The San Francisco 49ers had major cause for celebration after they defeated the New England Patriots on Sunday in what many call the best game of the NFL season. But instead of hitting the town, they boarded a plane and flew through the night to make sure they got back to San Francisco to support some of their smallest and most loyal fans.

UCSF is a health-sciences research powerhouse – a premier academic medical center that values not only the physician who designs clinical trial protocols for promising experimental drugs, but also the talented lab scientist who unearths nature’s secrets on the molecular and cellular levels.

A large-scale study of marijuana's toll on the lungs, the dangers of sugar, Shinya Yamanaka's Nobel Prize win for his stem-cell science discovery, sex-starved fruit flies that drink more and the promise of a brain cancer vaccine were among the top 10 most-read stories of 2012.

The year 2012 has been punctuated by numerous successes: A stem cell scientist won the University’s fourth Nobel Prize. The new electronic health records system is connecting physicians while transforming patient care. And Mission Bay continues to be an epicenter of expansion.

This sampling of videos produced in 2012 showcases clinicians, researchers, educators, students, alumni and members of the public working together to improve health, advance biosciences research and build community.

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have mapped the molecular mechanism by which a virus known as cytomegalovirus (CMV) so successfully infects its hosts. This discovery paves the way for new research avenues aimed at fighting this and other seemingly benign viruses that can turn deadly.

UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay won't be complete for another two years, but the project already has firmly established itself as a model for innovation throughout the world.

Hospital MRIs may be better at predicting long-term outcomes for people with mild traumatic brain injuries than CT scans, according to a clinical trial led by researchers at UCSF and the San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.