Governors Briefs: New Science & Tech Research Center in LA and New Appointment

Gov. Newsom Announces Science & Technology Research Center in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — Gov. Gavin Newsom Jan. 3 announced the state has acquired the former Westside Pavilion shopping mall in Los Angeles. The site — which UCLA will transform into the UCLA Research Park — will bring together academics and industry partners from around the world to lead scientific and technology projects that will benefit California, the United States, and the world. 

The 700,000-square-foot property will initially host two multidisciplinary research centers: the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA and the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering.

The new UCLA Research Park is made possible in part by a prior state investment to establish and fund the immunology and immunotherapy institute at UCLA. The institute is also supported by a group of founding donors from the biotechnology, academic, entrepreneurship and philanthropic communities.

Harnessing the power of public-private partnerships, and working with key partners — including Google, Hudson Pacific Properties, and Macerich — the state is saving about $223 million on the research park and opening years ahead of schedule.

Google, which previously leased part of the property, helped enable and support UCLA’s acquisition.

California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy

The UCLA Research Park will be home to the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy. The Institute will draw on the expertise of UCLA faculty members, scholars from different higher education institutions, and other leading scientists and practitioners in clinical and biomedical scientific research, including human genetics, genomics, computer science, engineering, and information science.

Researchers will pursue new tools, treatments, and vaccines that could help cure cancer, autoimmune and immune deficiency disorders, infectious diseases, allergies, heart conditions, solid organ transplantation, and other major health-related issues.

UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering

The UCLA Research Park will also be home to the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, which conducts research in the emerging field of quantum science and technology — including quantum computing, communication and sensing — to dramatically increase information processing power by harnessing the unusual behavior of subatomic particles.

Quantum computing has the potential to solve equations in minutes that would traditionally take existing computers tens of thousands of years to complete — enabling potential to enhance medication discovery, improve artificial intelligence tools, combat climate change and model complex scenarios.

Gov. Newsom Announces Appointments

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom Jan. 2 announced the following appointment:

Galit Lipa, of Culver City, has been appointed state public defender in the office of the State Public Defender, where she has served as executive director of the indigent defense improvement division since 2021. She was program director at the Public Welfare Foundation from 2019 to 2021. Lipa was a supervising attorney at the public defender service for the District of Columbia from 2017 to 2019, where she served as an attorney from 2012 to 2017. She was interim director at the Stanford Law School Criminal Defense Clinic from 2011 to 2012. Lipa was a lecturer in Law at the Stanford Law School Criminal Defense Clinic and Three Strikes Clinic from 2007 to 2011. She is a member of the National Association for Public Defenders, the California Public Defenders Association and California Attorneys for Criminal Justice. Lipa earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Laws degree from Georgetown University Law Center and a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $213,960. Lipa is a Democrat.