Sandra Moody, MD

Professor of Medicine

Sandra Y. Moody, MD, BSN, AGSF is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC) and was previously serving as a Professor-in-Residence at Kameda Medical Center in Kamogawa City, Chiba, Japan.

Dr. Moody received her MD from the Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1991. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine and fellowships in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and Geriatrics Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Moody joined the faculty at UCSF in August 2001. She has developed a national reputation in diversity and health disparities.

Dr. Moody was founder of the Division of Geriatrics Hospice and Palliative Care Service (2001-2004), which is now one of the leading programs in Veterans Affairs nationally. Her work was recognized by a nomination for the Marshall Goodwin-Beck Interdisciplinary Award for Excellence in Clinical Delivery (2005), an award that “recognizes an individual practitioner demonstrating excellence in ‘hands on’ direct geriatric patient care.” She is currently living in Japan teaching at the Kameda Medical Center, which has one of the top residency-training programs in the country. She participates in activities in Japan advancing the care of older adults, including end-of-life.

Clinical and Research Activities:
Dr. Moody attends on the SFVAMC/UCSF Division of Geriatrics Hospice and Palliative Care Service annually and sees patients in the General Medicine outpatient clinic at the U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka in Japan on a monthly basis.

Dr. Moody’s research interest lies in the arena of disparities in health outcomes among older adults. She collaborates on research projects both at UCSF and in Japan.

Academic Focus:
Dr. Moody’s academic focus is to improve the care of diverse frail elderly patients with multiple chronic and life-threatening conditions through teaching and program development. Currently living in Japan, she teaches clinical reasoning, case presentation in English and western approaches to clinical medicine. She lectures nationally on topics in geriatric medicine, addressing the challenges of geriatrics education and end-of-life care and decision making in Japan.

Selected Presentations:
1. Plenary speaker, “Geriatrics Medical Education: Implications for Japan,” 54th Annual Meeting of Japan Geriatrics Society [theme: Geriatric Medicine in Super-aged Society], Tokyo, Japan, June 2012
2. Lecturer, “End-of-Life Decision Making: Facilitating Choices,” Kitano Hospital, Department of General Internal Medicine, Osaka, Japan, September 2012
3. Lecturer, “Geriatrics Education: Implications for Japan,” Tokyo Society of Medical Sciences Educational Seminar, The Tokyo University Faculty and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan, December 2012
4. Symposium Chair and Speaker, “Preventing Delirium in Hospitalized Patients: Instituting the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP),” The 20TH IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Seoul, Korea, June 2013
5. Lecturer, “Integrating Geriatrics Into Your Practice,” Kameda Medical Center, Kamogawa City, Japan, September, 2013
Publications
  1. Yano H, Sato R, Luthe SK, Moody SY, Fukutake T. Cerebral Air Embolism as a Complication of Subcutaneous Injection. Volume 130 of Issue 10. 2017. PMID: 28528924


  2. Poon LH, Wang L, Moody S, Proffitt L. Evaluation of pharmacy resident and student recommendations made before and after home-based primary care patient visits. Volume 30 of Issue 1. 2015. PMID: 25591031


  3. Moody SY, Newsom EM, Covinsky KE. Determinants of perceived emotional recovery and perceived change in health after a disaster. Volume 62 of Issue 6. 2014. PMID: 24925556


  4. Ando K, Doi T, Moody SY, Ohkuni Y, Sato S, Kaneko N. The effect of comorbidity on the prognosis of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Volume 51 of Issue 14. 2012. PMID: 22821096


  5. Adams V, Kaufman SR, van Hattum T, Moody S. Aging disaster: mortality, vulnerability, and long-term recovery among Katrina survivors. Volume 30 of Issue 3. 2011. PMID: 21590581


  6. Mehta KM, Stewart AL, Langa KM, Yaffe K, Moody-Ayers S, Williams BA, Covinsky KE. "Below average" self-assessed school performance and Alzheimer's disease in the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study. Volume 5 of Issue 5. 2009. PMID: 19751917


  7. Washington DL, Bowles J, Saha S, Horowitz CR, Moody-Ayers S, Brown AF, Stone VE, Cooper LA. Transforming clinical practice to eliminate racial-ethnic disparities in healthcare. Volume 23 of Issue 5. 2008. PMID: 18196352


  8. Moody-Ayers S, Lindquist K, Sen S, Covinsky KE. Childhood social and economic well-being and health in older age. Volume 166 of Issue 9. 2007. PMID: 17720682


  9. Lee SJ, Moody-Ayers SY, Landefeld CS, Walter LC, Lindquist K, Segal MR, Covinsky KE. The relationship between self-rated health and mortality in older black and white Americans. Volume 55 of Issue 10. 2007. PMID: 17697102


  10. Rodriguez RA, Sen S, Mehta K, Moody-Ayers S, Bacchetti P, O'Hare AM. Geography matters: relationships among urban residential segregation, dialysis facilities, and patient outcomes. Volume 146 of Issue 7. 2007. PMID: 17404351


  11. Williams BA, Lindquist K, Moody-Ayers SY, Walter LC, Covinsky KE. Functional impairment, race, and family expectations of death. Volume 54 of Issue 11. 2006. PMID: 17087694


  12. Moody-Ayers SY, Stewart AL, Covinsky KE, Inouye SK. Prevalence and correlates of perceived societal racism in older African-American adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Volume 53 of Issue 12. 2005. PMID: 16398910


  13. Moody-Ayers SY, Mehta KM, Lindquist K, Sands L, Covinsky KE. Black-white disparities in functional decline in older persons: the role of cognitive function. Volume 60 of Issue 7. 2005. PMID: 16079221


  14. Corbie-Smith G, Moody-Ayers S, Thrasher AD. Closing the circle between minority inclusion in research and health disparities. Volume 164 of Issue 13. 2004. PMID: 15249343


  15. Corbie-Smith G, St George DM, Moody-Ayers S, Ransohoff DF. Adequacy of reporting race/ethnicity in clinical trials in areas of health disparities. Volume 56 of Issue 5. 2003. PMID: 12812814


  16. Blazer DG, Moody-Ayers S, Craft-Morgan J, Burchett B. Depression in diabetes and obesity: racial/ethnic/gender issues in older adults. Volume 53 of Issue 4. 2002. PMID: 12377303


  17. Moody-Ayers SY, Wells CK, Feinstein AR. "Benign" tumors and "early detection" in mammography-screened patients of a natural cohort with breast cancer. Volume 160 of Issue 8. 2000. PMID: 10789603


  18. Corbie-Smith G, Thomas SB, Williams MV, Moody-Ayers S. Attitudes and beliefs of African Americans toward participation in medical research. Volume 14 of Issue 9. 1999. PMID: 10491242