rockefeller University (LENS score of 15.4) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (LENS score of 9.4). [25]
Scripps Research was noted as a standout in the Science Watch survey of "high-impact" papers in chemistry (1997–2008), ranked number one worldwide by citations per paper. [14]
Another measure of productivity, the Hirsch index (which has been published by Chemistry World), placed six Scripps Research scientists – Wüthrich, Sharpless, Lerner, Yates, Schultz, and Chi-Huey Wong – in the top 100 of 2,000 chemists rated. Science Watch placed Sharpless within the Top 10 list of its "Top 100 Chemists 2000–2010" based on citations impact; other faculty in the list were the late Carlos F. Barbas and John R. Yates. [26]
In addition, a Thomson-Reuters's list of researchers ranked in the top one percent by citations in their field (2002 to 2012) included TSRI researchers Phil S. Baran (chemistry); the late Carlos F. Barbas (chemistry); Dennis Burton (microbiology); Benjamin Cravatt III (biology and biochemistry); Pascal Poignard (microbiology); K. Barry Sharpless (chemistry); Eric Topol (genomic and digital medicine); [27] Ian Wilson (microbiology); Richard Wyatt (microbiology); and Jin-Quan Yu (chemistry). [28]
Medical therapies based on Scripps Research findings include: [29]
The graduate program at Scripps Research started in 1989 as the Macromolecular and Cellular Structure and Chemistry (MCSC) Program. A program in Chemistry followed three years after the establishment of the MCSC Program. In 2003, the institute redefined the curriculum to allow and encourage students to build course loads in an interdisciplinary manner. In 2005, Scripps Research's graduate program expanded to encompass the Jupiter, Florida campus. Today, approximately 300 graduate students are enrolled in the program, which offers doctoral degrees in the chemical and biological sciences. In addition to its Ph.D. programs, Scripps Research offers a master's degree in the discipline of Clinical and Translational Investigation (MCTI) for physician-scientists. The institute also administers the Skaggs-Oxford Scholarship program, which enables students to pursue a joint Ph.D./D.Phil. with the University of Oxford.
The most recent graduate school rankings by U.S. News & World Report places Scripps Research's program as 6th in chemistry (2nd in biochemistry, 5th in organic chemistry) and 10th in biological sciences. [33]
In 2018, the program was renamed the Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences following a gift from the Skaggs family. [34]
Florida Atlantic University launched a new joint MD/PhD program association with Scripps Florida. The first students entered the new program in fall 2011. [35] Previously, Scripps Research and the Scripps Health hospital network explored the idea of starting a medical school in California, [36] but this project did not come to fruition.
The California and Florida campuses both offer educational outreach programs for high school students and undergraduates interested in learning more about science.
The Florida campus of Scripps Research operates a 350,000-square-foot (33,000 m2) state-of-the-art biomedical research facility focusing on neuroscience, cancer biology, medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, biotechnology, and alternative energy development. More than 500 faculty, staff and students occupy Scripps Research's Florida campus.
The new facility's grand opening took place on February 26, 2009, five years after Scripps Florida started operating. It was a public ceremony that drew many dignitaries, including then-Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.
The scenic Jupiter, Florida campus of Scripps Research encompasses three buildings on 30 lush acres within Palm Beach County’s innovation corridor, between Interstate 95 and the Atlantic Ocean. Here, dozens of principal investigators work with their laboratory members to understand disease and develop effective treatments. [37]
In 2022, Scripps Florida became a part of University of Florida Health. [13] In October 2022, it received a $100 million donation from UF alumnus Herbert Wertheim. It was renamed Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology after the donation. [38]
The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute received $64.8 million in annual research revenue in 2024. [39]
Grants and contracts provide funding for a significant portion of the institute's research. This revenue is derived primarily from the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies. In addition, grantors include, among others, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and the Juvenile Diabetes Association.
Gifts from individuals and private foundations provide an important source of funding for Scripps Research. In 2008, Audrey Geisel had a star named after her in recognition of her 50 years of support. [40]
Private foundations that have provided support include the ALSAM Foundation, Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust, W.M. Keck Foundation, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ellison Medical Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Harold L. Dorris Foundation.
The establishment of the Scripps Florida campus was made possible by a one-time $310 million appropriation of federal economic development funds and by the Florida State Legislature and by an economic package provided by Palm Beach County. [41]
The University of California, San Diego is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, UC San Diego is the southernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California. It offers over 200 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, enrolling 33,096 undergraduate and 9,872 graduate students, with the second largest student housing capacity in the nation. The university occupies 2,178 acres (881 ha) near the Pacific coast.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is the center for oceanography and Earth science at the University of California, San Diego. Its main campus is located in La Jolla, with additional facilities in Point Loma.
UC San Diego Health is the academic health system of the University of California, San Diego in San Diego, California. It is the only academic health system serving San Diego and has one of three adult Level I trauma centers in the region. In operation since 1966, it comprises three major hospitals: UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest, Jacobs Medical Center in La Jolla, and East Campus Medical Center at UC San Diego Health in East County. The La Jolla campus also includes the Moores Cancer Center, Shiley Eye Institute, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, and Koman Family Outpatient Pavilion, and the health system also includes several outpatient sites located throughout San Diego County. UC San Diego Health works closely with the university's School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy to provide training to medical and pharmacy students and advanced clinical care to patients.
Benjamin Franklin Cravatt III is a professor in the Department of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Considered a co-inventor of activity-based proteomics and a substantial contributor to research on the endocannabinoid system, he is a prominent figure in the field of chemical biology. Cravatt was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2014, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016. He is Gilula Chair of Chemical Biology, a Cope Scholar, and a Searle Scholar.
Richard Alan Lerner was an American research chemist. He was best known for his work on catalytic antibodies and combinatorial antibody libraries. Lerner served as President of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) from 1987 until January 1, 2012, and was a member of its Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, in La Jolla, California.
The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine is the graduate medical school of the University of California, San Diego, a public land-grant research university in La Jolla, California. It was the third medical school in the University of California system, after those established at UCSF and UCLA, and is the only medical school in the San Diego metropolitan area. It is closely affiliated with the medical centers that are part of UC San Diego Health.
Gerald Francis "Jerry" Joyce is president and professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and was previously the director of the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation. He is best known for his work on in vitro evolution, for the discovery of the first DNA enzyme (deoxyribozyme), for his work in discovering potential RNA world ribozymes, and more in general for his work on the origin of life.
Sanford Burnham Prebys is a 501(c)(3) non-profit medical research institute focused on basic and translational research, with major research programs in cancer, neurodegeneration, diabetes, infectious, inflammatory, and childhood diseases. The institute also specializes in stem cell research and drug discovery technologies.
The Scripps Research Graduate Program is an interdisciplinary graduate school offering doctoral (Ph.D.) degrees in the chemical and biological sciences.
Dale Lester Boger is an American medicinal and organic chemist and former chair of the Department of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA.
Jeffery W. Kelly is an American businessman and chemist who is on the faculty of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
The Neurosciences Institute (NSI) was a small, nonprofit scientific research organization that investigated basic issues in neuroscience. Active mainly between 1981 and 2012, NSI sponsored theoretical, computational, and experimental work on consciousness, brain-inspired robotics, learning and memory, sensory processing, and motor control.
Thomas Dean Pollard is a prominent educator, cell biologist and biophysicist whose research focuses on understanding cell motility through the study of actin filaments and myosin motors. He is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology and a professor emeritus of cell biology and molecular biophysics & biochemistry at Yale University. He was dean of Yale's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from 2010 to 2014, and president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies from 1996 to 2001.
Herbert A. Wertheim is an American optometrist, inventor, billionaire businessman, and philanthropist. He is the founder and president of Brain Power Incorporated (BPI).
Michael A. Marletta is an American biochemist. He was born in Rochester, New York, the son of Italian immigrants. He graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 1973 with an A.B. degree in biology and chemistry, and from the University of California, San Francisco in 1978 with a Ph.D. degree in pharmaceutical chemistry, where he studied with George Kenyon. He was a postdoctoral fellow with Christopher T. Walsh at MIT from 1978-1980 and continued as a faculty member at MIT from 1980-1987 whereupon he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was John G. Searle Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the college of pharmacy and professor of biological chemistry at the University of Michigan. In 2001, he moved to the University of California, Berkeley to assume roles as Aldo DeBenedictis Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, and served as the chair of the department of chemistry from 2005 until 2010. He was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. From January 2012 to August 2014, Marletta was president and CEO of The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, succeeding Richard Lerner.
The Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) is a center at the University of California, San Diego. Formally established in 2008, CARTA is a collaboration between faculty members of UC San Diego main campus, the UCSD School of Medicine, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and interested scientists at other institutions from around the world.
William R. Roush is an American organic chemist. He studied chemistry at the University of California Los Angeles and Harvard University. Following a year postdoctoral appointment at Harvard, he joined that faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1987, Dr. Roush moved to Indiana University and was promoted to Professor in 1989 and Distinguished Professor in 1995. Two years later, he moved to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and served as the Warner Lambert/Parke Davis Professor of Chemistry. He served as chair of the University of Michigan's Department of Chemistry from 2002-2004. In 2004 Professor Roush relocated with his group to the Jupiter, Florida, campus of the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) where he is currently an emeritus professor.
The Scripps Energy & Materials Center (SEMC) is an American research center that focuses on research in the basic energy and materials sciences. Located in Jupiter, Florida, the center has scientists, graduate students, and administrative staff. The SEMC is a part of the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), one of the largest non-profit research institutes in the world.
James C. Paulson is an American biochemist and biologist known for his work in glycobiology.
Albert Baird Hastings was an American biochemist and physiologist. He spent 28 years as the department chair and Hamilton Kuhn Professor of Biological Chemistry at Harvard University. After retiring from Harvard, Hastings moved to the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, where he became the director of the division of biochemistry and helped to establish the institution's emerging program in basic research. In 1966, he became one of the first faculty members at the University of California, San Diego's new medical school. His research focused on the biochemical underpinnings of physiology and included characterizing acid-base homeostasis in blood and pioneering the use of radioactive tracers for studying metabolism. Hastings received a number of honors and awards for his work, including election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1937 and the President's Medal for Merit in 1948 following his wartime service on the Committee for Medical Research. Hastings died of heart failure in 1987 at age 91.