Research Faculty
Theresa Allison, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine
Professor of Family & Community Medicine
Staff Physician, San Francisco VA Health Care System
Research Interests:
Music, identity and culture in the context of dementia care
Meaningful engagement and quality of life in nursing home care
Benefits of group singing (choirs) for older adults
Palliative care for people living with dementia
Intersections of ethnomusicology (music anthropology) and the health sciences
Home-based medical care
Louise Aronson, MD, MFA
Professor of Medicine
Founder, Integrative Aging practice
Director, AGE SELF CARE program
Director, UCSF Health Humanities
Research Interests:
Geriatrics, anti-ageism, public medical communication, healthy aging, optimizing aging, geriatrics education, medical humanities, writing, health and healthcare
John Boscardin, PhD
Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Director, Geriatrics Statistical Core
Research Interests:
Analysis of longitudinal and repeated measures data, treatment of missing data, Bayesian statistical modeling, and computational statistics
HIV/AIDS, brain injury, health disparities, diabetes, stroke, ageing and frailty, and scleroderma, with colleagues in a wide variety of disciplines, including geriatrics, psychology, psychiatry, pediatrics, ophthalmology, immunology, virology, gastroenterology, epidemiology, neuroimaging, neurosurgery, neuroscience, cardiology, health services, and rheumatism.
Rebecca Brown, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Research Interests:
Improving quality of life for vulnerable older adults
Care delivery models for vulnerable older adults
Social determinants of health
Anna Chodos, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine
Principal Investigator, Dementia Care Aware
Co-Principal Investigator, Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program/ Optimizing Aging Collaborative
Medical Director, Outpatient Geriatrics Consult Service and Geriatrics-Neurology Cognitive Clinic, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG)
Research Interests:
Implementation science, older adults, primary care, safety net, socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, consult geriatrics, advocacy, poverty in older adults, dementia, elder abuse
Ken Covinsky, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine
Associate Chief, Geriatrics Research
Principal Investigator, UCSF Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center
Co-Director of Research
Edmund G. Brown Sr., Distinguished Professorship in Geriatrics
Principal Investigator, UCSF Older Americans Independence Center
Staff Physician (SFVAMC)
Research Interests:
Disability following hospitalization
Psychosocial determinants of disability in older persons
Prognosis
Outcomes of Disability
James Deardorff, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Geriatrician, Inpatient Services
Geriatrician, San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living
Research Interests:
Prognostic modeling and mortality prediction
Outcomes following admission to post-acute care facilities
Medication use in persons with dementia
Meredith Greene, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Research Interests:
Improving care for older adults living with HIV infection
Creating a novel geriatric HIV program at Ward 86 at ZSFG
Streamlining operations and quality improvement projects in Housecalls Program
Matthew Growdon, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Geriatrician, Inpatient Services
Research Interests:
Medication use in older adults
Deprescribing
Dementia
Learning Health Systems
Use of eConsults
Krista Harrison, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Co-lead of the Vulnerable Aging Research Core within the UCSF Claude D. Pepper Older American Independence Center
Research Interests:
Mitigating suffering by improving policies & care systems for older adults living with, dying from, and grieving dementia and other serious illnesses
Hospice
Dementia Gerineuropalliative Care
Home- and community-based care
Ashwin Kotwal, MD, MS
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Staff Physician (SFVAMC)
Research Interests:
Loneliness and social isolation among older adults
Marriage and Health
Palliative Care
Kenneth Lam, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Geriatrician, San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living (SFCJL)
Research Interests:
Measurement and categorization of disability in older persons
Evaluation of equipment and caregiving to support disability
Decision-making around institutionalization
Alexandra Lee, PhD, MSPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Research Interests:
Diabetes management in older adults
Epidemiology of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia and their associations with geriatric syndromes
Interactions between diabetes and dementia care
Geriatric Public Health
Sei Lee, MD
Professor of Medicine
Senior Scholar Emeritus, San Francisco VA Quality Scholars Fellowship
Staff Physician (SFVAMC)
Research Interests:
Mortality Prediction and Lagtime to Benefit for Preventive Interventions
Geriatric Outcomes and Glycemic Control in Older Adults
Alzheimer’s Dementia Screening in Older Adults
Measuring and Improving Healthcare Quality for Frail Elders
John Newman, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Associate Professor (Buck Institute)
Staff Physician (SFVAMC)
Research Interests:
Molecular mechanisms of aging
Metabolic interventions to prolong healthspan and longevity in mice
Epigenetic gene regulation by metabolic signals
Mechanisms of dietary restriction and ketone bodies in health and longevity
Carla Perissinotto, MD, MHS
Professor of Medicine
Geriatrician, Inpatient Services
Research Interests:
Loneliness and social isolation among older adults
Edgar Pierluissi, MD
Professor of Medicine
Medical Director, Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Unit, SFGH
Research Interests:
Aging and Vulnerable Populations
Care of Hospitalized Older Adults
Quality Improvement
Christine Ritchie, MD, MSPH
Professor of Medicine
Research Interests:
Symptom Experience and Burden in Advanced Illness and Multimorbidity
Care Delivery Models and Quality Measures for Complex Serious Illness
Supportive Care in Cancer and Dementia
Emerging Technology in Chronic Serious Illness
Stephanie Rogers, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics
Associate Chief, Clinical Geriatrics Programs, UCSF
Medical Director, UCSF Parnassus Inpatient Geriatric Service
Parnassus Inpatient Geriatrics Services Site Director, Geriatrics Clinical Fellowship
Founder and Medical Director, UCSF's Age-Friendly Health System
Co-Medical Director, Adult Transitions, UCSF Health
Geriatrician, Inpatient Services
Research Interests:
Age-Friendly Health System Implementation
Hospital Harm reduction
Health Systems Research
Implementation of Clinical Programs for Older Adults
Transitions of Care
Ageism
Janice B. Schwartz, MD
Professor of Medicine, Bioengineering & Therapeutic Sciences, UCSF
Visiting Research Scientist, Jewish Home of San Francisco
Research Interests:
Improving medication therapy in older patients
Dietary supplement and vitamin use
Adherence to medications
Alex Smith, MD, MS, MPH
Professor of Medicine
Staff Physician (SFVAMC)
Research Interests:
Improving quality of life in late life disability
Communication about prognosis in the frail elderly
Health services use at the end of life
Michael Steinman, MD
Professor of Medicine
Director, Research Training Programs, Division of Geriatrics
Co-Director, UCSF Pepper Center for Aging Research
Co-Director, T32 Aging Research Fellowship Program
VA Director, UCSF National Clinician Scholars Program
Visiting Research Scientist and Interim Director of Research, San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living
Staff Physician, SFVAMC
Research Interests:
Medication use in older adults and deprescribing - https://deprescribingresearch.org/
Multimorbidity
Training in patient-oriented aging research
Rebecca Sudore, MD
Professor of Medicine
Director, Innovation and Implementation Center in Aging & Palliative Care
Staff Physician (SFVAMC)
Research Interests:
Advance Care Planning
Health Literacy and Vulnerable Populations
Medical Decision Making
Victoria Tang, MD, MAS
Associate Professor of Medicine
Staff Physician (SFVAMC)
Research Interests:
Geriatric Surgical Care
Clinical Epideminology
Medical Decision Making
Louise Walter, MD
Professor of Medicine
Chief, Division of Geriatrics, UCSF and SFVAHCS
Director, Geriatrics Health Services Research & Development, SFVAHCS
Associate Director, Clinical and Translational Science Institute K Scholars Program, UCSF
Associate Director, Tideswell at UCSF Emerging Leaders in Aging Program
Staff Physician, SFVAHCS
Research Interests:
Cancer screening in older adults
Prognosis
Personalized Prevention
Michi Yukawa, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine
Medical Director, Short stay rehabilitation unit of San Francisco Center for Jewish Living (SFCJL)
Geriatrician, San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living
Coach, UCSF School of Medicine coaching program
Director, MS4 Geriatric Medicine Elective UCSF School of Medicine
Research Interests:
Improving nutrition, preventing weight loss and improving perioperative care of older adults