Campus & community, Campus news, Events at Berkeley

Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub opens its doors

Over 250 people attended UC Berkeley's Bakar BioEnginuity Hub grand opening Tuesday to celebrate the transformation of the building and what innovations will come from its startups.

By Ivan Natividad

May 6, 2022

A crowd of people outside of the BBH building.

Over 250 people attended UC Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub grand opening Tuesday to celebrate the transformation of the building and the innovations that will come from its startups. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)

UC Berkeley’s campus community this week celebrated the grand opening of the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub (BBH), the campus’s bold new home for research and innovation.

The remarkable facility, located in Woo Hon Fai Hall — the former Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive — pairs the Bakar Labs incubator with fellowships and programming for Berkeley students and researchers, equipping STEM entrepreneurs with labs, offices, equipment and shared community spaces.

After two years of seismic upgrades and renovations, BBH celebrated its opening this month. Bakar Labs, the facility’s flagship life sciences incubator, has been operational since mid-November, offering space to tenant companies.

Carol Christ speaking at a podium.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ told the crowd: “The Bakar BioEnginuity Hub takes us to the next level, providing a gathering place where entrepreneurs at every stage of their careers can share ideas, resources, and the energy and ambition that drive innovation.” (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)

Tuesday night’s grand opening gathered the vast community of Berkeley researchers, entrepreneurs and change-makers who have supported the transformation of the building since its inception.

“Once a space for quiet contemplation, the former galleries are now filled with world-class wet labs and collaborative areas, where startup teams can test, develop, and grow their ideas — one bench at a time,” Chancellor Carol Christ said Tuesday. “The transformation of the building is itself a work of art … It took many villages to help us reach this moment.”

Attendees mingled in outdoor areas where they learned more about the newly renovated space, and a “strolling dinner” in the building’s lower terrace featured interactive displays by student and startup entrepreneurs.

Tours of the four-story building were also provided, including a look into the 40,000 square feet of lab and office space that startups are currently using to support their research, which range from gene and cell therapy, to food technology for meat alternatives and advance agricultural crop production.

Women pointing at a test tube outside.
Sapna Puri, VP of cell therapy at the Bakar Labs startup Minutia, explains her company's efforts to find a transplant of insulin producing cells combined with nanosensors for diabetes. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
A group of people inside a building floor.
Guests at Tuesday's grand opening met and mingled at the building's entrance before the program began. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
Overhead view of BBH.
Overhead view of the four-story facility that was transformed from the former Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
A group of people on a balcony in BBH.
Groups of attendees, including UC Berkeley's Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer Rich Lyons (right), toured the building, which has gone through two years of upgrades and renovations. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
Outdoor view of BBH with groups of people outside of its entrance.
Attendees mingle and socialize at the BBH outdoor courtyard. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
Three people smiling outside with a lap top.
Members of the startup Axent Biosciences developed their tech in Schaffer's lab and showcased their company's ability to use cell therapies to treat disorders in the central nervous system during the spring grand opening of the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
A group of people smiling with a laptop outside.
The startup team at Catena Biosciences shared their protein conjugation technology that can help treat autoimmune disorders. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
Man talking to a women smiling.
UC Berkeley School of Public Health Dean Michael Lu (right) chats with Haas School of Business Dean Ann Harrison outside of the newly renovated Bakar BioEnginuity Hub. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
A group of people looking off and to the left while standing on a ramp.
Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ and others took in the view from a newly renovated terrace outside Woo Hon Fai Hall on Tuesday. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
Kairi Williams and David Schaffer.
UC Berkeley Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Administration and Compliance Kairi Williams (left) and BBH Director David Schaffer celebrated the opening. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
Two women sitting on a couch laughing.
UC Berkeley professor and 2020 Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna (right) shares a laugh with Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former CEO of the Gates Foundation. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
People facing a screen waiting for a speaker.
Over 250 people attended Tuesday's grand opening. Here, attendees await the night's speakers in the BBH “studio.” (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
Three women sitting down laughing.
Amy Herr, Sue Desmond-Hellmann and Carol Christ enjoy a light moment during Tuesday's grand opening event. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser) (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
A group of people sitting and clapping.
Guests applaud as the night's first speaker is introduced. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
Women speaking at a podium.
BBH founding director Amy Herr speaks to a crowd of over 250 people at Tuesday's grand opening event. "As we celebrate together tonight, the immense challenges facing humanity are causing many of us to question the status quo," she said. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
Sheryl and Bob Wong smiling outside of the building.
Trustees of the UC Berkeley Foundation Sheryl (left) and Bob Wong attended the festivities. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)
The sun setting at the BBH building.
The sun setting on Tuesday's BBH grand opening. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)

The facility was created in a collaboration between UC Berkeley and QB3, a University of California-wide institute that supports entrepreneurship and UC research programs. Nearly 20 startups have already moved into the space, which has the capacity to support more than 50 companies.

“(We) are going to be an incredible model for the country on how to translate technologies to benefit society. Our tenant companies are solving important challenges in medicine and the environment, at the same time as creating high-value jobs,” said BBH Director, David Schaffer, who is also a UC Berkeley professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, bioengineering, and molecular and cell biology. “In addition, we at BBH and QB3 are launching undergraduate and graduate training programs with Bakar Labs companies to help train the future workforce of California.”

Amy Herr, David Schaffer, Reg Kelly, Tammy Hsu, and Kwasi Apori celebrate the opening of the Bakar BioEngenuity Hub (Video by Jenny Chu, Stefanie Kalem and Michael Lin. )

Guests were also treated to a conversation between 2020 Nobel Laureate, and Berkeley chemistry professor, Jennifer Doudna, and Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former CEO of the Gates Foundation. Founding BBH Director Amy Herr also spoke Tuesday, about the “immense challenges facing humanity” and how Berkeley is responding.

“In a uniquely Berkeley way, the BBH offers a magic spark designed to ignite truly original ideas from people who think differently, by not just looking to today but, very importantly, by looking ahead to tomorrow,” said Herr, a bioengineering professor at Berkeley. “While we are celebrating the opening of BBH, we are implicitly celebrating that magical spark that is UC Berkeley: being relentlessly impatient in heeding the call to create a better future for all.”