On Monday, U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon, on a break from what she calls the \u201chorrific\u201d political situation in Washington D.C., stopped by a lab in North Oakland with a $1 million check for cancer research.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At a press conference with officials from UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospital Oakland<\/a>, which runs the lab, the 49-year-old first-term member of Congress said she was grateful to have been able to secure federal funds for cancer research, especially since her husband, the journalist Kevin Weston, died of a rare form of leukemia<\/a> 12 years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n Weston, a reporter for the Oakland Tribune and other outlets, was best known as a founder of the Chauncey Bailey Project, an investigative collaboration that looked into the August 2007 murder of Chauncey Bailey Jr., a West Oakland journalist who had been editor in chief of the Oakland Post. Before he was killed, Bailey was investigating the activities of Your Black Muslim Bakery, a storefront located only about a mile away from the new research lab, the Pediatric\u00a0Blood Disorder Research Center.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we began reading the application and were pushing it through, reading about the beautiful work here, it was personal,\u201d Simon said. \u201cI know scores of patients who are under your care, and their families are counting on the innovation that is coming through these doors.\u201d<\/p>\n Simon noted that UCSF has been conducting research that could result in new treatments for hematological diseases such as sickle cell anemia.\u00a0Her office said the grant \u201cwill position Oakland as a center for innovation and hope\u201d on pediatric blood disorders.<\/p>\n The money provided to UCSF was part of about $11 million in so-called Community Project Funding grants Simon said she has secured in the current fiscal year, something she described as a difficult job given the Trump administration\u2019s \u201cdevastating cuts\u201d to health care and other social services. Over the last 16 months, millions of dollars in public health and research grants have been cut by the federal government, including $2.3 billion<\/a> for NIH research grants and $4 billion<\/a> in medical research. UCSF lost an $876,000 grant<\/a> for prevention services.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to her staff, Simon submitted 15 Community Project Funding requests to the Republican-led U.S. House Committee on Appropriations, all of which were approved for funding.<\/p>\n Dr. Nicholas Holmes, the president of Benioff Children\u2019s Hospital, said at the press conference that the money will be used to purchase equipment for the research center. Holmes said it was resonant to be developing the center in the same location where the original Black Panthers, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, met when the building was still the Merritt College campus. UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospital took over the facility in 1990 as its research building.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Black Panthers increased awareness of sickle cell disease and its disproportionate impact on our Black communities,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cThey advocated for increased testing, care, and research for the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n Holmes told The Oaklandside that in addition to the $1 million grant for medical equipment, the hospital has raised $10 million to \u201ccompletely refurbish the labs.\u201d Overall, UCSF is investing $1.6 billion to modernize its entire Oakland campus, including the construction of a new hospital, a few blocks from the lab, with 104 inpatient beds. The hospital recently announced a $100 million gift<\/a> from Kathy Chiao and Ken Hao for capital improvements across its other Bay Area buildings, including in San Francisco. Hao is the chairman and managing partner of the private equity firm Silver Lake, which is currently backing a developer group seeking to purchase the Oakland Arena<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dr. Angela Rivers, a pediatric hematologist, also spoke, saying that research at the Oakland lab includes work on sickle cell disease; lysosomal disorders, a group of inherited diseases that include Tay-Sachs; and neurodevelopmental disorders, in addition to data science and nutrition. She said the first renovation to be completed is for the Division of Pediatric Hematology, where research is conducted into sickle cell; thalassemias, an inherited blood disorder; and bone marrow failure.<\/p>\n \u201cThese disorders have long been underfunded despite the significant burdens they place on children, families, and the healthcare system,\u201d Rivers said.<\/p>\n The labs will be completely renovated by the end of 2026, UCSF officials said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “*” indicates required fields<\/p>\n \t