A Monthly Digest of Noteworthy Activities and Achievements

We’re thrilled that our residents matched to many of the nation’s top fellowship programs across a broad range of specialties. We’re particularly excited that 23 of our 48 residents matched to a UCSF fellowship this year!

In Remembrance

We remember Alberto Rangel, LMFT, a cherished member of the Ward 86 team. Alberto was known for his compassion, warmth, and dedication, and for the genuine care he brought to every interaction. His loss is felt deeply across UCSF and ZSFG, and his legacy of service will endure. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to his husband, family, and all who knew and worked alongside him. Read more here.

We remember Amy Lin, MD, a deeply respected member of the Hematology/Oncology community whose brilliance, compassion, and steady commitment enriched UCSF for more than two decades. Amy brought clarity, generosity, and good humor to everything she touched. We hold her partner and family in our thoughts and offer our sincere sympathy to all who knew and worked with her. Read more here.

Honors and News

Danielle Chammas received the Award for Excellence in Scientific Research in Palliative Care from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Janet Chiang was appointed as assistant chief of the SFVA Medical Service. 

SPIRIT of DOM Staff Awards

The Spirit of DOM Award honors outstanding staff contributions across the department. This fall cycle’s awardees, pictured left to right, are Landon Haller (Geriatrics), Kevin Nolan (Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at ZSFG), and Tiffany Tam (Nephrology at UCSF Health). Read more about them here.

DOM in the News

John Balmes cautioned that policy shifts favoring fossil fuels threaten to worsen air pollution and raise risks of serious health harms, including dementia (New York Times).

Teresa Chen emphasized that untreated kidney disease can progress to failure and is most deadly because of its link to cardiovascular events (New York Times).

Peter Chin-Hong shared tips on the winter virus season, including keeping flu and COVID tests on hand (New York Times, KRON4, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times). He warned about rising measles risk due to falling vaccination rates (ABC News) and described long-term complications of tickborne diseases (Public Good News).

Steven Deeks reported early evidence that combined immunotherapies may slow HIV rebound after treatment stops (Washington Post).

Monica Gandhi said not commemorating World AIDS Day undermines attention and funding, just as proven tools could end the HIV epidemic (WBUR Here & Now).

Diane Havlir said the HIV community has shown strength this year and stressed that continued research investment is essential as work toward a cure continues (KQED).

Alison Huang noted that nocturia often stems from poor sleep and shared practical steps to reduce nighttime waking (New York Times).

Sarah Kim detailed how glucose and insulin function and how glucose monitors can help track trends, while reminding people not to stress over holiday meals (New York Times).

Pamela Ling said that dispensaries frequently recommend cannabis for pain and sleep without scientific evidence to back those claims (San Francisco Chronicle).

Gregory Marcus highlighted new findings indicating that a daily cup of caffeinated coffee is safe and potentially protective for people with atrial fibrillation (NBC News, Today Show, KTVU, The Guardian, Healthline, Prevention, MedPage Today, Everyday Health).

Uma Mahadevan outlined how to have a healthy pregnancy with IBD, highlighting disease control, low-risk medication options, and coordinated care (WebMD Health Discovered).

Leila Mohammadi noted that sustained cannabis use can impair vascular health and elevate cardiovascular risks for older adults (KCRA3 News).

Alison Rustagi explained that assessing smoking histories over decades is challenging, and even slight errors can prevent eligible patients from being screened (New York Times).

Rachel Rutishauser pointed out that patients with slower viral rebound showed early T-cell responses that may guide future HIV cure strategies (Washington Post).

Hilary Seligman stressed that losing food benefits can precipitate complications in chronic illness, noting how food insecurity fuels poor health outcomes (San Francisco Examiner).

Robert Wachter discussed how rising reliance on AI for medical advice reflects a strained health system (New York Times), noted that ChatGPT often misses essential follow-up questions despite some strong answers (Washington Post), and urged leaders to understand and govern AI, rather than simply deploy it (Healthcare Dive).

Recent Grants of Note

Elise Riley and team: a grant of $3.7M over five years from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities for a project entitled, “Improving retention along the hypertension care cascade and reducing cardiovascular risk among people with HIV who use a safety net clinic.”

Cynthia Delgado: a grant of $3.6M over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for a project entitled, “Contributions of volume overload level and ultrafiltration to morbidity in ESKD.”

Zian Tseng and Timothy Henrich: a grant of $3.3M over four years from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for a project entitled, “Immune activation and region-specific myocardial arrhythmic substrate in sudden cardiac death victims with HIV.”

Recent Publications of Note

Abelman RA, Fitzpatrick J, Zawedde J… Byanova KL… Hunt PW, Huang L. Brief report: sex and HIV modify immune activation biomarkers in Ugandans post-tuberculosis. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2025 Oct 1;100(2):137-142. >> PubMed Citation

Lam K, Cenzer I, Ankuda CK… Smith AK, Covinsky KE, Kotwal AA. Social participation among older adults before and after long-term care facility entry. JAMA Intern Med. 2025 Oct 1;185(10):1257-1265. >> PubMed Citation

Lee C, Abraham TP. Entropy in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a new layer in risk stratification for sudden cardiac death. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2025 Nov;18(11):e019080. >> PubMed Citation

Lin J, Green V, McGrath M… MASLD-F algorithm to the rescue: improving noninvasive diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis in patients with severe obesity. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2025 Oct 1;59(9):910-914. >> PubMed Citation

Meo SA, Shaikh N, Abukhalaf FA, Meo AS, Klonoff DC. Effect of climate change, extreme temperatures (heat and cold) on diabetes mellitus risk, hospitalization, and mortality: global evidenced based study. Front Public Health. 2025 Oct 16;13:1677522. >> PubMed Citation

Noubiap JJ, Dewland TA, Montenegro GC, Oo HH, Tseng ZH, Marcus GM. Illicit stimulants and ventricular arrhythmias: a longitudinal cohort study. Eur Heart J. 2025 Oct 1;46(37):3639-3647. >> PubMed Citation

Rotenstein LS, Frits M, Iannaccone C… Gitomer R... Primary care physician time spent in patient care: an observational study using electronic health record logs. Ann Intern Med. 2025 Oct 21. >> PubMed Citation

Rotenstein LS, Hardy B, Tang M... Patient-physician messaging by race, ethnicity, insurance type, and preferred language. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Oct 1;8(10):e2534549. >> PubMed Citation

Rotenstein LS, He Z, Dziura J… Trends in and predictors of physician attrition from clinical practice across specialties: a nationwide, longitudinal analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2025 Oct 7. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

Santoyo-Olsson J, Covinsky KE, Cheng J, Gallagher Thompson D, Yank V. Utilization of home- and community-based services among rural family caregivers of persons with dementia: the role of the area deprivation index. Front Public Health. 2025 Oct 14;13:1688161. >> PubMed Citation

Suresh A, Pan D, Lipof J, Kumar A, Arora S, Sayre P, Wolf J, Martin T, Chari A, Chung A. How should we choose optimal salvage treatments following BCMA-directed CAR T-cell therapy? Immunotherapy. 2025 Oct;17(14):1025-1038. >> PubMed Citation

Thurston RC, Huang AJ. The swinging pendulum of menopausal hormone therapy. JAMA Intern Med. 2025 Dec 1;185(12):1411-1412. >> PubMed Citation


See all 47 DOM-authored publications from last month.

Featured Events

Staff Appreciation Events
Let’s thank our staff for their hard work! Multiple events bring our UCSF community together and celebrate our great people.
Throughout December | Various Locations
Click here for more information.

Investigator-Initiated Trials: From Concept to Activation
This half-day workshop will offer a deep dive into the practical aspects of conducting a clinical trial.
Friday, December 19 | 8:30 am-12:30 pm
Click here for more information.

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