scripps research new building

The Salk and Scripps Research to expand, sparking another life sciences boom in San Diego

The undertaking is expected to help in the development of new drugs and therapeutics

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The Salk Institute and Scripps Research, a pair of private San Diego science centers known globally for their breakthroughs in areas ranging from cancer to COVID-19, will undergo major expansions, stoking the region’s already thriving life sciences industry.

Both plan to develop large new research buildings in what could become a flood tide of growth. Their neighbor, UC San Diego, is trying to raise millions to build a home for the new Wertheim School of Public Health as well as another stand-alone biomedical lab complex.

The four projects would likely cost up to $800 million and would help cement San Diego’s standing as the third largest life sciences cluster in the U.S., based on data from CBRE.

Scripps Research will be the first to put a shovel in the ground. It will start building a $100 million laboratory and parking complex on the east side of North Torrey Pines Road in La Jolla in November.

The center will reinforce Scripps’ “bench-to-bedside” approach to science. The goal is to more quickly turn basic discoveries made in the lab into new drugs and therapies. The institute already has a company, known as Calibr, that develops drugs.

The new building is meant to expand upon the sort of partnerships that have occurred between Calibr and Scripps neuroscientist Ardem Patapoutian, who shared this year’s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for helping to discover cell receptors that enable people to sense heat, cold, pain, touch and sound .

Patapoutian’s basic research shows great promise in aiding drug development.

“These new facilities, purpose-built to integrate our excellence in foundational science with cutting-edge translational research and drug discovery, are emblematic of Scripps Research’s new model of seamlessly merging translational and basic science,” said Peter G. Schultz, CEO of Scripps, in a statement.

The new Scripps building also will have a BSL3, a specialized lab facility used for infectious disease drug discovery and pandemic preparedness. The institute has been doing a lot of work related to COVID-19 vaccines and anti-viral drugs.

Nearby, the Salk Institute is beginning a $500 million fundraising campaign to help pay for the Center for Science and Technology, as well as an expansion of its faculty and staff.

The center, which will cost roughly $250 million, will heavily focus on Salk specialities, including cancer, aging, neurodegenerative diseases, climate change, plant biology and computational biology.

The institute hasn’t assigned labs yet. But the center could become home for Tony Hunter, the famed Salk biochemist whose research helped lead to the creation of Gleevec, one of the most important anti-cancer drugs ever developed. Hunter last week celebrated his 50th anniversary of working at the Salk.

The institute bears the name of the late Jonas Salk, who developed the first effective vaccine against polio in the 1950s.

The new $500 million fundraising campaign “will take the Salk to a whole different level in science, providing space for research that we are desperate to do,” said Steven Johnson, a Salk spokesman.

The new building will be located on North Torrey Pines Road, a short distance from the Salk’s famous twin laboratory towers and central courtyard. This will be the first large addition to the Salk since 1995, when the institute added what is now known as East Building.

The new expansion will benefit the economy of greater San Diego, said Lynn Reaser, an economist at Point Loma Nazarene University.

“Because life sciences depends critically on basic research, the expansion of these two facilities represents good news,” Reaser said. “The field provides potential solutions to some of the most pressing problems of our time, including health, climate, environment, energy, and the food supply.”

Life Sciences is a major driver of the San Diego economy, directly employing more than 72,000.

“Including all of the multiplier or ripple effects, the total impact on the region last year amounted to 178,000 jobs and $47.8 billion in total business sales,” Reaser said.

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Scripps Oceanography Awarded New Research Building to Study Fragile Marine Ecosystems

Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has been awarded $12 million by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC)/National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to construct a new laboratory building on the Scripps campus for research on marine ecosystem forecasting. This new building will become a resource for marine ecological research at Scripps and for other national and international ocean science organizations that address the management of marine resources. NIST is a non-regulatory federal technology agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce that develops and promotes measurement, standards and technology. NIST also develops measurement capabilities that are fundamental to understanding environmental change, untangling natural variation from human-induced causes, predicting the consequences and enabling the design of effective incentives and regulatory approaches to improve environmental quality. Funding for this new research building enables Scripps scientists to complement DoC science and technology programs, to promote national impacts through research outcomes, and to provide scientific training and opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaborations.

Laboratories, such as these existing labs at Scripps Oceanography, will be constructed in the new NIST-funded building for the Marine Ecosystem Sensing, Observation and Modeling (MESOM) Laboratory.

The new research building at Scripps will house the Marine Ecosystem Sensing, Observation and Modeling (MESOM) Laboratory. Scripps, a leader in research on climate change and its impacts on marine ecosystems, is a research institution and graduate/undergraduate school at UC San Diego. With more than 300 research programs aimed at gaining comprehensive understanding of the oceans, atmosphere and structure of the planet, Scripps is an integral part of the education and research excellence of UC San Diego. "This new state-of-the-art laboratory at Scripps Oceanography will accelerate UC San Diego's leadership in research and collaboration to benefit society," said Marye Anne Fox, chancellor of the University of California, San Diego. The new facility will enable Scripps scientists to build upon a long history of successful research on marine ecosystems and their response to climate variability and change and to develop a new program that will provide the scientific foundation for marine ecosystem forecasting. The program will integrate the development of new physical, biological and chemical sensors, autonomous oceanographic platforms to support them, observations in the California Current Ecosystem (CCE) and forecasting of the CCE based on physical and biological numerical models. The program will make the CCE a model for understanding processes across the world's oceans. The results of the research and modeling will benefit collaborations with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) growing programs in marine ecosystem management. For more than 50 years, Scripps has been home to two of the most important measurement programs in marine ecological systems and global climate: the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) and the Keeling Curve, the CO2 time series at Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory. The U.S. National Bureau of Standards (now NIST), together with the U.S. Weather Bureau, funded the observatory built in 1956 atop Hawaii's volcanic peak. Rising above the lower atmosphere and surrounded by thousands of miles of clean ocean, it was-and remains today-one of the best sites on Earth to measure undisturbed air.

The new Marine Ecosystem Sensing, Observation and Modeling (MESOM) Laboratory building will house the range of scientists who work on marine ecosystem forecasting and management in such sea-going programs as the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations, CalCOFI.

"This tradition and institutional commitment to scientific efforts in long-term measurement programs make Scripps unique in its ability to continually conduct excellent science on marine ecosystems," said Tony Haymet, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Vice Chancellor for Marine Science. "We are grateful for this vote of confidence and Scripps scientists look forward to reinvigorating the collaborations we began with the Keeling CO2 measurements as Scripps and NIST help the U.S. deal with environmental change." Scripps also leads the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System (SCCOOS), a multi-institutional program stretching from Point Conception across the border to northern Baja California. Scripps is home to the NOAA Joint Institute for Marine Observations (JIMO) that addresses major themes of marine resource management. The NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) resides on the Scripps campus, and strong ties exist between SWFSC and Scripps through joint educational and research collaborations at both institutions. In all of these efforts, DoC, through NOAA, has been a partner with Scripps in realizing the full potential of these programs, using scientific results to directly address issues of growing importance to policy makers and society. The DoC/NIST construction grant to Scripps Oceanography will provide the MESOM Laboratory with its own building, enabling valuable information exchange among collaborators who would otherwise be split across five or six buildings. The proposed three-story building will have a total of more than 18,000 assignable square feet divided among laboratories, offices and conference rooms. The design of the new research building will focus on optimizing the opportunities for multidisciplinary research and both formal and informal interactions between the different disciplines. The building will be integrated functionally, so the scientists using it will be able to work efficiently and easily collaborate with one another. It will house the range of scientists necessary to provide aspects of sensor and platform development, design and implementation of field programs, analysis and interpretation of field data and model development. Every effort will be made to incorporate sustainable practices into this building. The goal is to achieve a United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum rating. At a minimum, a Silver LEED rating will be attained, which is in compliance with UC San Diego policy. In light of the adverse impact of California's budget deficit on financing for University of California capital projects, federal government funds are essential to help Scripps realize its vision for the MESOM Laboratory. The $12 million award from DoC/NIST provides almost half of the funding for the new environmental research building. Total construction and outfitting will cost about $26.5 million, with the balance of funding coming from Scripps/UC San Diego and private support. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2011 and be completed by late 2012. The Scripps proposal was one of only three selected in a merit competition out of 93 applicants. The other two grants were awarded to UC Berkeley, which received nearly $11 million for a Center for Integrated Precision and Quantum Measurement, and to the University of Florida, which received $1.2 million for construction of an Aquatic Animal Health Facility.

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A rendering of the Ted and Jean Scripps Marine Conservation and Technology Facility at Scripps Oceanography. The new facility will be a state-of-the-art space for collaboration from across campus and beyond, bringing together data scientists, engineers, conservation groups, marine biologists, policy makers, industry leaders, chefs and more. Credit: Safdie Rabines Architects

Scripps Family Members Gift $6 Million for Naming of New Facility to Support Marine Biodiversity Research and Education

The ted and jean scripps marine conservation and technology facility to open at scripps institution of oceanography in spring 2022.

The University of California San Diego today announced the gift of $6 million from members of the Scripps family to support the naming of a new facility dedicated to research, discovery and education in the field of marine biodiversity and conservation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The Marine Conservation and Technology Facility, currently under construction and expected to open in Spring 2022, will be named the Ted and Jean Scripps Marine Conservation and Technology Facility, in honor of Jean and the late Edward “Ted” Scripps. The gift was made to honor their parents by Bill and Kathy Scripps, Ed and Christy Scripps, and an anonymous member of the Scripps family.

“As climate change firmly takes hold and alters the ocean environment, it is more important than ever to understand the challenges our oceans face and what we can do to preserve them,” said Ed Scripps. “This center is fundamental in that process.”

This new building will house the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation ( CMBC ), which is dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach in the education of future leaders in marine stewardship, and in the application of research focused on the preservation of marine species and ecosystems. The new building will also feature state-of-the-art laboratories and instruction space essential to contributing towards the university’s student-centered, research-focused mission, and space to develop and test new instrumentation to study the vitality of marine ecosystems.

“The Scripps family shares UC San Diego’s commitment to understanding and protecting our planet,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “Their longstanding vision to support global research and education concerning the effects of climate change on biodiversity aligns perfectly with the innovative work that will take place in this new facility.”

The building, designed by Safdie Rabines Architects, will serve as the northern gateway to Scripps Oceanography’s campus. Teaching spaces at the 24,269-square-foot building will include a 100-seat lecture hall, two class laboratories for teaching with live organism study and marine chemistry, and conference rooms for seminars and collaborative meetings.

An additional ten research laboratories will occupy the building, and a new visualization center will allow integration and presentation of data sources. The basement will be almost entirely devoted to a saltwater research aquarium that will have seawater pumped from the Pacific Ocean through the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier seawater system. This aquarium will enable scientists to conduct research using organisms from multiple habitats and simulate future climate scenarios, train students on various research techniques, and test new technology to deploy in marine environments.

“The Ted and Jean Scripps Marine Conservation and Technology Facility represents a new era for Scripps,” said Margaret Leinen, vice chancellor for marine science at UC San Diego and director of Scripps Oceanography. “The focus on solutions-inspired science will shape our approach to protecting vital global marine resources, and provide an unparalleled teaching environment for us to train the next generation of scientific leaders.” 

Teaching students and the public about sustainable seafood, both wild-caught and grown in aquaculture settings, will be a focus. The facility will feature a demonstration kitchen, with the aim of ongoing collaboration with the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center to feature chefs preparing locally caught and grown seafood in novel preparations. The building will also provide a coastal view cafe, open to the public for daily dining. Three outdoor terraces with sweeping ocean views will be accessible for use by students and staff.

“Scientists and students in this building will work on crucial research including developing strategies around management of ocean ecosystems, finding solutions for overfishing and seafood sustainability, and developing global conservation solutions,” said Stuart Sandin, marine ecologist and director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation. “And as excited as we are about the research, we know public engagement will be equally important. We are thrilled this building will give us the space to invite our community in to learn about science and solutions firsthand.”

Siblings Ellen Browning Scripps and Edward W. Scripps were the driving force behind the founding of Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1903. Additional philanthropy has come to the university since then from several generations of Scripps family members. The support has funded several research vessels over the decades as well as the Robert Paine Scripps Forum for Science, Society, and the Environment in 2007. More recently, more than a dozen descendants of Edward W. Scripps contributed $4.6 million to revitalization projects at Scripps, including four Scripps family siblings who funded the revitalization and naming of the Charles and Lois “Beano” Scripps Center for Coastal Studies, and ten individual family members and multiple family foundations who collaborated to support improvements to Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier.

A variety of additional naming opportunities to support the completion of the building through philanthropy are still available. Individuals or organizations interested in supporting global biodiversity and conservation research and education are encouraged to contact the Scripps Development Office or at (858) 822-1865.

This gift from the Scripps family contributes to the Campaign for UC San Diego—a university-wide comprehensive fundraising effort concluding in 2022. Alongside UC San Diego’s philanthropic partners, the university is continuing its nontraditional path toward revolutionary ideas, unexpected answers, lifesaving discoveries and planet-changing impact. To learn more, visit https://campaign.ucsd.edu/ .

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