IHPS Announcements

Director's Note

Thursday is Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of the slavery in the U.S. June 19, 1865 was when the Emancipation Proclamation was finally enforced in Texas, and the earliest Juneteenth celebrations can be dated to one year after that. It was named an official federal holiday in 2021. At times, it feels like we still have a long way to go to achieve full rights for all people in the U.S., but Juneteenth is a time to reflect on how far we’ve come and plan for the future.

I spent the weekend at the San Francisco Jazz Festival, which is a new event. Jazz is truly a unique American art, and is also a truly interracial art. It was inspiring and refreshing to be surrounded by happy people and great music. One of my favorite sets was Lionel Loueke (guitarist and vocalist born in Benin who worked his way through music programs in Ivory Coast, Paris, and UCLA) and Dave Holland who is a legendary bass player (English, and still going at age 78!). They have an album together “United” which is lovely – I highly recommend it.

Upcoming Events

TODAY! Preventing and Regulating Adolescent and Young Adult E-cigarette Use

Shivani Gaiha, PhD, Harvard University

Jun 17, 12:15 - 1:15 pm, Valley Center Room 209

Working with State Government: Contracts, Relationships, and Approaches

Alternatives to NIH Funding Series

Joanne Spetz

Jun 18, 11 am - 12 pm - MH 1406 (register for in-person closed); Zoom registration here

12 - 1 pm - additional discussion (in-person only)

New to IHPS

Kristen Marchi (Affiliated Faculty)

For over 30 years, Kristen Marchi's work in the Department of Family and Community Medicine has focused on conducting policy-relevant research on the social determinants of maternal and infant health and translating findings from that research to inform public health policy and practice. She is skilled in both qualitative and quantitative research design and analysis, with experience analyzing (or guiding the analysis of) survey data and large secondary data sets such as vital statistics and census data. Her current research activities center on birth equity and the impacts of structural racism and other social determinants on birth outcomes. As the Principal Investigator for a project that surveys birthing people, she guides a research team that ensures the availability of quality maternal and infant health data and conducts analytic projects that highlight maternal and infant health inequities. In addition, as the Executive Director of the Center for Health Equity in FCM, she has played a central role in the publication and dissemination of several manuscripts and reports focused on social determinants of maternal and infant health. She looks forward to rich collaboration with current IHPS faculty also focusing on birth equity and social determinants of maternal and infant health.

Outside of work, Kristen enjoys exploring the hills around her home in Marin by foot or mountain bike, alone or with friends. Her Bernedoodle Sadie happily assists on the hikes. Kristen and her husband love to travel and spend quite a bit of time in Wyoming and Mexico. They also involve themselves in political fundraisers frequently with many of their friends. She is currently in two book clubs, one started with friends in 1996 and another joined in Novato two years ago. She is taking a breather from volunteering at the local schools now that she has one son working in WY and another at Cal Poly SLO.

Josué Zapata (Affiliated Faculty)

Josué Zapata MD, MBA is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Department of Medicine practicing at the San Francisco VA where he is also the Associate Chief of the Medical Service and former Associate Chief of Staff for Quality, Safety, and Value. A passionate medical educator, Josué was recently named Director of the Health Systems and Leadership Training Pathway for the Department of Medicine.

Josué is originally from Riverside, California but spent a decade in the Northeast for college (NYU) and graduate school (MD/MBA at Harvard) before he returned to California to train at UCSF and eventually join the faculty. Josué’s work focuses on quality/systems improvement, cultivating leadership and administrative skills in academic medicine, and supporting diversity in healthcare. Josué lives in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset with his wife Carly (a UCSF Palliative Care physician) and their two kids, Sofia (9) and Rafael (6). Outside of work, you’ll likely find him surfing the Northern California coastline, coaching his kids on the sidelines of a lacrosse game, or debating the best acai bowl in town. Josué is looking forward to learning from colleagues in IHPS and getting involved with the community.

Publications & Research Dissemination

Marissa Raymond-Flesch published in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health

Leveraging family and caregiver support in psychedelic-assisted therapy: considerations for the treatment of adolescents

Malini Mahendra, Naomi Bardach and Rebecca Smith-Bindman published in

Hospital Pediatrics

Cancer Risk Associated with Radiation Doses Used for CT Scans in Pediatric and General Hospitals

Administrative

Staff/Trainee Informal Office Hours (IHPS)

An informal drop-in time with 1-2 faculty members where staff and trainees can ask about topics like career trajectories, professionalization, the 'invisible curriculum' of academia, and anything else that may help us better navigate UCSF, work-life, or our broader careers.

Every 4th Thursday (resumes July 24)

1pm

Room 704 with snacks or Zoom

Saving Data

Mark Pletcher and Joanne Spetz have been in conversation with the Library, UCSF IT leadership, and Vanessa Jacoby. We have discussed setting up a repository for data at UCSF, but the current funding uncertainty is slowing that process.

If you downloaded data last month (or any time!), you can follow the Data Rescue Project's workflow which involves uploading public (non-restricted) government data to the Data Lumos repository. The Library is considering organizing some Data Rescue events, such as a mini hackathon style event where folks can actually upload data to Data Lumos together.

If you have some data that could go to Data Lumos, please upload it – and/or keep your eyes on potential mini-uploading parties. We might have a UCSF site for this in the future, but in the meantime anything you can do to help archive the data will be greatly appreciated by scientists everywhere.

IHPS Research Initiative

Research Initiative Discussion of Ideas

As part of our Strategic Plan, we aim to generate new, large research initiatives. Over the next 2-3 years, IHPS plans to dedicate approximately $100,000 to support planning and exploration of 3-4 ideas with the expectation that about half of them will not bear fruit.

The first phase of this work was to generate ideas. We will now convene exploratory group meetings around the initiative ideas that emerged. Most groups have had an initial meeting and will now meet to further develop ideas from the brainstorming session.

Topic Area Meetings are below - if you would like to join one of the working groups, please email Beth Thew (beth.thew@ucsf.edu).

Aging/LTC/ADRD/Palliative Care/Hospice

Behavioral Health

Pediatric Chronic Diseases

SF Health Ideas

Birth Equity

Health Communications and Central Valley Health will be scheduled at a later time to an initial brainstorming session. If you are interested in any of these, please email beth.thew@ucsf.edu so you are included in the Outlook invite.

If you are interested in Commercial Determinants of Health, please email Beth Thew to be connected to the group working on that.

Opportunities

National Clinician Scholars Program

Due: July 15

We would greatly appreciate your sharing information about NCSP with individuals in your network.

NCSP is an innovative two-year program that provides advanced training in health services research and leadership at six sites: Duke, UCLA, UCSF, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. Building on the legacy of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, NCSP is the only postdoctoral research fellowship for physicians and doctorally-trained nurses across multiple disciplines and specialties. Scholars explore diverse topics, from artificial intelligence and climate change to health systems innovation and implementation science, driving impact across clinical, public, and academic sectors. The program builds expertise in research design, leadership, and opportunities for community engagement while offering personalized mentorship and career planning.

We are specifically seeking medical residents and doctorate-prepared nurses interested in health services research and leadership to tackle pressing healthcare challenges.

Apply for NCSP

Nancy E. Adler Seed Grant Program

The Center for Health and Community in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is pleased to share a request for pilot research proposals. The Nancy E. Adler Seed Grants Program (ASG) will support projects focused on social and behavioral determinants of health. Annual budgets should not exceed $25,000, and total budgets should not exceed $35,000. Proposals will be considered on a competitive basis through September 16, 2025. This opportunity is restricted to UCSF junior faculty and non-faculty academics, such as postdocs. Please visit this link to view the full Call for Proposals.

Recruiting Participants for a Study to Improve End-of-Life Care for Families Affected by Dementia or Memory Loss

Drs. Krista Harrison, Lauren Hunt, Dan Dohan, Jen James and others at UCSF are conducting the HEARD Study (Hospice & End-of-life care for people impacted by Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias) to develop recommendations to improve dementia and end-of-life care. We are recruiting participants to tell us their stories about providing or organizing end-of-life care for someone impacted by dementia or memory loss. We are currently focused on recruiting Asian, Black or Latino former caregivers, and collecting data in English, Spanish, and Chinese. Participants may receive up to $160: a 10-minute survey ($10) and up to three 1-hour interviews ($75 each) by phone or video. Please help us share the news!

Interested participants can contact us by phone, email, or online!

(925) 679-5058

heard@ucsf.edu

heard.ucsf.edu

Ask Us Anything

Ask the IHPS Leadership Team anything at all! Have a question about how to navigate within UCSF? Need advice on who to turn to for a logistical matter? Interested in IHPS structure? Ask your question here. Some questions and answers will be published in future IHPS Announcements.