September 10 marked the groundbreaking for the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine’s new home on the Mount Zion campus. The Osher Building will be a 48,000-square-foot five-story facility located at the corner of Divisadero and Post Streets, bringing the center’s research, education and clinical programs together under one roof. The Osher Building will also house the Division of General Internal Medicine.

The Clinical Program at the Osher Center incorporates a collaborative approach to care, integrating modern medicine with established practices from around the world such as massage therapy, acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, yoga and psychotherapy.

Scheduled for completion in 2010, the Osher Building will include numerous sustainable design features, such as a natural feng shui-based design, green roof, interior finishes incorporating substantial amounts of recycled materials, and a Japanese healing garden.

Bernard and Barbro Osher with Chancellor J. Michael Bishop in front of the Japanese elm tree donated by Tami Takahashi.

Tami Takahashi and sister Martha Suzuki	A note and origami figure hanging from the Japanese elm tree

David Folkman, Haile Debas, executive director of UCSF Global Health Sciences, and Susan Folkman, director of the Osher Center

Photos by Noah Berger