The overarching programmatic goal of the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences will be to study the molecular basis for disease, providing fundamental knowledge to combat the world’s most devastating human health problems. The Center’s four pillars of research are Cancer Biology, Infectious Diseases, Stem Cell Biology, and Neurodegenerative Diseases.

The Center will be located at a major entrance to the campus and serve as the anchor building for a quadrangle of research and teaching buildings dedicated to the biosciences. Preliminary architectural renderings envision a building with five stories above ground and two stories below ground that will house approximately 30-35 research laboratories, as well as lecture halls and classrooms. The Center will also be home to the Henry H. Wheeler Jr. Brain Imaging Center, part of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, as well as scientists tackling the complexities of cancer, brain diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, infectious diseases such as the worldwide killers HIV and dengue fever, and stem cell biology.

Work on the new Center is expected to commence in 2007, with a scheduled completion date in 2009. UC Berkeley hopes to leverage its collaborative research agenda and the construction of the Center to request matching funds form the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine directed for stem cell research on the Berkeley campus. This donation will leverage additional grants and contracts from US Federal agencies, such as the National Institute of Health, enabling UC Berkeley to play a key role in helping to shape California’s agenda for stem cell research.