Milestones
We are creating our future today, just as we have for more than half a century.
1956 – A 2-year-old with a cancerous tumor in one eye becomes the first patient treated with the Western Hemisphere's first nuclear linear accelerator, designed by Stanford's Henry Kaplan and Edward Ginzton. The device is now the cornerstone of cancer treatment and many other conditions.
Stanford University
1959 – Medical school moved from San Francisco to new quarters, including classrooms, laboratories, hospital and clinics, on Stanford University campus; the hospital was co-owned by the City of Palo Alto and known as the Palo Alto-Stanford Hospital Center.
1960 – First kidney transplant in California.
1964 – Demonstration of electrical stimulation of auditory nerve in deaf patients, paving the way for cochlear implants
1967 – First synthesis of biologically active DNA in test tube
Norman E. Shumway, MD, PhD, and his surgical team.
1968 – Norman E. Shumway, MD, PhD, and his surgical team perform the first successful adult human heart transplant in the United States
1968 – Discovery that insulin resistance is the principal physiologic characteristic of mild type-II/1 diabetes and obesity)
1968 – Palo Alto-Stanford Hospital Center purchased by Stanford University and incorporated as Stanford University Hospital
1971 – First multicenter trial to demonstrate that lowering cholesterol levels prevents heart disease
1972 – Discovery of a new class of immune response genes, suggesting for the first time that people may have predictable susceptibility to certain diseases
1972 – First U.S. trial of community-wide health education for preventing heart disease
1975 – Discovery of link between exercise and increased HDL (good) cholesterol levels
Bruce Reitz, MD, and his surgical team
1981 – Bruce Reitz, MD, leads team to complete first successful human combined heart/lung transplant in the world (fourth attempted worldwide)
1981 – First report of successful use of monoclonal antibodies to treat cancer
1988 – Isolation of a gene coding for part of the T-cell receptor, a key to immune system function
1989 – New hospital wing opens as part of modernization project
1993 – First demonstration that lifestyle changes and drug therapy decrease heart attack rates and slows progression of atherosclerosis in coronary arteries
1995 – First optical imaging of infection in vivo
1996 – Discovery that mutations in a single gene are responsible for the most common form of skin cancer in humans
1999 – First clinical trial of bupropion, the antidepressant known as Wellbutrin, as a nicotine replacement for smoking cessation in adolescents
2000 – Participation in the successful international effort to complete the human genome sequencing project (Needs resolution of discrepancy)
2000 – Center for Clinical Sciences Research (CCSR) building opens
Cancer Center
2004 – Stanford Cancer Center opens
2005 – Discovery of obestatin, a hormone that suppresses appetite
2007 – Stanford Cancer Center receives National Cancer Institute designation
2007 – Application and expansion of optogenetics, a technique to control brain cell activity with light
2008 – Development of new imaging to illuminate tumors in vivo with precision of one-trillionth of a meter
2009 – Discovery of a 'don't eat me' signal that allows blood cancer stem cells to migrate safely in the body
Stanford Medicine Outpatient Center in Redwood City
2009 – Stanford Medicine Outpatient Center opens in Redwood City
2010 – For the first time, researchers use a healthy person's genome sequence to predict his disease risk
2010 – Byers Eye Institute at Stanford opens
2011 – First use of aggregate patient data from electronic medical records to select a patient's treatment
2011 – Stanford Women's Cancer Center opens
2011 – Stanford Hospital & Clinics partners with several Bay Area medical practices to launch the University Healthcare Alliance
2011 – Stanford Hospital Corporate Partners program formed
Dreamworks, Redwood City
2012 – On-site clinic opens for employees of Dreamworks' Redwood City site
2012 – Stanford Hospital is the first in nation to earn comprehensive stroke center designation from the Joint Commission
2012 – Use of a single antibody causes human tumors transplanted into mice to disappear or shrink
2012 – Portola Valley Primary Care Center opens
2013 – A hydrogel process developed at Stanford creates a transparent brain
2013 – A new technique induces egg growth in infertile women, and one gives birth
2013 – On-site clinic for Qualcomm employees in San Diego opens
Hoover Pavilion opens
2013 – Hoover Pavilion opens
2015 – Stanford Cancer Center South Bay opens