When Chancellor Sam Hawgood announced that UCSF will gain institution-wide access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, it marked a major step forward in supporting safe, secure, and ethical use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in research, education, and operations. Behind the scenes, Supply Chain Management (SCM) played a pivotal role in making it happen. One week before the State of the University, UCSF was asked to finalize the agreement to ensure the announcement could move forward. Although a systemwide University of California (UC) agreement with Open AI was already in place, significant work needed to be done locally to validate terms, establish supplier onboarding, and ensure compliance with UC policies. Over the course of a few days, teams across UCSF collaborated. SCM Supplier Registration’s Ruvic De La Rosa and Roscelle Arceo expedited the supplier registration process, ensuring OpenAI was onboarded promptly. At the same time, SCM Strategic Sourcing’ Susan Riddle reviewed the UCOP contract, compared the terms against OpenAI’s proposal, and guided IT and internal partners through what should—and shouldn’t—appear in the final documents. As the requisition came together, SCM Buyer Leonard Casanares prioritized the deal, tracked down missing paperwork, resolved risk issues, and verified compliance with UC policy. In close partnership with SCM, IT’s Hannah Chin and Mary Williamson assembled and completed an accurate requisition that enabled all subsequent SCM steps to move efficiently. Through this tight collaboration and shared urgency, SCM issued the purchase order two days before the deadline. SCM’s work on this agreement highlights the expertise, coordination, and precision required to deliver complex, high-impact procurements on short notice. It is an example of how SCM helps to turn UCSF’s vision into operational reality. “This project shows what Strategic Procurement does best; we turn ideas into actionable results. Our team’s rapid collaboration opened the door for UCSF to shape the future of secure, responsible AI, and I can’t say enough about the professionalism and skill demonstrated by all involved.” Andrew Clark, Executive Director, Strategic Procurement
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UCSF Supply Chain Management (SCM) recently hosted colleagues from University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) for a visit to UCSF’s Logistics facility at Oyster Point on Wednesday, October 29. Josh Martin, Doug Lang, and Gregg Edgar from UCSC Financial Affairs spent the morning receiving a tour of the warehouse and some in-depth briefings on UCSF’s “last mile” package delivery program and fleet electrification efforts, along with other logistics areas of interest. SCMers who participated in the visit included Justin Sullivan, Mel Maxwell, Andrew Clark, Charles Sabia, Mark Choi, David Grubbe, Andrew Alcazar, and Trevor Green.The visit focused on the UCSF’s package delivery program, where SCM-Logistics provides “last mile” delivery for packages ordered by campus customers from UCSF’s preferred vendors. During the visit, the team discussed the history of the program, vendor agreements, systems, and the process that enables the SCM-Logistics team to successfully deliver of over 11,000 packages a month to roughly 2,500 unique delivery stops across the UCSF campus. The visit was a great information exchange among UC colleagues as UCSC explores the possibility of implementing a similar program on their campus. "We were so impressed with the efforts that the UCSF SCM team has taken to improve their campus logistics operation," said Gregg Edgar, Director of Enterprise Solutions at UCSC. "Such a great opportunity for us to learn as we work to improve logistics for UCSC." SCM invites everyone to learn more about the package delivery program at Package Delivery Program | Supply Chain Management.
UCSF Anchor Institution Mission (AIM) Procurement was invited to participate in a virtual 1:1 as a BizMatch Buyer at Latina BizCon 2025 October 30, at the Ontario Convention Center. We connected with many certified small businesses, including some that already work with our Southern California campuses. As we continue to engage small businesses for our procurement opportunities, we want to encourage these connections to remain visible in our supplier network.Below are the next steps to help suppliers plug into our systemwide and UCSF network: Register in the Supplier Database This free, systemwide database allows UCSF and other University of California (UC) campuses to identify new sources for goods and services. Register here.Explore Public Bid Opportunities UCSF and other UC campuses post competitive solicitations through this platform. View and register here.Learn More About UCSF Supplier Processes and Forms For more information on how to do business with UCSF, please visit UCSF Supply Chain—Supplier Resources.We are grateful for the opportunity to be part of this engagement and excited to see potential collaborations grow from these connections. Reach out to Marliz Copado for the list of businesses that participated in this event if you are interested.
At UCSF, Strategic Sourcing continues to work toward building a more efficient, connected, and innovative sourcing framework to support the University’s diverse needs. Over the last six months, our team has been developing category strategies designed to streamline processes, optimize resources, reduce costs, and align procurement with UCSF’s overarching mission.These strategies involve collaboration across the University of California (UC) system, to ensure UCSF’s operations are supported by the best possible solutions. Below, we highlight the exciting work underway in five key procurement categories. Research Tail Spend Strategy The Research category, which supports UCSF’s world-renowned research activities, involves a wide variety of unique suppliers. In fiscal year 2025 alone, UCSF engaged with over 1,400 suppliers. However, many of these suppliers are not covered by UC contracts, which can result in increased processing time and non-compliance with UC policy. By identifying, analyzing, and optimizing smaller, low-value purchases that are often overlooked, we can reduce costs and improve efficiencies in the procurement process.Ngoc Ngo, Category Manager for Research, is leading efforts to expand purchasing options with contracted suppliers. This includes collaborating with existing distributors to broaden their selection of brands, establishing new contracts and catalogs, and leveraging resources from the UC Office of the President. By streamlining purchasing processes, this strategy aims to reduce administrative workloads for Strategic Procurement while ensuring efficient and compliant sourcing practices. Oxidized Gases Strategy UCSF’s current system for ordering oxidized gases is fragmented, with labs ordering through UCSF-Logistics’ storehouse or directly from multiple suppliers. This has led to challenges, such as higher retail pricing for labs, failed third-party deliveries due to access issues, and increased truck traffic on campus.In response, Charles Sabia, Logistics Operations Manager, and Dean Shehu, Senior Research Category Manager, are collaborating to create a centralized pathway for ordering oxidized gases through the UCSF storehouse. This streamlined approach will deliver significant cost savings for research labs, improve delivery reliability, and reduce congestion and UCSF’s carbon footprint. UCSF-Logistics staff, with their badge access and familiarity with lab locations, will ensure timely and secure deliveries, safeguarding research operations and samples. Mobile Phone StrategyUCSF’s Mobile Phones Strategic Sourcing Strategy is aimed at simplifying how employees obtain and manage mobile devices essential for their work. With over 9,000 mobile phone lines currently in use across UCSF, there is an opportunity to create a more efficient and consistent framework for managing mobile communications.Jose Padilla and the IT team are drafting a business proposal to streamline the procurement and management of mobile phones. The goal is to reduce the administrative burden on departments while enhancing user experience. This strategy also explores opportunities to optimize service plans, improve visibility, and align resources where they are needed most—supporting UCSF’s commitment to innovation, collaboration, and operational excellence. Value Added Resellers (VAR) StrategyWith UCSF spending $100-200 million annually on IT software, hardware, and support services across more than 600 suppliers, IT procurement has become increasingly complex and time-consuming. To address this, Susan Riddle, Senior Category Manager, is leading the Value Added Reseller (VAR) strategy to simplify procurement processes and deliver greater value for UCSF.This strategy focuses on consolidating tail spend, improving asset management and spend visibility, streamlining requisition processing, strengthening risk protections, and enhancing Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) with key partners. Susan’s initial efforts include conducting spend analysis, defining partner requirements, engaging contracted VARs to achieve strategic goals, and participating in a systemwide software reseller request for proposal (RFP) to secure future contracts. IT Hardware StrategyTo ensure UCSF is receiving the best possible pricing for IT hardware purchases, Joanne Petersen, Senior Category Manager, is actively investigating spend under contract and catalog agreements. By increasing spend in these categories, UCSF can better support its IT needs while reducing costs.Joanne is applying the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) methodology to regularly review supplier pricing and compare Value Added Resellers (VARs) to ensure optimal product selection and pricing. This iterative process ensures that IT has access to the products they need, at the best prices, with consistent supplier collaboration and management. Looking AheadAs these strategies develop, Strategic Sourcing remains committed to fostering collaboration across the entire Supply Chain Management team at UCSF to improve communication, drive efficiencies, and deliver impactful results.These efforts reflect UCSF’s dedication to operational excellence and innovation, ensuring that resources are aligned to support the University’s mission of advancing health worldwide. Stay tuned for updates as we continue to refine and implement these strategies to better serve the UCSF community.
Supply Chain Management’s (SCM) Disbursements team has once again been recognized by the University of California for excellence in electronic supplier payments, earning the 2025 “Best in Class” Award for Payment Plus. This marks UCSF’s second consecutive win and third overall since 2020, highlighting continued leadership and innovation in efficient, secure payment processing.UCSF’s Payment Plus program stands out among all UC campuses and federal national labs for its exceptional performance, even with lower overall campus spend this year. The program streamlines supplier payments through virtual credit cards, improving payment speed, security, and rebate returns.Congratulations to Stephanie Shang, Marcus Campbell, and Simon Chan for their outstanding work, and to Roscelle Arceo and Ruvic de la Rosa from the Supplier Registration team for their vital support.“We’re proud to see UCSF continue to lead the UC system in payment excellence,” said Melissa Gee, Executive Director of SCM Financial Operations. “This recognition reflects the dedication and teamwork that make our Payment Plus program a model for efficiency and innovation.”
Helium is vital to UCSF’s scientific research and medical diagnostics. As the only element that remains a liquid below –450 degrees Fahrenheit, helium is essential for cooling the superconducting magnets in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging systems. However, helium is both expensive and difficult to handle; it rapidly dissipates into the atmosphere and must be constantly replenished. Delicate NMR systems rely on a steady supply of liquid helium to prevent overheating. Historically, NMR operators routinely topped off their systems with freshly supplied helium. UCSF has faced repeated helium supply disruptions over the past decade due to global helium shortages. Even a controlled shutdown can cause severe equipment damage, with repairs costing hundreds of thousands of dollars or the loss of an entire system worth several million dollars. In response, UCSF completed installation of the second of two helium recycling systems in July 2025, reducing helium procurement to one-tenth of historic levels. UCSF’s NMR imaging operations are now highly resilient to supply shortages. This milestone represents the outcome of years-long collaborations across the School of Pharmacy, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Real Estate, and Logistics. Understanding the Helium Supply Chain When Dean Shehu joined SCM Strategic Procurement as Senior Category Manager, he quickly faced a crisis: a looming helium shortage that would cut deliveries by 40 percent. Despite years of experience as a research lab manager and product line manager at industry-leading life sciences companies, helium was new to him. After reaching out to UCSF’s largest purchasers of helium, the Biomagnetic Imaging Lab (BIL) at Parnassus and the NMR and pre-clinical Imaging Labs in Genentech Hall, he learned that without a constant supply of helium, UCSF risked both costly damage and interruption of patient care. Maintaining helium supply during the shortages required weeks of daily calls with suppliers, resulting in Dean securing scarce helium containers in western US warehouses. But that continued access was not assured. A new approach was urgently required. Building a Self-Sustaining SolutionDean learned UC Berkeley has operated a helium recycling facility on their campus for decades. He was invited to tour the plant and found the university was open to using its excess capacity to recycle UCSF’s helium. After careful consideration, Dean and professors John Gross, Mark Kelly, and John Kurhanewicz decided that utilization of Berkeley’s plant would entail complex logistics. They determined that the most practical solution was to install a system in the space housing our Pre-clinical and NMR Cores, whose support extends beyond UCSF to research and industry groups at UCB, Stanford, and local biotech and pharmaceutical companies. The team agreed to collaborate on a business case to garner necessary funding. Professors Gross and Kurhanewicz submitted requests for funding from the NIH and UCSF’s Core Operational Improvement Award program. Dean described our ongoing struggles in procuring helium during shortages and detailed the associated campus-wide financial and operational risks. Professors Gross, Kelly, and Kurhanewicz succeeded in winning funding for the recycling system after participating in a Shark Tank-like competition to earn the Core Operational Improvement Award. While the main benefit of the installed system was to protect instruments, it recovers approximately 140 liters of liquid helium per week. This first helium recycling system is in its fifth year of operation, and it has recovered nearly $800,000 of liquid helium. “We are very grateful to Dean and SCM for the on-going support and the key role he played during the procurement of the system.” Professors Gross and KellyPlugging into the U.S. Strategic Helium Reserve While waiting for recycling systems to become operational, UCSF struggled through multiple helium shortages that threatened research, equipment, and patient care. Helium suppliers prioritized higher-paying customers and government “in-kind” contracts, which left UCSF vulnerable. During the research effort to reduce the impact of helium shortages, Dean discovered that the Bureau of Land Management’s “In-Kind” program incentivized suppliers to prioritize orders using federal funds by providing them with discounted helium from the U.S. Strategic Helium Reserve. After getting up to speed on the program, completing a federal application, committing to monthly compliance reporting, and securing one company’s commitment to supply UCSF under the program, UCSF was granted “In-Kind” status. UCSF’s helium supply was stabilized until 2022—nearly three years—when Congress dissolved the program and privatized the U.S. Strategic Helium Reserve among a select group of suppliers. Concerned about the impact on UCSF’s research, Dean reached out to UCSF’s Senior Director of Federal Government Relations, Eric Anthony. Eric agreed to lobby in Washington, D.C. to reinstate prioritizing Strategic Reserve helium for federally funded orders using its power to regulate interstate commerce. Anthony introduced Dean to advocacy in Washington and asked him to prepare a brief that detailed the risks to UCSF’s operations with arguments that would appeal to both sides of the aisle. Together with Professor Emeritus Keith Yamamoto, Eric visited the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and members of Congress to present their concerns and made a case to retain the Strategic Reserve. Thanks to their efforts and broader academic and industry advocacy, the federal helium sale was paused for over a year. Their advocacy on behalf of UCSF and other federally funded institutions continues today. Creating A Campus Safety Net Since UCSF’s first recycling system became operational, the NMR Core facility has proved invaluable during subsequent helium shortages. When Professor Kelly described how their system could generate a liquid helium reserve, Dean asked if an “emergency rescue plan” could be established to provide small amounts of helium to labs without recycling systems during supply shortages. Professors Kelly, Gross, and Kurhanewicz agreed. This rescue plan has been implemented multiple times to support UCSF labs such as the magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanner, in the BIL, as well as nearby biotech companies. Professor Kelly, Pharmaceutical Chemistry: “Our helium recycling system in Genentech Hall has protected research instruments and clinical scanners across the UCSF campuses during several helium shortages. It provides a significant reduction in operating costs and reduces the environmental impact of helium transportation (Wyoming, Texas and outside the US).” Expanding Our Capabilities The BIL equipment emerged as a particular concern. The MEG equipment is critical for generating pre-surgical brain scans, and the BIL MEG scanner accounts for 45 percent of UCSF’s total helium usage. If the scanner went down, medical staff would have to delay surgeries for weeks until the system came back online, divert patients to the only other MEG system (in southern California), or conduct surgical procedures without a detailed brain map. In July 2025, a second helium recapture system went online at the BIL. The BIL’s helium recapture has further reduced UCSF’s reliance on purchased helium to just 12 percent of its previous levels. A Sustainable Future With two recycling systems now operational, UCSF saves more than $360,000 annually, protects multimillion-dollar instruments, ensures continuity of research and patient care, and conserves a finite natural resource. Helium shortages will continue to happen, but UCSF is now operationally resilient—needing to source only a small fraction of our historic helium usage. This long journey to safeguarding our NMR imaging operations has entailed years of collaboration, foresight, and advocacy. It’s a cross-campus success story. Thanks to exceptional teamwork and activism, UCSF’s NMR imaging operations are equipped for a more resilient future. “This is one of the most important efforts of my career. I went from not knowing anything about UCSF’s helium needs to becoming an activist of sorts. It’s rewarding to know I helped eliminate a problem.” Dean Shehu, Supply Chain Management
Supply Chain Management (SCM) prepares for potential service disruptions.
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