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.
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.”
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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.
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UC Berkeley Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Administration and Compliance Kairi Williams (left) and BBH Director David Schaffer celebrated the opening.
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Members of the startup Axent Biosciences showcased their company’s ability to use cell therapies to treat disorders in the central nervous system.
The video above — created for the opening event — features Amy Herr, David Schaffer, Reg Kelly, Tammy Hsu, and Kwasi Apori. Video by Jenny Chu, Stefanie Kalem, and Michael Lin. Photos by AJ Gubser and Brittany Hosea-Small.
