A Monthly Digest of Noteworthy Activities and Achievements

Recent challenges – from a pandemic to political and policy shifts – have only intensified our sense of instability. However, with the right mindset and strategies, uncertainty can serve as a catalyst for growth, resilience, and opportunity. Read Diane Sliwka’s thoughts here.

DOM #3 Recipient of NIH Funding

In 2024, the Department of Medicine received $239M in NIH funding – the third highest total for departments of medicine in the U.S. It represents 33% of the $726M received by the UCSF School of Medicine, which was first in the nation. Read more about the rankings here.

Honors and News

Serena Loya has been appointed president-elect of the Administrators of Internal Medicine Council of AAIM.

Alexander Smith received the
AAHPM Award for Excellence in Scientific Research in Palliative Care.

Academic Senate Faculty Awards

Laurence Huang (pictured left) received the Distinction in Mentoring Award and Jaya Mallidi received the Distinction in Teaching Award from the UCSF Academic Senate.

UCSF Health Exceptional Physician Awards

Alain Algazi, Rachel Bystritsky, Karen Chee, and Lulu Tsao (pictured left to right) received Exceptional Physician Awards from UCSF Health.

Other Honors and News

Charles Chiu received the Luminary Award for Infectious Disease and Ida Sim received the Luminary Award for New Frontiers in Precision Medicine from the Precision Medicine World Conference.

DOM in the News

Peter Chin-Hong strongly recommended getting the flu vaccine (San Francisco Chronicle, NBC News). He described the risk Covid-19 poses to children (New York Times) and and explained the factors that put Pope Francis at risk for his recent illness (New York Times).

Adil Daud warned that a delay in research funding could be life-threatening to cancer patients (KQED).

Steven Deeks cautioned that cuts to the distribution of HIV medications could lead to another pandemic (New York Times).

Monica Gandhi emphasized the harm caused by recent cuts to the NIH (ABC News) and emphasized the safety of the flu vaccine (Fox News).

Sheiphali Gandhi warned that undocumented individuals will be even less likely to access healthcare during immigration crackdowns (Los Angeles Times).

David Klonoff suggested that testing blood glucose after a meal might better predict diabetes risk than A1c levels (Popular Science).

Margot Kushel reported that homeless individuals seeking substance abuse treatment were unable to access services (KCBS).

Pamela Munster warned that scientists may abandon academia due to recent NIH cuts (KQED).

Gina Solomon advised thoroughly washing produce that has been covered in ash (Los Angeles Times).

Sheri Weiser explained the psychological toll on those displaced by the LA fires (PBS).

Recent Grants of Note

Jody Baron: a grant of $4M over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for a project entitled, “Immune analysis of the HBsAg seroclearance response terminating chronic HBV.”

Matthew Growdon: a grant of $1.3M over five years from the National Institute on Aging for a project entitled, “Optimizing medication use and support among people with dementia who live alone.”

Recent Publications of Note

Costa LJ, Banerjee R, Mian H... Martin TG, Chari A. International myeloma working group immunotherapy committee recommendation on sequencing immunotherapy for treatment of multiple myeloma. Leukemia. 2025 Mar;39:543-554. >> PubMed Citation

Faggioni M, Giri J, Glassmoyer L, Kobayashi T. A rational approach to the treatment of acute pulmonary embolism. Annu Rev Med. 2025 Jan;76:327-337. >> PubMed Citation

Haber LA, Cloud DH, Boudin C, Williams BA. The intersection of climate justice and criminal justice: extreme heat and health inequities in carceral facilities. JAMA. 2025 Jan 22. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

Heinzerling A, Harrison R, Flattery J, Fazio JC, Gandhi S, Cummings KJ. Deadly countertops: an urgent need to eliminate silicosis among engineered stone workers. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2025 Jan 02. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

Hickey MD, Ayieko J, Kabami J... Chamie G... Havlir DV... Cost-effectiveness of leveraging existing HIV primary health systems and community health workers for hypertension screening and treatment in Africa: An individual-based modeling study. PLoS Med. 2025 Jan 24;22:e1004531. >> PubMed Citation

Kumar R, Nolan K, Kassa B... Lee MH... Sheppard D... Graham BB. Monocytes and interstitial macrophages contribute to hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. J Clin Invest. 2025 Jan 30. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

Marcus JL, Weddle A, Kelley CF... Hickey MD... Christopoulos KA. Policy recommendations to support equitable access to long-acting injectables for human immunodeficiency virus prevention and treatment: a policy paper of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association. Clin Infect Dis. 2025 Jan 28. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

Nielsen HV, Yang L, Mueller JL... Zikherman J. Nr4a1 and Nr4a3 redundantly control clonal deletion and contribute to an anergy-like transcriptome in auto-reactive thymocytes to impose tolerance in mice. Nat Commun. 2025 Jan 17;16:784. >> PubMed Citation

Pickering H, Schaenman J, Phan HV... Fung M... Eckalbar W... Langelier CR. Host-microbe multiomic profiling identifies distinct COVID-19 immune dysregulation in solid organ transplant recipients. Nat Commun. 2025 Jan 10;16:586. >> PubMed Citation

Suliman S, Agyei L, Afzal SA, Williams S. Leveraging community engagement to shape biomedical research priorities. Trends Immunol. 2025 Feb;46:100-103. >> PubMed Citation

Tuot DS, Plantinga L. Approaches to raise awareness of CKD among patients and the general population. Nat Rev Nephrol. 2025 Mar;21:147-148. >> PubMed Citation

Xu E, Tabrizian P, Gutierrez J... Mehta N. Downstaging of hepatocellular carcinoma before liver transplantation: results from a national multi-center prospective cohort study. Hepatology. 2025 Jan 14. Epub ahead of print.m>> PubMed Citation

See all 183 DOM-authored publications from last month.

Featured Events

International Women's Day 2025
UCSF is celebrating International Women’s Day with a rich program of speakers and events. Discover workshops, classes, music, and more!
Through Wednesday, March 12
Click here for more information.

State of the Department
DOM Chair Bob Wachter’s annual address will be delivered in a hybrid format and recorded for later viewing.
Tuesday, March 18 | 12:00-1:00 pm
In-person at S-214 (Parnassus) or join via Zoom.

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