UC Noyce Workshop Explores Bold Future for Computational Health Research

On June 16, leading scientists, faculty and research executives from across five University of California campuses gathered at UC San Francisco’s Mission Bay campus for a high-stakes strategic workshop hosted by the UC Noyce Initiative. 

Their mission was to identify key areas of opportunity in computational health that could be advanced through multi-million, cross-campus research investment. These ideas were then presented as recommendations to the UC Noyce Initiative's executive committee for their consideration as part of an on-going request for proposals (RFP) process.

The workshop, titled UC Noyce Computational Health, brought together an extraordinary cross-section of expertise from across the UC system — including specialists in neurology, epidemiology, computational biology, public health, clinical informatics, bioengineering, data science, robotics, and health policy — demonstrating the initiative’s commitment to tackling complex health challenges through truly interdisciplinary collaboration. Four vice chancellors for research and representatives of the Robert N. Noyce Trust were also in attendance.

“This wasn’t just a workshop. It was a launchpad for collaborative innovation,” said Bryan Kerner, executive director of the UC Noyce Initiative. “We’re looking for high-impact ideas that aren’t being funded elsewhere, ones that truly leverage the collective strengths of the UC system.”

A Unique Structure Driven by One Mission

Through both large group as well as targeted breakout-room discussions, the group conversed about such topics as how advanced computation, artificial intelligence and data science can accelerate health discovery and improve clinical and public health outcomes. 

Structured around four guiding themes — accelerating discovery science, revolutionizing clinical care, radically rethinking public health, and improving platforms to impact at scale — participants aligned on a series of "grand challenges" that could reshape the health landscape in California and beyond.

“The whole vision and spirit of bringing people with diverse backgrounds together across the whole state of California is really powerful,” said Marina Sirota, professor of pediatrics and interim director of the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute at UCSF. “Every UC has its own expertise and flavor, and by bringing these groups together, you can really achieve more than the sum of the parts.”

Unlike traditional funding processes where priorities are often set behind closed doors, the UC Noyce’s Computational Health Workshop flipped the model — inviting faculty from across the UC system to inform the initiative’s future funding priorities. The structure empowered researchers to think beyond their individual labs and focus instead on big, shared challenges that could advance the public good. The tone throughout the day was strikingly collaborative, with many participants shedding institutional affiliation in favor of cross-campus, cross-disciplinary problem solving.

“When you're asked to participate in a meeting like this, you try to take off your hat of your lab and put on the hat of the institution that is asking for feedback,” said Sergio Baranzini, professor of neurology at UCSF. “I think everyone did a good job on that.”

Key Workshop Takeaways and Ideas

Key discussions included the development of:

• AI-powered tools to support early disease prevention in underserved communities,
• Scalable health data platforms to enable secure, cross-campus research collaborations, and
• New methods for decoding complex syndromic conditions through multi-scale data integration.

“These discussions didn’t shy away from complexity,” said Harold Collard, UCSF vice chancellor for research and workshop co-lead. “We surfaced ideas spanning from molecular mechanisms to community trust. I think today has been a very tangible example of what we can accomplish when we collaborate and harness the strengths of the UC system.”

Workshop One of Many. Proposals Soon to Come.

Named for microchip co-inventor Robert N. Noyce and pioneering technology executive Ann S. Bowers, the UC Noyce Initiative was launched in 2020 to harness the University of California’s research power in service of ethical, innovative solutions for the public good. 

Overarching principles emphasized during the June workshop included targeting California-specific needs, prioritizing measurable public health outcomes, and investing in projects unlikely to be funded by traditional mechanisms.
The Computational Health Workshop is one of several high-impact convenings hosted over the past 12 months — building on earlier workshops focused on Quantum Information Science (Summer 2024) and Cybersecurity (April 2025). Together, these gatherings are shaping the Initiative’s strategic funding roadmap across its core focus areas. 

As the UC Noyce Executive Committee reviews the workshop’s recommendations, a formal call for proposals is expected to follow — one that reflects the energy, urgency and intellectual power on display at the computational health workshop.