A Monthly Digest of Noteworthy Activities and Achievements

Coaching is a powerful way to support faculty, staff, and trainees in aligning their professional goals with meaningful, sustainable work. In this piece, Lekshmi Santhosh explores how a coaching mindset can strengthen individuals, teams, and our broader community. Read more here.

DOM Master Clinicians

Michelle Guy, Raymond Hsu, Vivek Jain, Scott Steiger, and Sunny Wang (pictured left to right, top to bottom) are this year’s DOM Master Clinicians. The Council of Master Clinicians honors DOM faculty recognized for their commitment to medicine and exceptional clinical skills.

Residency Program Match

This year’s residency match brought an exceptional cohort of 64 interns from 32 medical schools, including eight from the UCSF School of Medicine, eight physician-scientists, and a diverse group of trainees who will strengthen our clinical, research, and educational missions. View the full list here.

Honors and News

Mitchell Feldman has
been selected to serve
as chair of the editorial
board of JGIM.   

Kip Mihara has been appointed chief of the Division of Emergency Medicine at SFVAHCS. 

Nadia Nassaj has been appointed manager of
the Division of Hematology & Oncology at UCSF Health.

Other Honors and News

Elizabeth Dzeng has been appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM).

Gerald Hsu has been appointed editor-in-chief of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Educational Book.

Bridget Keenan has been selected as co-leader of the Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Program at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC).

Shawn Torres received the UCSF Parnassus Integrated Student Clinical Experience (PISCES) Teaching Award.

The Division of Experimental Medicine marked 20 years at UCSF, building a globally recognized research enterprise across TB, HIV, malaria, and Long COVID, with strong impact in funding, discovery, and training.

Physician Peer Coaching

What if the coaching support you’ve been looking for is closer than you think? The new DOM Physician Peer Coaching Program offers ACP-certified, confidential, and evidence-based coaching designed specifically for our faculty. Learn more here.

DOM in the News

Matthew Breeggemann explained that kidney stones can form when excess oxalate binds with calcium in the urine, creating hard deposits (San Francisco Chronicle).

Geoffrey Buckle warned that colorectal cancer rates are rising in younger adults (Healthline).

Peter Chin-Hong cautioned that measles and mumps outbreaks highlight the importance of vaccination (NBC News, San Francisco Chronicle), and noted that public trust in vaccine guidance is shifting (Scientific American). He also reported that COVID variants continue to circulate, generally without causing serious illness (San Francisco Chronicle).

Justin Eyquem reviewed a new approach to generating CAR-T cells directly in the body, a potential breakthrough that could expand access to cancer immunotherapy (STAT News, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News).

Margaret Fang suggested that more individualized timing of overnight care could help preserve sleep without compromising patient outcomes (Medscape).

Monica Gandhi reported that respiratory viruses such as influenza and HMPV are increasing as viral patterns shift (SFGate).

Sheiphali Gandhi lamented that silicosis cases among countertop workers point to preventable workplace safety failures (East Bay Times, Press Democrat).

Robert Harrison helped identify early clusters of silicosis among countertop workers (KFF Health News) and advocated for banning artificial stone to prevent further toxic exposure (Capital & Main).

Alka Kanaya emphasized that research on cardiometabolic risk among South Asians should be grounded in and returned to the communities it serves (The Scientist).

Sandeep Kishore reported that the primary challenge in hypertension management lies in implementing effective, systemwide care (SFGate).

Susan Lynch noted that the gut microbiome is a key metabolic component of overall health and disease risk (San Francisco Chronicle).

Michele Pham recommended starting oral antihistamines several weeks before allergy season to reduce symptom severity (New York Times).

Rita Redberg raised concerns about new blood pressure definitions that will result in more people being labeled as “hypertensive” (New York Times) and warned about potential conflicts of interest in healthcare (New York Times).

Diana Thiara noted that muscle loss can occur with GLP-1–related weight loss (New York Times) and suggested hormone therapy may help some patients who do not respond well to weight-loss medications (New York Times).

Robert Wachter emphasized that AI tools can provide useful information when used responsibly (Associated Press, MedPage Today) and encouraged patients to use them as an alternative to limited access to care (NPR). He emphasized the importance of core medical knowledge (Medscape) and described a task-based approach to integrating AI into clinical work (Medscape).

Eric Widera cautioned that emerging Alzheimer’s treatments show statistically significant but modest benefits for patients with early disease (MedPage Today).

Recent Grants of Note

Harold Chapman: a grant of $7.6M over seven years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for a project entitled, “Program to block age-related pulmonary fibrosis and restore lung regeneration.”

Michael Peluso and team: a grant of $5.4M over two years from the PolyBio Research Foundation for a project entitled, “VIPER diagnostic test validation program for long COVID.”

Recent Publications of Note

Contreras-Sánchez SE, Doubova SV, Grajales-Álvarez R... Leslie HH. Effectiveness of a digital health intervention on the supportive care needs and quality of life in Mexican patients with breast cancer: a randomized clinical trial. BMC Cancer. 2026 Feb 16;26:391. >> PubMed Citation

Deardorff WJ, Tominaga G, Harrison JD, Weerahandi H, Miller MJ, Yukawa M, Lam K. Can I stay, or must I go now? A cohort study of discharge appeals in a post-acute skilled nursing facility. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2026 Apr;27:106108. >> PubMed Citation

Elias A, Pirruccello JP, Delling FN, Lee C, Marcus GM. Modifiable lifestyle factors, left atrial indices, and atrial fibrillation. J Am Heart Assoc. 2026 Mar 3;15:e044876. >> PubMed Citation

Fadairo-Azinge A, Grenert J, Haas B, Margaretten M. Consumed by abdominal distention. Arthritis Care Res. 2026 Feb 9. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

Gerstenfeld EP, Schmidt B, Natale A... Dewland TA, Moss JD... Pulsed field ablation vs standard radiofrequency ablation for typical atrial flutter: ADVANTAGE AF trial substudy. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2026 Feb 6:S0735-1097. >> PubMed Citation

Greenland JR, Perch M, Halloran K, Levine DJ... Calabrese D... Considerations for endpoints in lung transplant clinical trials: perspective on the ISHLT consensus statement. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2026 Feb;45:168-171. >> PubMed Citation

Kim H, Liang S, Lanier K... Charlebois ED... Bidirectional data harmonization across the multiple chronic disease disparities research consortium: A pipeline description of opportunities and challenges. J Biomed Inform. 2026 Feb 28. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

Ma S, Spinner MA. Optimizing the role of checkpoint inhibitors in the management of Hodgkin lymphoma. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2026 Feb;24:e257125. >> PubMed Citation

Naikawadi RP, Bazarov A, Wax Ii M, Boostanpour K... Bhattacharya M, Wolters PJ. Cellular profiling identifies an early profibrotic alveolar type 2 cell signature in lung fibrosis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2026 Feb 10. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

Nguyen N, Leonard S, Byers AL... Keyhani S. Associations of cannabis and tobacco use with suicide attempt, suicide death, and overdose death among veterans prescribed opioid analgesics. Am J Prev Med. 2026 Feb 13. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

Riley ED, Ma Y, Wu KC... Neilands TB... Tien PC, Kizer JR. Associations between sustained methamphetamine/amphetamine use and left ventricular dysfunction in a cohort of women living with and without HIV. J Am Heart Assoc. 2026 Mar 3;15:e041888. >> PubMed Citation

Stankiewicz Karita HC, Magaret AS, Doody DR... Nonavalent HPV vaccine to prevent recurrent anal or vulvar high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (VIVA trial): A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Int J Cancer. 2026 Jun 1;158:2983-2994. >> PubMed Citation


View more DOM-authored publications from last month.

Featured Events

AI in Your Toolkit: Bias in AI
This session will present prominent examples of AI bias, explain why it occurs, and outline strategies for users to minimize biased output.
Wednesday, April 8 | 11:00 am-12:00 pm
Click here for more information.

Academic Senate Awards Ceremony
Celebrate the 2026 Distinguished Faculty Awardees, including Mallory Johnson from the DOM, whose work reflects the collaborative spirit of UCSF.
Wednesday, April 15 | 3:00-5:00 pm
Click here for more information.

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