Our History The UCI School of Medicine is the oldest continually operating medical school in the Los Angeles area, operating for more than 100 years. Home About History A Historical Timeline University of California, Irvine is home to a medical school rich in history and tradition that spans more than 100 years. The oldest continually operating medical school in the Los Angeles area, the UCI School of Medicine was founded in 1896 by A.C. Moore, one of the first graduates of osteopathic medicine, and B.W. Scheurer, a medical doctor with German and American training.
1896 Pacific Sanitarium and School of Osteopathic Medicine, known today as the UCI School of Medicine, is founded in Anaheim, Calif. The first class is held in a former South Pasadena hotel with only 12 students. Shortly after, the school moves to Los Angeles and becomes the Pacific College of Osteopathy.
1903 - 1904 Pacific Sanitarium and School of Osteopathic Medicine moves across from the Los Angeles County Hospital and becomes the Pacific College of Osteopathy. After extending its curriculum from two to three years, the school begins awarding the Doctor of Science of Osteopathy (DO).
1914 The Pacific College of Osteopathy merges with the Los Angeles College of Osteopathy and forms the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons. The curriculum increases to four years.
1918 The College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons becomes the only medical school in Los Angeles after the University of Southern California (USC) School of Medicine closes its doors. Although USC would reopen its medical school in 1928, its closure makes the UCI school the oldest continually operating medical school in the Los Angeles area.
1920 - 1940 The College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons continues to expand its clinical and educational facilities and programs. By 1936, the school starts a graduate program that awards masters and doctoral degrees, including PhDs.
1957 - 1960 The University of California Board of Regents vote to create three new campuses. After a lengthy search, Irvine Ranch was selected as a campus site.
1961 - 1962 The College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons becomes the California College of Medicine. In 1962, Proposition 22 passes enabling DOs to fall under jurisdiction of the California Board of Medical Examiners. As a result, members of the class of 1962 are granted MD degrees. Prior graduates of the school have their certificates of osteopathic medicine converted to MD degrees. Grace Bell, professor of biochemistry, is the first individual to receive a MD degree from the school on March 7, 1962, and becomes the first dean of the California College of Medicine. In addition, she becomes one of the few women in history to be distinguished as a dean of both an osteopathic and an allopathic medical school.
1964 - 1966 University of California, Irvine campus is dedicated and opened to students. UC Regents search for a medical school for its newest campus.
1967 - 1969 UCI acquires the School of Medicine. Dr. Warren Bostick is named the first dean of the medical school. The school begins to move from Los Angeles to the campus in Irvine. The new school is relocated on a 122-acre site, on the western edge of the UCI campus.
1972 UCI researchers develop BioBrane, a synthetic skin that serves as a temporary skin substitute for burns.
1976 Plans are shelved to develop an on-campus hospital in favor of purchasing the Orange County Medical Center and is renamed UCI Medical Center. The medical center is located in the City of Orange, about 12 miles from the main campus in Irvine.
1978 The Medical Sciences Building is completed on the UCI campus. The four-story, six-unit building provides space for research laboratories, teaching facilities and administrative offices for several School of Medicine departments.
1982 The UCI medical group is formed when the university contracts with its first HMO insurance for its employees. Dr. Kathryn Larsen serves as medical director from 1982-2007.
1984 - 1986 Dr. Gerald Weinstein succeeds Dr. Stanley van der Noort as acting dean and develops the Medical Plaza (now called Gottschalk Medical Plaza) on the UCI campus. The 40,000-square-foot outpatient facility provides comprehensive clinical care services.
1987 Dr. Ted Quilligan is named dean and vice chancellor of health sciences and begins reorganizing the practice plan, while Dr. Philip DiSaia develops a program that would allow faculty to practice tertiary care medicine. Joan Irvine Smith Hall is built. The building formerly housed the corporate headquarters of the Nelson Research and Development Company (a private pharmaceutical firm). The association between UC Irvine and Nelson represented the first cooperative university/industry venture of its kind within the UC system. Also known as Irvine Hall, the building houses the administrative offices of the dean of the School of Medicine. The Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic opens and is one of the first facilities in the world in which lasers play a major role in both clinical treatment and basic research. The FDA approves a revolutionary brain cancer therapy, called adoptive immunotherapy, developed by Drs. G. Morris Granger and Sudhir Gupta.
1989 Dr. Walter Henry succeeds Quilligan as dean and begins to explore the idea of developing a research campus for the medical school. The University of California, Irvine establishes a university-based cancer center. Quickly recognized for its achievements in research and treatment, the UCI Cancer Center is admitted to the Association of American Cancer Institutes the following year.
1990 Hitachi Chemical Research Center is built. The facility is devoted to basic research in the fields of neurological disorders, diagnostic systems and reagents and industrial bioreactors.
1993 - 1994 The medical group changes its name to the Clinical Practice Group (CPG). CPG begins contracting with other health plans and accepting patients in the community into the medical group. Dr. Thomas C. Cesario serves as president of the CPG from 1993-1994. Dr. Philip DiSaia is president of the CPG from 1994-2005. The UCI Neuropsychiatric Center opens. Dr. Thomas Cesario becomes dean. J. Edward Berk/Alumni Study Center is completed. As part of the expansion of the J. Edward Berk/Alumni Study Center, the school opens a state-of-the-art student training center to teach medical students clinical skills in a setting that mimics an actual clinical environment. The cancer center earns a coveted distinction as a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center.
1995 The first stage of the UCI Biomedical Research Center (BMRC), the William J. Gillespie Neuroscience Research Facility, breaks ground. The BMRC is a multi-phased expansion of UCI's public/private cooperative research program. The center's overall mission is to create a dynamic environment in which basic science research, clinical study and product development lead to the discovery of causes and treatments for a variety of diseases. UCI’s vision for the BMRC is a close collaboration between basic science, clinical study and industry.
1997 William J. Gillespie Neuroscience Research Facility is completed. The 79,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility is home to the Institute for Brain Imaging & Dementia and the Reeve-Irvine Research Center. The university cancer center is awarded the National Cancer Institute's highest designation as a comprehensive cancer center, the only such center in Orange County. It is renamed in honor of the Chao family as the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, operating fully integrated research, prevention, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitation programs.
2002 Sprague Hall is built. The facility houses laboratories for researchers dedicated to revealing genetic links to the causes of cancer. In addition, researchers studying other areas of science, from the basic molecular mechanisms of genes to preventing and treating various kinds of cancers, are based in Sprague Hall.
2003 UCI leads the first public health study exploring the link between air pollution and the severity of heart disease. UCI researchers are the first to identify that early beta amyloid accumulation within neurons is the trigger for the onset of memory decline in Alzheimer’s disease. Hewitt Hall is completed. The facility is home to the General Clinical Research Center and research laboratories and administrative offices for integrative medicine, immunology, infectious diseases and mitochondrial genetics. The H.H. Chao Comprehensive Digestive Disease Center is dedicated in a ribbon ceremony.
2004 Dr. Alberto Manetta, senior associate dean of education, develops the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC) program to meet the unique needs of the Latino community. It is a dual-degree program, offering a MD and a master’s degree to its graduates. The program is now a thriving model that is being launched at other UC medical schools. Hans Keirstead, in anatomy and neurobiology, is the first researcher in the world to differentiate embryonic stem cells into neural cells that can repair damaged tissue in spinal cord injury.
2005 University Physician & Surgeons (UPS), the UCI Health faculty practice organization, is formed under its new president and chief executive officer, Dr. John Heydt. In addition to managing capitated contracts, UPS becomes responsible for overseeing the entire clinical practice for UCI Health faculty.
2009 Opened in March 2009, Douglas Hospital features modern facilities for conducting the latest medical research and training future and practicing physicians. The seven-story hospital has spacious, mostly private rooms and 15 state-of-the-art operating rooms. In addition, the hospital provides an environment for translational research, allowing more opportunities for researchers and clinicians to collaborate on patient care. Ralph V. Clayman, MD, a leader in urology and minimally invasive surgery, becomes dean of UCI School of Medicine in December, 2009.
2010 A $40.5-million, 65,000-square-foot Medical Education building opens on the UCI campus that includes a state-of-the-art telemedicine training center, a clinical simulation lab and clinical skills center. The medical education building plays an important part in supporting new initiatives and technologies in teaching and healthcare delivery and is home to the innovative Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC). UCI School of Medicine adopts an iPad-based curriculum, reinventing the traditional medical school curriculum for the 21st century. The school becomes one of the first in the nation to build a completely digital, interactive learning environment for the entering class of 2010.
2014 The School of Medicine has 26 departments and about 560 faculty members who are involved in teaching, providing medical care and conducting research for health challenges facing the 21st century. The school also has approximately 620 resident physicians and 45 programs accredited by the American College of Graduate Medical Education. One hundred four medical students are admitted for the Class of 2018.
2015 Dr. Howard Federoff is named vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. He joined UCI Health on July 1. He took on the additional role of UCI Health chief executive officer the following year.
2017 Dr. Michael J. Stamos is named dean of the School of Medicine. The National Cancer Institute renews the UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center designation as a comprehensive cancer center. It also bestows an “excellent” rating in its scientific review of the center’s capabilities. The UCI College of Health Sciences is renamed the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences in honor of the couple's cornerstone gift of $200 million, the largest in UCI history.
2018 Chief Operating Officer Richard Gannotta, DHA, FACHE, is named chief executive officer of UCI Health.
2019 Steve Goldstein, MD, PhD — a nationally renowned academic leader, physician and pediatric researcher — becomes vice chancellor for health affairs on Feb. 1.