A Monthly Digest of Noteworthy Activities and Achievements

Bob Wachter looks back at the challenges and accomplishments of 2023 and looks forward with optimism to 2024, driven by the strength of the remarkable people of the DOM. Read his thoughts.

Honors and News

Serena Lee was named manager of the Division of Occupational, Environmental, and Climate Medicine.

Serena Loya was named manager of the Division of Nephrology at ZSFG.

Jen Perkins was named chief medical officer for ambulatory access for UCSF Health.

DOM in the News

Ayesha Appa expressed uncertainty about how xylazine is mixed with fentanyl to NBC News, highlighting the challenges of an unregulated drug supply.

Peter Chin-Hong lamented the underutilization of Paxlovid in an ABC News interview. He also expressed concern about the rise in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases in the Los Angeles Times and advocated for RSV vaccination among older adults in the New York Times.

Rishika Chugh described innovations in the study and treatment of IBD on the As Prescribed podcast.

Monica Gandhi noted the rise in flu cases in an interview with Fox KTVU, elaborated on how indoor winter gatherings increase viral exposure in the Washington Post, and explained that some populations are having problems accessing the latest Covid vaccine on ABC News.

Sheiphali Gandhi warned about the danger of inhaling silica dust on Fox KTVU and weighed in on exposure limit standards on KQED.

Chi-yuan Hsu and Ian McCoy explained that some acute kidney failure patients may not require dialysis on CBS News.

Margot Kushel was interviewed regarding various aspects of homelessness in the New York Times, Time magazine, and the Mercury News.

Greg Marcus identified health conditions that can make caffeine consumption riskier in Scientific American.

Gina Moreno-John discussed UCSF’s food pharmacy program on ABC News.

Rita Redberg expressed disappointment with the FDA’s delays in addressing medical device safety issues in ProPublica.

Vivek Rudrapatna detailed how large language models (LLMs) can be used to analyze medical records in an interview with Nature Medicine.

Matthew Spinelli answered questions about the prevention and treatment of HIV on KCBS Radio.

Katherine Van Loon highlighted the impact of new abortion restrictions on pregnant cancer patients in STAT News.

Bob Wachter praised California’s management of the Covid crisis in the Los Angeles Times. He also analyzed the fall in Covid-related deaths in the Mercury News and the emergence of new variants in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Recent Grants of Note

Stephanie Christenson and team: a cooperative agreement of $4M over 5 years from the National Human Genome Research Institute for a project entitled, “EXposomic Profiling in Airway disease to uNravel Determinants of disease in Asthma (EXPAND-Asthma) center.”

Monika Sarkar and team: a grant of $3.5M over 5 years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for a project entitled, “Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in polycystic ovary syndrome: the role of androgens on liver injury and NAFLD progression.”

Delphine Tuot and team: a grant of $2.4M over 5 years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for a project entitled, “ACCTiVATE: Achieving Chronic Care equiTy by leVeraging the Telehealth Ecosystem.”

Recent Publications of Note

Aggarwal R, Starzinski S, de Kouchkovsky I, Koshkin V, Bose R, Chou J, Desai A, Kwon D, Kaushal S, Trihy L, Rastogi M, Ippisch R, Aslam M, Friedlander T, Feng F, Oh D, Cheung A, Small E, Evans M, Fong L, Hope TA. Single-dose ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA-617 followed by maintenance pembrolizumab in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: an open-label, dose-expansion, phase 1 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2023 Nov;24(11):1266-1276. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(23)00451-5. >> PubMed Citation

Buck AM, Deitchman AN, Takahashi S, Lu S, Goldberg SA, Bodansky A, Kung A, Hoh R, Williams MC, Kerbleski M, Maison DP, Deveau TM, Munter SE, Lombardo J, Wrin T, Petropoulos CJ, Durstenfeld MS, Hsue PY, Kelly JD, Greenhouse B, Martin JN, Deeks SG, Peluso MJ, Henrich TJ. The breadth of the neutralizing antibody response to original SARS-CoV-2 infection is linked to the presence of Long COVID symptoms. J Med Virol. 2023 Nov;95(11):e29216. doi: 10.1002/jmv.29216. >> PubMed Citation

Gard CC, Tice JA, Miglioretti DL, Sprague BL, Bissell MCS, Henderson LM, Kerlikowske K. Extending the breast cancer surveillance consortium model of invasive breast cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2023 Nov 17:JCO2202470. [Epub ahead of print.] doi: 10.1200/JCO.22.02470.
>> PubMed Citation

Higuchi S, Voskoboinik A, Il Im S, Lee A, Olgin J, Arbil A, Afzal J, Marcus GM, Stillson C, Bibby D, Abraham T, Wilson E, Gerstenfeld EP. Frequent premature atrial contractions lead to adverse atrial remodeling and atrial fibrillation in a swine model. Circulation. 2023 Nov 23. [Epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.1161/ CIRCULATIONAHA.123.065874. >> PubMed Citation

Jain V. Infection control and prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Nov 30:ciad611. [Epub ahead of print.] doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad611.
>> PubMed Citation

Lydon E, Langelier CR. Respiratory metagenomics: ready for prime time? Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2023 Nov 29. [Epub ahead of print.] doi: 10.1164/rccm.202311-2039ED. >> PubMed Citation

Minter DJ, Appa A, Chambers HF, Doernberg SB. Contemporary management of staphylococcus aureus bacteremia-controversies in clinical practice. Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Nov 30;77(11):e57-e68. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad500. >> PubMed Citation

Popescu B, Stahlhut C, Tarver TC, Wishner S, Lee BJ, Peretz CAC, Luck C, Phojanakong P, Camara Serrano JA, Hongo H, Rivera JM, Xirenayi S, Chukinas JA, Steri V, Tasian SK, Stieglitz E, Smith CC. Allosteric SHP2 inhibition increases apoptotic dependency on BCL2 and synergizes with venetoclax in FLT3- and KIT-mutant AML. Cell Rep Med. 2023 Nov 21;4(11):101290. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101290. >> PubMed Citation

Spinelli MA, Christopoulos KA, Moreira CV, Jain JP, Lisha N, Glidden DV, Burkholder GA, Crane HM, Shapiro AE, Jacobson JM, Cachay ER, Mayer KH, Napravnik S, Moore RD, Gandhi M, Johnson MO. Viral suppression trajectories destabilized after coronavirus disease 2019 among us people with human immunodeficiency virus: an interrupted time series analysis. Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Nov 14:ciad657. [Epub ahead of print.] doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad657. >> PubMed Citation

Wachter RM, Brynjolfsson E. Will generative artificial intelligence deliver on its promise in health care? JAMA. 2023 Nov 30. [Epub ahead of print.] doi: 10.1001/ jama.2023.25054. >> PubMed Citation

See all 198 DOM-authored publications from last month.

Featured Events

Poetic Medicine for Wounded Healers
Thursday, January 25 | 12-1:00pm
Palliative Medicine commemorates its 25th anniversary with this event as one of its highlights.
Register to attend on Zoom

State of the Department
DOM Chair Bob Wachter’s annual address will be delivered in a hybrid format and recorded for later viewing.
ZSFG and VA Highlights | Tuesday, February 6, 12:00 pm
Attend in person at Pride Hall rooms 1930/1940/1950 or join via Zoom
UCSF Health Highlights | Thursday, February 8, 12:00 pm
Attend in person at N-217 (Parnassus) or join via Zoom

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