Newsletter: June 2023

Dear colleagues,

As we head into summer, I feel a lightness of spirit in the air that makes me happy! I don’t think it’s just that the warmer weather is finally here, and people are talking about upcoming vacations; it feels like we’re finally getting back to a more sustainable “new normal” after the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The world is still full of hard problems to solve (including ongoing suffering from COVID-19), but I feel confident that we are up to the task and proud of our impact. I think you’ll agree when you browse some of the success stories below about our faculty, staff and learners. Enjoy! And have a great summer.

Mark Pletcher, MD, MPH

Rosalyn Plotzker, MD, MPH, was selected to join the third cohort of Baum Scholars for her work in creating the Virtual Approach to Gynecology Project, a gynecologic pelvic exam curriculum for health care trainees that utilizes 360-degree video and virtual reality simulation.

Michael Reid, MD, received the Thomas Hall-Nelson Sewankambo Mid-Career Leadership Award for excellence in global health education, research, advocacy, service and leadership. Reid significantly expanded training and education activities for San Francisco and California public health workers when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Alexis Beatty, MD, MAS, has received $6.8 million from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to study strategies for optimal delivery of cardiac rehabilitation. Beatty’s study will compare the efficacy of traditional, in-person cardiac rehabilitation with telehealth rehab.

Iona Cheng, PhD, MPH, and her team have received $3.2 million from the National Institute on Aging to examine the long-term effects of climate change – specifically extreme heat and wildfire smoke – on adult life expectancy in a diverse population in southern California.

Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, is working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to implement a new quality measure that will ensure that diagnostic CT exams performed in the United States don’t exceed evidence-based radiation thresholds.

Ingrid Chen, PhD, has received $900,000 from the Armed Forces Pest Management Board Deployed Warfighter Protection Program to develop second-generation passive emanators to reduce mosquito-biting behavior.

Jennifer Smith, PhD, MSc, has received $30,000 from the IGHS Affiliate Program to pilot antenatal surveillance for female genital schistosomiasis in Bagamoyo, Tanzania.

PhD student Eduardo Santiago-Rodriguez received the Outstanding Poster Award at the annual 2023 American Society of Preventive Oncology meeting. He received the highest poster score among trainees for his study, which evaluates the association between residential segregation and adherence to colorectal cancer screening in the U.S. His poster was titled: “Racialized economic segregation and colorectal cancer screening in the United States, 2010–2018.”

Thirty-six students are graduating this spring from the Training in Clinical Research master and certificate program. Congratulations to: Anushree Agarwal, Narges Alipanah-Lechner, Moses Badio Sr., Katerina Baynova, Lurit Bepo, Audrey Brown, Henry Carter, Chun Jung Chen, Geoffrey Cheng, Ilana Garcia-Grossman, Sarah Goldberg, Susan Gutierrez, Hyundeok Joo, Kayla Karvonen, Devika Krishnakumar, Mason Lai, Katherine Leger, Clarus Leung, Lingsheng Li, Vivian Liu, Karley Mariano, Ashley Martinez, Sean McClellan, Caroline Melhado, Sarah Miller, Dallas Mindo-Panusis, Melanie Molina, Allan Ndovu, Priya Parikh, Helena Record, Katherine Sanders, Lindsey Scheller, Michael Smith, Rachael Stovall, Favian Su, and Mignote Yilma.

Chloe Eng, Sarah Rae Wannier and Safyer McKenzie-Sampson have completed their PhD studies. Good luck as you go onward and upward!

Individuals interested in the foundations of clinical research are invited to apply for our 7-week summer workshop or 1-year online workshop.

The Training for Research on Aging and Chronic Disease T32 fellowship is recruiting five new fellows to start in Summer/Fall 2023.

Five courses will be offered, including designing clinical research, data collection, introduction to “big data,” statistical computing, and programming for health data.

Research in Implementation Science for Equity (RISE) will host its second and final summer institute from July 24-28, culminating with scholar showcases. This event is by invitation only. 

Suzanne Dufault, PhD, received her doctorate in biostatistics from UC Berkeley. She was most recently a postdoctoral scholar in UCSF’s Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine with Patrick Phillips, PhD. Her primary research addresses the barriers to generating high-quality evidence in complicated trial settings by improving experimental trial design and introducing novel statistical techniques that directly target motivating research questions, primarily in infectious diseases. She’s thrilled to join DEB and expand her collaborative research efforts to include projects in radiation oncology, geriatrics and other areas of health research.

Jennifer Yarger, PhD, received her doctorate in public policy and sociology from the University of Michigan, where she was trained at the Population Studies Center. She is a social scientist and new assistant professor at DEB and the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. Yarger is passionate about improving access to quality sexual and reproductive health information and services, particularly among adolescents and young adults. With support from an NIH NIDDK K12 Award, she will expand her research to include youth access to care for urinary tract infections and other genitourinary conditions, including care via telehealth.

Abby Sokoloff has been at UCSF for 19 years. She ran research studies and clinical trials for women’s reproductive health at San Francisco General Hospital. Abby is excited to join DEB as the program manager for the All of Us Research Program, where she will oversee clinical and programmatic study activities. She is a dog lover and enjoys seeing all the pictures of dogs on people’s desks.

Our annual diversity, equity, and inclusion action report received an exemplary mark from the School of Medicine Dean's office! The review committee noted a shift in the department culture and systems that integrate DEI into all department levels and strategic plans. After seven years of targeted approaches to cultivate a more inclusive climate, our 2023-2024 activities focus on addressing structural barriers (e.g., hiring processes to enhance diversity, pathway education programs, salary equity review, equitable processes for diversity supplement applications, and reeducation for more equitable research approaches). Email Meghan.Morris@ucsf.edu for the full report. Visit epibiostat.ucsf.edu/diversity for a description of our committee goals, activities and workgroups, and consider joining!

Thank you for your excellent work, service and commitment to our department! Laura Allen, Alison Canchola, Pilar Deer, David McFarland, Christopher Gehrman, Christian Leiva, Wilson Li, Katherine Lin, Matthew Malekhedayat, Sally Mead, Chan Nguyen, Susan Rubin, Elizabeth Sherwin, Eva Wong-Moy, and Shirley Yuen

RECOGNIZE a colleague: recognize.ucsf.edu

From March through May, our 178 primary faculty published 210 articles in journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Nature Genetics, Science and JAMA.

PhD student Kristen Azar successfully extracted a huge and valuable electronic health records data set from Sutter that should provide a platform for real-world evidence generation related to hypertension and quality of care. @KMJAzar

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PhD students Ekland Abdiwahab and Alice Guan co-authored a commentary in Frontiers in Public Health calling for solidarity between Black and Asian Americans to combat anti-Asian racism.

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