The University of California's role in health research and the prevention and treatment of disease includes programs that target high-priority health issues in California — HIV/AIDS, breast cancer and tobacco-related disease — which are responsible for substantial human suffering and staggering financial costs.

Systemwide Research
Many of these efforts are guided by UC's Special Research Programs Office, which awards research grants to enhance understanding of the causes of these diseases and develop more effective approaches to preventing and treating them. Funded research covers a wide range of disciplines, including public health, public policy, law, epidemiology, clinical and behavioral medicine and biomedical research in cellular and molecular biology, immunology, pathology and virology.

HIV / AIDS Research and Treatment
In 1981, UC physicians identified the first cases of "newly acquired immunodeficiency" — later called AIDS — in four previously healthy gay men. UC researchers and medical staff have been leaders in the study and treatment of HIV/AIDS ever since.

Universitywide AIDS Research Program
UCLA AIDS Institute
San Diego AIDS Institute
San Francisco AIDS Research Institute
San Francisco AIDS Health Project
San Francisco AIDS Education and Training Center
San Francisco Positive Health Program
California/Mexico AIDS Initiative
California HIV Prevention Indicators

Cancer Research and Treatment
UC researchers and medical staff are dedicated to four fundamental pursuits: basic science research into the causes and events of cancer's progression; clinical research to translate new knowledge into viable treatments; sensitive, state-of-the-art patient care; and programs in epidemiology, prevention, and cancer control. Basic scientists and clinical health care providers work together toward the translation of promising ideas into the creation of new and better treatments for cancer patients everywhere.

California Breast Cancer Research Program
Berkeley Cancer Research Laboratory
Davis Cancer Center
Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
San Diego Moores Comprehensive Cancer Center
San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center
San Francisco Cancer Resource Center
UC Cancer Research Coordinating Committee
IMPACT provides high-quality prostate cancer treatment to
     uninsured or under-insured Californian men. Regional sites
     are open at UCLA, UCSF and UC Davis with ones at
     Irvine, San Diego and elsewhere around the state to follow.

National Cancer Institute

Additional research in related areas is also conducted in various departments on UC campuses. Visit this site's Physical and Biological Sciences page for more campus links.

Tobacco-Related Disease Research
UC's Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program focuses on the prevention, causes and treatment of tobacco-related disease and the reduction of the human and economic costs of tobacco use in California. The program funds research addressing all aspects of tobacco use and supports new scientific infrastructures and networks critical for a comprehensive approach to tobacco control.