About Us
Founding Story
The UCSF Center for Precision Research in Critical Care (CPR-CC) was established in 2025 by Dr. Carolyn Calfee and Dr. Michael Matthay, internationally recognized physician-scientists whose groundbreaking work has transformed the field of critical care. Together, they envisioned a center that would bring the best of UCSF’s clinical expertise, research infrastructure, and collaborative spirit to one of medicine’s most urgent challenges: improving outcomes for critically ill patients.
For decades, Drs. Calfee and Matthay have led pioneering studies in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis, and critical illness, conditions that affect hundreds of thousands of patients each year. They recognized that while advances in precision medicine have revolutionized fields like cancer and cardiology, critically ill patients have not yet benefitted from the same targeted, data-driven approaches. The CPR-CC was created to change that.
By breaking down traditional silos between disciplines — pulmonary medicine, cardiology, anesthesia, surgery, pediatrics, and beyond — the Center serves as a hub for collaboration. It provides resources, mentorship, and pilot funding to support early-career investigators while accelerating the translation of scientific discoveries into life-saving treatments.
The vision of the CPR-CC is simple yet ambitious: to ensure that every patient who enters an ICU has access to care guided by the best possible science, with a focus not only on survival, but on recovery and quality of life.
Our Leadership
CPR-CC Co-Founders and Directors,
Dr. Carolyn Calfee and Dr. Michael Matthay
The CPR-CC was established with foundational support from UCSF’s Departments of Medicine, Anesthesia, and Surgery, whose faculty play key roles as Core Faculty Members driving collaborative research in critical care.
Why It Matters
Nearly every family will one day face the experience of having a loved one in the ICU. In those moments, families hope for not only survival, but the best possible recovery and quality of life.
At the CPR-CC, our mission is to make sure that the care patients receive in these most vulnerable moments is guided by the strongest science available. We bring together physician-scientists from across UCSF — pulmonary medicine, cardiology, anesthesia, surgery, pediatrics, and beyond — to work collaboratively on discoveries that can be translated rapidly into patient care.
By focusing on new treatments, data-driven approaches, and innovative clinical trials, the CPR-CC is committed to improving both survival and long-term outcomes for critically ill patients. Our goal is simple but profound: to ensure that when someone you love needs the ICU, their care is shaped by the very best evidence and the most advanced therapies possible.
What We Do
The CPR-CC brings together physician-scientists, data scientists, and clinicians from across UCSF to transform how care is delivered to the sickest patients. Our work focuses on bridging discovery and treatment—ensuring that advances in research rapidly reach the bedside.
Our Core Areas of Focus
Pilot Grants and Research Funding
We provide pilot grant support to early-career investigators as they pursue innovative, collaborative research in critical care and advance precision medicine approaches that directly improve patient outcomes.
Collaborative Clinical Research
CPR-CC faculty lead and participate in multi-center clinical trials that test new therapies, refine ICU practices, and improve survival and quality of life for critically ill patients.
Data and Biospecimen Resources
We maintain and support access to shared resources such as the UCSF CLIF dataset, a large, standardized ICU data resource, and biobanking infrastructure that enables high-quality, reproducible research.
Training and Mentorship
We are committed to developing the next generation of critical care researchers through mentorship, research coaching, and workshops that build expertise in study design, data analysis, and translational science.
Research Concierge Services
Our Research Concierge provides hands-on support to investigators, connecting them with the right collaborators, datasets, and tools to advance their research efficiently.
Mission
The UCSF CPR-CC drives discovery, transforms patient care, and trains the next generation of world-class clinician investigators in critical care medicine. We invest in emerging scientists through funding, mentorship, and career development, while building the collaborative infrastructure that drives innovation in precision critical care to save patient lives in the ICU.