It took three years and thousands of dollars in fundraising, but the legacy of a celebrated UCSF professor and researcher has now been cemented in a lecture hall for generations of learners to come.
The inaugural Zena Werb Memorial Lecture in Cancer Biology took place at UCSF Parnassus Heights earlier this month, the product of an effort organized by family, colleagues and friends to celebrate the life and work of Werb, who unexpectedly passed away in June 2020 at the age of 75. Zena Werb, PhD, led widely cited and respected research in the field of cancer biology during her four-decade career at UCSF – research that continues to be recognized internationally for fundamental discoveries.
“She would have wanted great science presented in her name.”
STEVEN ROSEN, PHD
She was a professor in the UCSF Department of Anatomy and associate director for basic science at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“Her close friends knew they all wanted to do something,” said Susan Fisher, PhD, UCSF professor of OB/GYN and reproductive sciences with a joint appointment in anatomy. “So, we had several meetings, both formal and informal, and we decided the best way to honor Zena was with a research symposium.”
Fisher and Steven Rosen, PhD, professor emeritus in the UCSF Department of Anatomy, led the effort to organize the symposium series, one that was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Zena had a huge impact on many, many people inside and outside UCSF,” Rosen said. “She was a world-renowned scientist but she was a great citizen of UCSF and served on innumerable committees. She was always busy doing this and that. She was a great source of counseling advice for students, postdocs, junior faculty and senior faculty. Whether it was scientific or personal advice, Zena was the one you went to. She trained a lot of people.”
Three speakers, all former female mentees of Werb’s, presented their own research findings in cancer biology as part of the opening symposium.