“ The Biohub is a scientific playground in which we have constructed a more flexible environment than you can find in academia or industry. Not only are our scientists and partners at the top of their field but they are committed to pursuing the kind of unique scientific discoveries that come from having the funding and freedom to engage in solving audaciously challenging problems.”
Introduction
The CZ Biohub Network, created and supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, focuses on understanding underlying mechanisms of disease and developing new technologies that will lead to actionable diagnostics and effective therapies.
About Us
OpenCell: Lighting the Way from Parts List to Blueprint
The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network is a group of nonprofit research institutes that bring together scientists, engineers, and physicians with the goal of pursuing grand scientific challenges on 10- to 15-year time horizons. The CZ Biohub Network focuses on understanding underlying mechanisms of disease and developing new technologies that will lead to actionable diagnostics and effective therapies.
Our Values
-
Scholarly Excellence
We don’t compromise on the good judgment, thorough standards or reproducibility of the best academic science. We do this while maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards.
-
Disruptive Innovation
We are curious people solving big problems in creative ways. We aren’t afraid of radical approaches and produce novel results that make a big impact.
-
Hands-on Engineering / Hacking / Building
Don’t have it? Build it.
We believe that scientific discovery requires new measurement approaches. We invent and build those tools and then apply them to the most important scientific problems.
-
Partnership and Collaboration
Partnership and collaboration are essential to how we work within our walls, along with our university partners, through our Investigator Program, and across the broader scientific community.
-
Open Communication
We talk openly about everything, not just our science. We readily share protocols and data, train and teach others, and tackle confusion quickly.
-
Respect, Inclusiveness, and Opportunity For All
We respect our differences in opinion, training, experience, race, gender, personality and lifestyle. We listen attentively and openly. We work to actively reduce bias, assume good intent, and give credit where it’s due. Our inclusive work environment extends beyond our doors, to all of our partners and collaborators.
“ I’ve gotten to work with scientists and technicians in developing nations to sequence pathogens in affected communities real-time. Moving from an optimal environment to labs in the field is very tricky. We aren’t afraid to experiment and try something new. It’s the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever worked on.”
“ We work in small teams but avoid silos. Our informal culture and presentations at internal seminars help everyone get to know one another and hear about what's being worked on across the organization. When we’re building something new, we can move quickly because we know who to pull in and can have really rapid cycles of iteration.”
“ At CZ Biohub we love to build and hack solutions to urgent problems. During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we built a CLIA-certified testing lab in just over a week. We don’t stop doing what needs to get done just because something isn’t available.”
“ What’s unique about the Biohub is we do everything in the open. If you come from academia, this might be a bit different from what you are used to. But working here isn’t just about being the first author on a publication. It’s more about sharing collective goals and creating things that are inherently reusable both inside the Biohub and across a broader scientific community.”
“ When I joined CZ Biohub SF, I met with every employee and asked them to tell me one or two words that define the organization. Every single person said 'collaboration.' Our recognition awards are primarily peer-nominated. In a culture where individual achievement is not the norm, we look for ways to let employees honor their collaborators.”
“ While research advances certainly do 'build on the shoulders of giants', the CZ Biohub Network takes that ethos further. We know that working hand-in-hand — both internally and with our Investigators and university partners — emboldens and equips us to ask bigger questions, create more meaningful tools, navigate toward more impactful outcomes. CZ Biohub-fueled collaboration brings a diversity of thought that productively challenges our own preconceptions as researchers and as humans. It elevates the excellence and impact of our research. It allows us to ‘dare mighty things’ together.”
“ We make sharing ‘built-in’ from the time you start working here. Every new science or technology employee knows they’ll be presenting at an internal seminar within the first two years. But it’s not just about sharing our science. We prioritize delivery and a lack of ego in all of our interactions. People here are really kind and generous. You also notice people leading from the back and allowing others to shine.”
“ One of the highlights for me at the Biohub is its commitment to a culturally diverse team. Biohubbers, including senior leaders, naturally support one another regardless of background, and are caring, respectful, and approachable.”
“ I'm proud of the fact that diversity and inclusion have been front and center for the Biohub since its inception. The Biohub continues to be a reflection of a truly international community with an equal mix of men and women, and I believe our efforts toward tackling pay equity and addressing inequities in STEM education can make meaningful change here and now, and for the long term.”
Our History
In December 2021, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) co-founders and co-CEOs Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg announced a 10-year effort to develop the science and technologies to observe, measure, and analyze human biology in action. Over the next decade, CZ Science is focused on understanding the mysteries of the cell and how cells interact within systems, which could lead to groundbreaking discoveries that will help cure, prevent, or manage all diseases by the end of this century.
To achieve this mission, CZI builds open source software tools, funds scientific research worldwide, and supports research that can’t be done in conventional environments as part of the CZ Biohub Network. Modeled on the success of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco, CZI launched the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network, in which new Biohubs are being created to bring together leading scientific and technology institutions with the goal of pursuing grand scientific challenges on 10- to 15-year time horizons.
Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
Diversity of experience, ideas, and perspectives are at the heart of the CZ Biohub Network and enable disruptive innovation and scholarly excellence. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive organization where all Biohubbers feel inspired and know their work makes an important contribution. Learn more about life at the CZ Biohub Network.
Our Institutes
CZ Biohub San Francisco works on elucidating dynamic cell systems across scales in health and disease, joining forces with the Bay Area’s leading academic institutions — Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco — to do bold, visionary science that can’t be done elsewhere.
CZ Biohub Chicago focuses on engineering technologies to make precise, molecular-level measurements of biological processes within human tissues, with an ultimate goal of understanding and treating the inflammatory states that underlie many diseases. It catalyzes collaboration between Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
CZ Biohub New York brings together Columbia University, The Rockefeller University, and Yale University to bioengineer immune cells to sense and record signals of disease and adapt these cells to spot diseases such as lethal cancers and Alzheimer’s in their earliest stages, long before they are usually diagnosed.
At the CZ Imaging Institute, researchers collaboratively develop revolutionary new imaging hardware and software tools to build breakthrough multimodal biological imaging systems.
