Precision Medicine Meets Precision Education
UCSF is perfectly poised to lead the way in dyslexia research due to its integrated service infrastructure, technology, intellectual resources, and track record of success. In the most recent rankings, UCSF was again the only US medical school that was ranked among the top five in both research and primary care training (2018). It also ranked first among all US medical schools in NIH dollars awarded. Further, we have formed a partnership with Charles Armstrong School (Head of School: Jessica Miller), a nationally recognized school located within the San Francisco Bay Area that serves 250 children with language-based learning differences such as dyslexia. These facts position UCSF as an ideal environment to expedite research that translates into clinical and educational practices.
UCSF has been at the cutting edge of research for many neurological disorders, and we are now prepared to invest considerable resources into the study of dyslexia under the executive leadership of Drs. Bob Hendren and Bruce Miller. With the new advances in brain imaging, genetics, and computer processing, the time has come to establish a state of the art clinic to study, diagnose, and treat individuals with dyslexia of all ages in a comprehensive manner. We have renowned expertise not only in dyslexia but also outside of dyslexia such as visuo-spatial processing, motivation, resiliency, socio-emotional processing and executive functioning, all key factors to understanding an individual as a whole and that contribute to individual success. Our UCSF experts in aging contribute uniquely to the mission of our center, given both that the first generation of those diagnosed with dyslexia are now in their 40s and that older individuals are becoming newly aware of their history with dyslexia as their children and grandchildren are being formally diagnosed in early childhood.
The new Dyslexia Center is perfectly suited to lead the way, because it has the best neuroscience facility in the world, access to an extensive network of UCSF resources, and a multidisciplinary team of pre-eminent researchers in the departments of Neurology and Psychiatry. The Sandler Neurosciences Center is a 237,000 square foot facility dedicated to research that is organized to quickly translate basic science research advances into clinical research trials. The building was designed to encourage multidisciplinary collaborations, and it is common to encounter a Nobel laureate or a MacArthur genius in its corridors. With proper funding, we believe that we will be able to identify and treat individuals who are at risk for dyslexia before the disorder manifests itself while maintaining their relative strengths.