A Monthly Digest of Noteworthy Activities and Achievements

Join us in welcoming our 2026-2027 chief medical residents: top row, left to right: Megan Betancourt (UCSF Health), Brandon Fennell (SFVAHCS), Roberto Gonzalez (ZSFG), Eunice Lee (SFVAHCS), and Eve Manghis (SFVAHCS). Bottom row, left to right: Emma McCune (SFVAHCS), Paloma Orozco-Scott (ZSFG), Sebastian Schormann (UCSF Health), Scott Swartz (UCSF Health), and Lou Xie (ZSFG).

We also wish to thank our amazing 2025-2026 chief medical residents: Fletcher Bell, Daniel Boctor, Harry Cheung, Kenneth Hubbell, Pooja Lalchandani, Emily Marogi, Karishma Patel, Tamara Sanchez Ortiz, Audrey Tran, and Justin Zhang.

Honors and News

Michael Harper received the Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Award from the American Geriatrics Society (AGS).

Rikki Maher has been
appointed the director of finance and administration for the DOM at SFVAHCS.

Neil Powe received the
Reinhardt Distinguished
Career Award from AcademyHealth.

GME Excellence & Innovation Awardees

Five members of the DOM received UCSF GME Excellence & Innovation Awards, recognizing outstanding contributions to graduate medical education. Pictured left to right are the award recipients, with their respective categories listed below:

Nicole Calder: Advancing Wellbeing in GME, Staff
Marie Hollero: Leadership in Community, Opportunity, Retention & Engagement, Staff
Noam Margalit: Impact and Innovation, Trainee
Kendra Moore: Advancing Wellbeing in GME, Faculty
Justin Zhang: Excellence in QI and Patient Safety, Trainee

Other Honors and News

Aniqa Azim, Kelsey Perry, and Rashmi Manjunath, along with Gillian Foley and Ashish Gandhi, were co-winners of the UCSF Health and Center for Healthcare Value (CHV) Caring Wisely^TM Project Contest for their respective projects.

Anna Chodos has been appointed the inaugural site chief of geriatrics at ZSFG.

Kavon Javaherian received the UCSF School of Medicine Class of 2026 Excellence in Teaching Award for Clinical Faculty.

Jen Perkins received the 2025-2026 Long-Term Mentor Award from the UCSF School of Medicine Inquiry Curriculum.

Parya Saberi was named a scientific member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents with HIV.

Alexander Smith has been named co–editor in chief of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS).

David Watts, author of the medical collection Bedside Manners, was featured on the cover artwork of the Pecos County Justice trilogy.

Brie Williams received the Claire D. Brindis Award for Community Engagement and Service in Health Policy Research from the UCSF Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

Ana Velazquez-Manana received the 40 Under 40 in Cancer Award from the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC) and partner organizations.

Jinoos Yazdany received the Harold S. Luft Award for Mentoring in Health Services and Health Policy Research from the UCSF Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

DOM in the News

Peter Chin-Hong reported on a new strain of monkeypox in San Francisco (NBC News) and advised on how to stay safe from the recent measles outbreak in California (CBS News, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Standard). He also warned about declining COVID-19 vaccination rates among seniors (Los Angeles Times).

Steven Deeks noted that a challenge in HIV treatment is the need for lifelong daily therapy, emphasizing the importance of affordable and accessible regimens (SFGate).

Gurpreet Dhaliwal said that clinicians often first rule out common conditions presenting in a novel way before considering rarer diagnoses (KQED).

Ramzi Dudum supported updated guidelines that encourage lifelong attention to cholesterol, noting that plaque develops gradually over time (San Francisco Chronicle).

Monica Gandhi warned that typhus can be spread by fleas from outdoor pets (SFGate) and that vaccines are developed not because all infections are deadly, but to prevent serious illness (NBC News). She said that viruses may linger into summer and encouraged handwashing and vaccinations (SFGate).

Sunny Kishore discussed why blood pressure control has stagnated for two decades, despite the availability of effective tools to improve outcomes (SFGate).

Vadim Koshkin reflected on a new treatment pattern in advanced bladder cancer that may signal broader use of combination therapies in practice, with encouraging outcomes (Oncology News Central).

Ashwin Kotwal cautioned that efforts to reduce dementia risk typically require intervention much earlier in life (San Francisco Chronicle).

Margot Kushel noted that Los Angeles County sees slightly higher rates of people returning to homelessness after shelter stays than the state overall, and emphasized the need for greater investment in permanent housing (Los Angeles Times).

Alex Marson commented on studies mapping T cell genes that influence HIV infection, pointing to potential therapeutic targets (Technology Networks, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News).

Daniel Pound was featured in a New England Journal of Medicine video highlighting his work in patient-centered care and medical education.

Lisa Rotenstein noted that AI scribes provide modest time savings, with greater benefits seen among heavier users (TechTarget).

Recent Grants of Note

Seth Blumberg: a grant of $3.6M over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. for a project entitled, “Advancing analytical tools to quantify and mitigate the risk for transitioning from episodic to endemic transmission for emerging infections.”

Julia Carnevale: a grant of $3.4M over five years from the National Cancer Institute for a project entitled, “Genome-wide in vivo CRISPR screens in human T cells identify GPCR pathway targets to enhance CAR-T therapies for solid tumors.”

Neeta Thakur: a grant of $3.4M over five years from the Wellcome Trust for a project entitled, “Heatsmart: integrating community impact, interventions, and policy for heat resilience.”

Recent Publications of Note

Adler-Milstein J, Murray SG, Wachter RM. The market dynamics for third-party AI tools trying to compete with electronic health record developers. JAMA. 2026 Apr 28;335:1387-1389. >> PubMed Citation

Allen NC, Ringler C, Woo SH, Phipps S, Lee JY, Reyes N, Biswas R, Neyton L, Willmore A, Guo L, Langelier C, Auyeung V, Calfee C, Peng T. NF-κB-activated fibroblasts orchestrate inflammaging and emergence of pro-inflammatory granzyme K+ T cells. Immunity. 2026 Mar 27. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

Brender TD. Transplanted—harvesting lessons in uncertainty. JAMA Intern Med. 2026 May 1;186:507-508. >> PubMed Citation

Deardorff WJ, Burke RE, Makam AN. Navigating postacute care options for patients after hospital discharge: a review. JAMA Intern Med. 2026 Mar 1;186:362-373. >> PubMed Citation

Frouard J, Telwatte S, Luo X, et al. HIV-seq reveals gene expression differences between HIV-transcribing cells from viremic and suppressed people with HIV. Nat Commun. 2026;17:1540. >> PubMed Citation

Gilligan T, Bohlke K, Alpert AB... Chou CL. Patient-clinician communication: ASCO guideline update. J Clin Oncol. 2026 Apr 10;44:1040-1057. >> PubMed Citation

Glascock A, Maguire C, Phan HV, Lydon EC... Calfee CS... Greenland J... Erle DJ... Eckalbar W... Wilson M... Chu VT, Langelier CR. Empiric azithromycin alters the upper respiratory microbiome and resistome without anti-inflammatory benefit in COVID-19. Nat Microbiol. 2026 Apr;11:1100-1112. >> PubMed Citation

Kanaya AM, Gadgil MD; ACP Journal Club Editorial Team at McMaster University. In adults with prediabetes and overweight or obesity, an AI- vs. human-led lifestyle intervention was noninferior for a composite outcome at 12 mo. Ann Intern Med. 2026 Mar;179:JC34. >> PubMed Citation

Koeckerling D, Reddy RK, Howard JP... Bernstein H... Ahmad Y. Long-term mortality after PCI or CABG for left main stem disease: updated meta-analysis of randomized trials using reconstructed individual-participant survival data. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2026 Apr 28;87:2180-2183. >> PubMed Citation

Marcus GM. Left atrial appendage closure - should recommendations be expanded? N Engl J Med. 2026 Mar 28. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

Mallidi J. Saachi. JAMA. 2026 Mar 19. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

Nyberg WA, Bernard PL, Ngo W, Wang CH... Rothrock A, Borgo GM, Kimmerly GR, Jung JH, Allain V... Khan SH... AbdElwakil MM, Sandoval LR... Jung H, Liu C... Carnevale J, Rutishauser RL... Roybal KT... Eyquem J. In vivo site-specific engineering to reprogram T cells. Nature. 2026 Apr;652:712-721. >> PubMed Citation

O'Neill AF, Zeme EL, Abou-Alfa GK... Gordan JD. Clinical guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of fibrolamellar carcinoma. Hepatology. 2026 Mar 18. Epub ahead of print. >> PubMed Citation

View all DOM-authored publications from last month.

Featured Events

MGR: UCSF Learning Health Systems E-STAR Program
Join the upcoming ZSFG/VA joint medicine grand rounds featuring projects from LHS E-STAR Center Scholars, a training program for fellows and junior faculty that supports research embedded in the learning health system.
Tuesday, May 12 | 12:00-1:00 pm
Click here to join the Zoom.

Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Mini-LEAD
Directed by Armond Esmaili, mini-LEAD is a new series for emerging leaders. Quarterly sessions aim to introduce core leadership skills and create community within the DOM.
Wednesday, May 20 | 5:30-7:30 pm
Click here to RSVP to the first session.

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