Commercial capabilities are also set to come online next year, Mark Stevenson, chief operating officer at Thermo Fisher, said over email. RELATED: The top 10 global R&D institutes | 6. University of California, San Francisco The site will be built on leased space from UCSF. Thermo Fisher didn't say how much it paid for the lease, and while it does plan to staff the site with new recruits, it's too early to say how many, Stevenson said.