Find Inspiration at UCSF Professor's 'Last Lecture'

Results are in for the eighth annual Last Lecture — students have chosen Dr. David Wofsy as the professor from whom they most want to hear an inspiring speech.

On April 17, Wofsy will answer the question, “If you had but one lecture to give, what would you say?”

The professor of medicine and microbiology/immunology at UCSF received his undergraduate degree from Harvard in 1968, and went on to get his MD from UC San Diego in 1974. His did his medical residency training and rheumatology fellowship training from UCSF before joining the university’s faculty in 1980.

Wofsy’s research program is devoted to the development of novel therapies for autoimmune diseases, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). His work laid the foundation for translational studies that resulted in FDA approval of a new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.

This work Wofsy’s current research is focused on establishing whether this therapy can be life-saving in people with kidney disease due to SLE.

Wofsy also serves as Associate Dean for Admissions for the UCSF School of Medicine. He has served on numerous NIH study sections, and on the Arthritis Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration.

In spring 2012, the inaugural UCSF Last Lecture received a warm and welcoming response.

The interprofessional, the student-initiated event will bring out stories intertwining various dimensions of Wofsy’s professional, personal, spiritual, and cultural experiences that have brought him to UCSF today.

Such a lecture series is prominent on many college campuses, made especially famous by Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon professor whose lecture ironically was his last lecture, having just been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.

Sponsored by GPSA, Student Life, and AAUCSF, Last Lecture happens at 5:30 p.m. on April 17 in Cole Hall, Parnassus.