Drawing on his extensive knowledge of La Jolla’s brightest minds, Dr. David Brenner has an eye for collaboration and innovation in his role as president and CEO of Sanford Burnham Previes, a local biomedical research institution. I am in charge.

The longtime La Jolla resident will start a new job on Thursday, September 15th.

He comes to SBP from across Torrey Pines Mesa, a stretch of North Torrey Pines Road home to several notable research institutions, and spent 15 years as Vice President of Health Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. I was.

At UCSD, he led the nearly $2 billion expansion of health sciences, including the opening of Jacobs Medical Center and the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute. He also led the development of the Herbert He Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science.

In addition, Brenner is a board member of the La Jolla Institute of Immunology and Luddy Children’s Hospital, an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute for Biology, and meets with scientists weekly at Scripps Research.

He also has a lab for gastroenterology research at UCSD.

Along the way, Brenner has built relationships with industry leaders along or near the “Mesa.”

“I know all the labs in this community very well,” he says, adding that SBP’s “doors are named after T. Denny Sanford, Marin and Roberta Burnham, and Conrad Previs. I knew the three people mentioned.”

“This is the most collegial and supportive place I’ve ever been to,” Brenner said of Mesa. “I think that’s a great strength.”

Brenner succeeds as President of Sanford Burnham Prevy from Dr. Cristina Vuori, who resigned after serving 12 years in that position. Vuori will continue as her SBP professor. Brenner took over his CEO role from C. Randal Mills as he moved into commercial science earlier this year.

Sanford Burnham Previes occupies a “sweet spot” in La Jolla’s biomedical research area, with “a history and a future of translating basic biology into improving human health,” Brenner said. …it’s a really unique niche. ”

Brenner said he hopes to continue promoting coordination among Mesa laboratories. [and] San Diego’s biotech community is the most competitive in the biggest projects, the biggest grants, the best philanthropic work…the most exciting science in the country.

“I think we can achieve synergies and efficiencies by coordinating and working together in more ways than we currently do,” he said. “There’s enough breadth and depth to fit everything in The Mesa, but not enough extra money to duplicate things and make them less efficient.”

He said he is talking to other local lab leaders to determine how to share resources.

“I am a firm believer that the pie is not fixed,” Brenner said. “Someone’s success doesn’t take away someone else’s success. I think the pie really grows when you get more resources for your community.”

Brenner said he hopes to drive SBP innovation in computational biology—the application of mathematical modeling and data analysis in scientific research—noting that the term is relatively new.

Until just a few years ago, “biomedical research was largely qualitative,” he said.

Advances in next-generation sequencing (the ability to sequence the entire genome), metabolomics (the large-scale measurement of small molecules in biological systems), or the measurement of genetic markers across populations drive the need for computational models I was.

“No normal human like me can handle these huge data sets,” he said.

By being involved in the field of computational biology, Brenner said, “we can transform biomedical research. [at] The Sanford Burnham Prebys really give us the opportunity to bring some great people to San Diego to participate. ”

“We try to bring young people from the best laboratories in the world and say, ‘Now is the time to create our own program,'” he said.

“I can’t imagine a cooler and more fun place to set up a lab and be part of this community than La Jolla,” says Brenner.

— San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer Mike Freeman contributed to this report. ◆