ZSFG Primary Care Track: Our People - Faculty
Faculty
Affiliated Faculty & Other Preceptors in the Richard H. Fine People’s Clinic
Faculty
Joan Addington-White, MD
Professor of Medicine
SFPC Program Director
Academic interests: I am interested in residency education, advocacy, and mentorship. I am a practicing general internist with a strong focus on vulnerable populations and those who are or have been incarcerated. My goal as a program director is to graduate well-rounded general internists who have the leadership and research skills to improve our delivery of care to underserved patients and communities.
Other interests: I grew up in the Midwest and have four nearly grown children who are an ongoing source of joy and fascination. I love reading and hiking, and with all of the book stores and beautiful places to explore in San Francisco, I am finding San Francisco to be a slice of paradise.
Soraya Azari, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Academic interests: I am interested in resident education, substance use disorders, chronic pain, safe opioid prescribing, and HIV medicine.
Other interests: I have two small children who take up most of my time in incredibly fulfilling yet exhausting ways. When I’m not with them, I like to listen to podcasts, go on beautiful hikes, and shop in ethnic grocery stores for ingredients I can’t find in other places.
Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS
Professor of Medicine, Lee Goldman, MD, Endowed Chair in Medicine;
Professor and Chair, Epidemiology & Biostatistics;
Vice Dean for Population Health and Health Equity
Academic interests: Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease with a particular interest in the development of chronic disease in young adults. Her work focuses on racial, ethnic and income differences in manifestations of chronic disease and effective clinical, public health, and policy interventions aimed at prevention.
Other interests: I’m still a basketball mom at heart, and in my free time, I enjoy watching and attending games, particularly if my son is playing (he is a professional player in Europe!).
Robert V. Brody, MD
Professor of Medicine and Family & Community Medicine
Attending physician, Medicine and Pain Services, Medicine and Pain Clinics, SFGH
Co-Chair, Ethics Committee, SFGH
Medical Director, Health at Home, SFDPH
Chair, Board of Directors, End of Life Choices California
Academic interests: primary care, end of life care, bioethics, pain management
Other interests: Grandchildren and family, making mobiles, piano lessons
Maria T. Chao, DrPH, MPA
Professor of Medicine
Associate Director for Health Equity & Diversity
Interim Director of Research, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine
Academic interests: My overarching goal is to investigate how complementary and integrative health approaches can advance health equity and improve quality of life among underserved populations. My current program of research focuses on improving pain management through group-based models of integrative medicine and acupuncture in conventional healthcare settings serving diverse patients.
Other interests: I enjoy time by the ocean with my family. I’m a wannabe surfer who has settled on the joys of boogie boarding and stand up paddle boarding. Sleep is also an elusive though very cherished pastime.
Alice Hm Chen, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine
Chief Medical Officer, Covered California
Academic interests: My primary interest is in issues of healthcare access, particularly in how poverty, race/ethnicity and policy intersect to produce barriers in care. My work focuses on creating policies and programs to drive improved access, quality and equity in the US healthcare system.
Other interests: Hiking, yoga, reading, gardening, community service, but mostly my twins.
Dr. Chen joined the Newsom administration in September 2019, and Covered California in 2021.
Anna Chodos, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Academic interests: I am interested in how we care for older adults in the safety net, how we integrate primary care and geriatrics, how we address self-neglect in older people, and how we improve dementia care in a safety net primary care setting.
Other interests: I enjoy food finds, hikes in the incomparable beauty of our immediate surroundings, and walk-and-talks with my incredible colleagues.
Triveni DeFries, MD, MPH
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
Medical Director & Executive Director, UCSF Health & Human Rights Initiative
Academic Interests: I trained at SFPC/UCSF and worked for the Indian Health Service in Shiprock, NM before returning to San Francisco General for Addiction Medicine fellowship and then back to RFPC! I lead the UCSF Health & Human Rights Initiative provides forensic medical evaluations for immigrants seeking asylum, and co lead the naitonal Asylum Medicine Training Initiative. I am interested in immigrant health and addiction medicine, especially alcohol use disorder.
Other Interests: I enjoy Zumba and spending time outdoors with my family, trying to impart a love of nature to my 2 daughters!
Alicia Fernandez, MD
Professor of Medicine
Founding Director, UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence (LCOE)
Director, CVP Program in Latinx and Immigrant Health
Associate Dean, UCSF Population Health and Health Equity
Academic interests: Health care disparities/language barriers/ health communication/diabetes care/obesity prevention/Latin America General Internal Medicine/patient-centered outcomes research.
Other interests: I love to talk about novels, politics, and my daughter. Sometimes in that order.
Ilana Garcia-Grossman, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Associate Medical Director and Education Site Director, Richard Fine People's Clinic
Academic interests: My academic interests are in improving the health outcomes for underserved populations, with a focus on two specific patient populations - LGBTQ patients and people who have experienced incarceration. I also am passionate about medical education and quality improvement.
Other interests: Spending time outdoors, eating delicious food, cuddling with my cat, and going on adventures with my wife and our new baby.
Liz Goldman, MD, MAS
Professor of Medicine
Academic interests: I’m interested in the care of medically and behaviorally complex patients. I am the Medical Director of the San Francisco Health Network Enhanced Care Management Program, the medical lead for the Emergency Department Case Management Program, and the Director of Research and Evaluation Analytics DPH Office Health Informatics. I'm highly familiar with the array of case management, behavioral health, substance use, and care coordination programs across the city, and how to get data from DPH for QI and Research. Come ask!
Other interests: I love spending time with my family hiking in parks with our dog, running along the ocean, and eating yummy food in San Francisco.
Reena Gupta MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Chief Medical Officer, Performance Improvement,
Cardiovascular Health, Resolve to Save Lives
Academic interests: Health systems transformation, safety net innovation, Medicaid policy, primary care redesign, and improving care delivery for vulnerable populations in the US and abroad
Other interests: Road‐biking and hiking, yoga ‐ ask me about fun trails in the bay and good local food and coffee options
Margaret Handley, PhD, MPH
Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Academic interests: Dr. Margaret Handley is a public health-trained epidemiologist in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Center for Vulnerable Populations, at the University of California San Francisco, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. She co-Directs the UCSF PRISE Center, Partnerships in Research in Implementation Science for Equity. Dr. Handley’s research focuses on bridging the fields of primary care, public health, and health communication for improving health outcomes and equity in healthcare access. She co-developed and co-directed the UCSF Training Program in Implementation Science for over 10 years, which focuses on translating evidence into practice, policy and public health and teaches courses in intervention development and implementation designs in real-world settings. She is one of the Principal Investigators for the NIH-funded R25 training program in implementation since (RISE, focusing on implementation science and health equity). She currently also teaches a course on “Study Designs for Interventions in Real World Settings” Her areas of interest are: intervention design, linking public health and primary care interventions to address health disparities, implementation and dissemination sciences, chronic disease prevention, safety net innovation, public health literacy, migration and health/trans-national health, and environmental pollution. Dr. Handley has methodological expertise in practice-based research, community-engaged research, quasi-experimental designs, implementation science, and mixed methods. She is committed to implementation science skill-building across a wide range of settings, including under-resourced settings, UCSF-based degree programs, and nationally focused immersion and distance training for junior faculty under-represented in NIH funding. Dr. Handley also works in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms in the Bay Area with students and teachers to create effective risk communication materials for community and clinical settings.
Other interests: I’m often found outside hiking around any mountain area I can find or swimming with my family, and inside I’m often reading or doing some kind of art, watercolor most recently.
Claire Horton, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine
Chief Medical Officer, San Francisco Health Network (SFHN), SF DPH
Academic interests: Co-directing the QIPSL (Quality Improvement, Patient Safety, and Leadership) curriculum for SFPC residents. Academic topics of interest: Women's reproductive health, health of Latino immigrant communities, health systems transformation, leadership development in medical professionals.
Other interests: Backpacking (have lots of gear to lend!) and reading (and books to lend too) and theater (have lots of suggestions about theaters around town.)
Elaine Khoong, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Academic interests: Leveraging informatics and implementation science to operationalize interventions to reduce health inequities in diverse populations
Other interests: Eating, participating in book clubs where only 10% of the books are read / 10% of the people read the book, rollerblading, proudly representing my Chicago roots through my “accent”, listening to podcasts at 1.5x as my primary form of news
Leigh Kimberg, MD
Professor of Medicine
Coordinator, Interpersonal Violence Prevention Programs, SF DPH
Academic interests: Mission‐driven and equitable medical education, healing-centered and trauma‐informed care, abolition medicine, interpersonal violence prevention, building university-community partnerships to prevent violence and promote health equity and social justice. (Past Director of PRIME-US@UCSF)
Other interests: I am happiest when I have my hands in dirt!—gardening is a joy. Love taking walks on the beach. Reading! Mostly non-fiction. Yoga—a saving grace. Need to find my way back to crafts that have fallen by the wayside. Would love to share a meal and learn more about your journey, personal mission, and aspirations!
Margot Kushel, MD
Professor of Medicine
Division Chief, Center for Vulnerable Populations
Director, Center for Vulnerable Populations at ZSFG
Director, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative
Academic interests: I study homelessness: causes, consequences, and solutions especially in older adults and medically complicated individuals. My research, funded by the NIH and various foundations, provides an evidence base for policy‐makers and program planners to end homelessness and mitigate the negative health effects.
Other interests: When not working, I like to swim outdoors, go for walks, read, support my favorite political candidates, and hang out with my family (husband and twins).
Kate Lupton, MD
Professor of Medicine
Clerkship Director, SPAN (Specialty Practice Ambulatory sub-iNternship)
Curricular Component Liaison, UCSF Anti-Oppressive Curriculum Initiative
Director, GME Health Professions Education pathway
Academic interests: I am a clinician educator with a primary focus on integrating anti-oppressive, anti-racist practices into the ways we teach medicine. My curricular and scholarly work centers around anti-oppression, diversity, equity and belonging in medical education. I’m involved in teaching and curriculum development at the UME, GME and faculty levels.
Other interests: I can usually be found spending time with my family, including my 3 kids and our 2 cats. We seem to spend a lot of time at kids’ sporting events, but when not spectating we like to explore new places in the Bay Area and make each other laugh. I love to bake and enjoy bringing samples of my experiments to share in RFPC, and I’m always on the lookout for interesting and tasty recipes.
Raphaela Lipinsky DeGette
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Academic Interests: My professional interests include integrating evidence-based primary care in a safety net setting. I am passionate about equity-centered quality improvement and population health work to improve the well-being of all. Other interests include EMR optimization, outpatient ultrasound, and ambulatory education.
Other Interests: When not at work, I can be found knitting socks, playing in the sunny Mission with my toddler and dog, and doing the New York Times crossword with my family over Zoom.
Lisa Ochoa-Frongia, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Associate Medical Director for Resident Education, Richard Fine People’s Clinic
Academic interests: My academic and clinical interests include: primary care of vulnerable and under-resourced populations, graduate medical education, clinical systems improvement and practice transformation, primary care‐behavioral health integration and evidence‐based treatment of depression and other common mental health conditions in primary care.
Other interests: I love spending time with my husband, Eric, and sons, Alexander and Henry, hiking and exploring the astonishingly beautiful Bay Area and enjoying Karl the Fog (or occasionally wishing he would take a hike).
Nynikka Palmer, DrPH, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine, Urology, and Radiation Oncology
Helen Diller Family Chair in Community Education and Outreach for Urologic Cancer
Assistant Director for Faculty Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Core Faculty, Center for Vulnerable Populations
Academic interests: I identify and develop actionable solutions with cultural influences to enhance delivery of high-quality prostate cancer care for African American/Black men in low resource settings, including interventions such as peer navigation, digital tools to facilitate effective patient-provider communication, and communication training for healthcare providers to achieve health equity. Fundamental to my ability to make a meaningful difference in cancer health equity is patient and community engagement, and mentoring and training underrepresented early career investigators.
Other interests: I enjoy kayaking, bowing for fun, and spending quality time with my Shiba Inu pup – Nara – who brings me lots of joy.
Neda Ratanawongsa, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine
Chief Medical Informatics Officer for SFDPH
Academic interests: I am strategizing how innovations in health IT / EHR design, implementation, and policy can support compassionate, effective health care for diverse patients and sustainability among their care teams.
Other interests: I work on my negotiating skills with my twins Rosie & Tessa and their older brother Benji. We love hiking, rock climbing, and singing musicals together.
Anne Rosenthal, MD
Professor of Medicine
Director, Richard Fine People’s Clinic
Academic interests: I’m a primary care provider who has been practicing in the Bay Area safety net for nearly 30 years. I’m interested in health equity, healthcare systems improvement, clinical quality improvement, and developing the public health primary care pipeline. My goal for RFPC is to integrate mental health and substance use treatment into a truly team-based model of care. Clinically, I have a current interest in medical care for patients with serious mental illness.
Other interests: I live in SF with my partner, a tween, a teen, and a new kitten. I love hiking, camping, road tripping, running, gardening and, new since the pandemic, bike riding on the less crowded Bay Area roads.
Urmimala Sarkar, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine
Director, UCSF Primary Care Research Fellowship
Associate Director, Center for Vulnerable Populations at ZSFG
Associate Chair of Faculty Experience, Department of Medicine
Academic interests: My work is about innovating for health equity. I study how digital tools, including social media, can improve outpatient safety and quality, especially for diverse patients whom we care for in safety-net health systems.
Other interests: I love to receive book, recipe, and restaurant recommendations, will work for coffee and chocolate, and enjoy hearing and sharing the most colorful ZSFG stories out there. I spend most of my time with my favorite co-resident, my husband Ted, and our “ongoing fellowship projects,” aka son Nikaash and daughter Mika.
Dean Schillinger, MD
Professor of Medicine in Residence
Director, UCSF Health Communications Research Program
Co-Director, NIDDK DREAMS Center for Type 2 Diabetes Translational Research
Andrew Bindman Professor in Primary Care & Health Policy
Academic interests: Dr. Schillinger carries out clinical and policy research related to the health and healthcare for vulnerable populations and is an internationally recognized expert in health communication science. His work focuses on literacy, health communication, and chronic disease prevention and management. Dr. Schillinger is the founding director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations and is currently the director of the center’s Health Communications Research Program.
Other interests: I swim in SF Bay (nearly) every day and my pride and joy is a border collie named Luna.
Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, MD, MS
Professor of Medicine in Residence
Chief, UCSF Division of General Internal Medicine at ZSFG
Academic interests: Health equity, Reproductive Justice, Women's Health, Preconception Counseling, Postpartum care, Patient Centered Outcomes Research, Health Policy, Health Services Research, Community-oriented Primary Care.
Other interests: Dancing, baking bread, orchards in bloom.
Hilary Seligman, MD, MAS
Professor of Medicine
Director, UCSF National Clinician Scholars Program, School of Medicine
Director, Food Policy, Health, and Hunger Research Program, UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations
Director, CDC’s Nutrition and Obesity Policy, Research and Evaluation Network
Academic interests: I am a health disparities researcher who studies food insecurity and food policy as they relate to the development and management of chronic disease in the US. My expertise is in federal nutrition programs (such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), the charitable food system, food affordability and access, and income-related drivers of food choice. I direct the Food Policy, Health, and Hunger Research Program at the Center for Vulnerable Populations and the CDC’s Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network, known as NOPREN. My team at ZSFG runs EatSF, a healthy fruit and vegetable voucher program for low-income residents of San Francisco. EatSF is known as Voucher for Veggies outside of San Francisco. I direct the National Clinician Scholars Program (NCSP) for UCSF’s School of Medicine. NCSP aims to offer unparalleled training for clinicians as change agents driving policy-relevant research and partnerships to improve health and health care. The goal of NCSP is to cultivate health equity, eliminate health disparities, invent new models of care, and achieve higher quality health care at lower cost by training nurse and physician researchers who work as leaders and collaborators embedded in communities, healthcare systems, government, foundations, and think tanks in the United States and around the world.
Other interests: I live in San Francisco with my husband and a very large dog (and occasionally my three daughters, who are all away from California now). I am always up for a conversation about books you are reading, especially fiction.
Wagahta Semere, MD, MHS
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Academic interests: My main academic interest is developing strategies to improve communication between culturally and linguistically diverse older patients, their caregivers, and providers to manage chronic disease. I also enjoy having the chance to work with residents and students.
Other interests: I love playing sports and having impromptu dance parties with my daughter, sons, and husband.
Christy Soran, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Medical Director, OBIC Substance Use Clinic
Academic interests: I love being a primary care clinician for patients in the safety net setting. My academic interests include integration of substance use treatment into primary care and innovative approaches to supporting people who use drugs with a changing drug supply. I am particularly drawn to how we empower, learn from, and communicate with people who engage in traditionally stigmatized health behaviors.
Other interests: I love exploring the outdoors through hiking, kayaking, camping, biking on flat-ish ground, and Minnesota lake sports. I love to cook simple meals, extravagant meals, and creative meals from leftovers in the fridge. My two kiddos keep me grounded and remind me of the simple joys in life.
Scott Steiger, MD
Professor, Medicine and Psychiatry
Deputy Medical Director, Opiate Treatment Outpatient Program
Academic interests: My main academic interest is improving the health of patients with substance use disorders, particularly through integrating medical treatment into substance use treatment (and vice versa). I also focus a lot of my energy on teaching students, residents, and providers in practice about addiction and addiction treatment.
Other interests: My fave activity combines time outside, with my family and friends, cooking, and adventure: mushroom foraging. I also have a weakness for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Vanessa Thompson, MD
Professor of Medicine
DOM Fellowships Ombuds
Academic interests: Medical Education, Faculty Development, Coaching and Advising, Support for Struggling Learners, Women’s Leadership Development, Gender Equity, Health Disparities, Primary Care Transformation
Other interests: I love spending time with my 3 kids and our sweet but anxious rescue dog Zelda in and around San Francisco. Anything to do with water in the solid or liquid form is a big hit for us - from downhill skiing at Alpine Meadows to canoeing and kayaking on the Potomac River in Maryland. My favorite activity in San Francisco is walking along the wide expanse of Ocean Beach with my puppy dog early in the morning. It is a great way to get perspective on life and Medicine.
Maya Vijayaraghavan, MD, MAS
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Academic interests: My work focuses on tobacco use with an emphasis on vulnerable populations. I am particularly interested in the intersection of tobacco use with mental illness and substance use disorders. Through my work, I have intervened at the individual, community, and policy levels to increase access to cessation services and smoke-free housing.
Other interests: Spending time with my children, gardening, hiking
Emily Wistar, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Academic interests: My professional interests include team-based care for medically and psychosocially complex patients, clinical quality improvement, physician and staff well-being, advance care planning, and improvement of care transitions from hospital to primary care.
Other interests: In my free time, I enjoy long-distance running, iced lattes, and hiking in the redwoods with my husband, 2 young children, and dog. A new found passion is biking with my station wagon electric bike with kids in tow!
Margaret Wheeler, MD
Professor of Medicine
Site Director, Internal Medicine Student Clerkships ZSFG
Co-director MODEL SFGH
Director Emerita, SFPC
Academic interests: Care of the underserved; teaching care of the underserved; immigrant care
Other interests: Read, hike, open water swimming; bird-watch....
Affiliated Faculty & Other Preceptors
Susan Buchbinder, MD
Clinical Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Director, Bridge HIV, SF DPH
Academic interests: HIV prevention including vaccines, PrEP, microbicides, home testing, combination prevention, addressing disparities, Getting to Zero SF
Other interests: Tennis, dancing, hiking, reading great books!
Sophia Chang, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Chief Clinical Informatics Officer, Clover Health
Academic interests: Complex care, population health, health informatics
Other interests: Cooking, long walks, and great food
Beth Harleman, MD
Professor of Medicine and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences
Vice Chief of Medicine at ZSFG
Academic interests: Dr. Harleman has extensive experience developing and delivering curricula to a wide range of learners. Her focus in medical education is on the development of the physician identity, particularly at transition points in training. She co-created and ran the highly-rated UCSF School of Medicine capstone course, Coda, for nine years. As former APD for the Internal Medicine Residency Program, Beth oversaw all formal curricula and program evaluation and improvement. She has mentored hundreds of residents and students and previously held a role as an Advisory College Mentor for the UCSF School of Medicine. She currently serves as the Vice Chief of Medicine at ZSFG where she is responsible for the clinical operations of the Inpatient Medical Service, co-sponsors Medical Grand Rounds, and coordinates faculty development for ZSFG’s DOM faculty. Beth is jointly appointed in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and cares for pregnant patients with medical illnesses in the High Risk Obstetrics clinic.
Other interests: Long bicycle rides, experimental cooking, and playing on the beach with my three kids and dog.
Rachel Stern, MD
Volunteer Assistant Professor of Medicine
Chief Medical Quality Officer, Ambulatory Care for Ventura County Healthcare Agency
Academic interests: My primary interest is in making public health care systems safer, higher quality and more equitable. Other interests include value based care, Medicaid transformation, teaching QI, developing the next generation of safety net leaders and high quality chronic disease care, especially for heart failure, diabetes and hypertension
Other interests: I spend as much time as I can outside - hiking, biking, and running slowly.
Dan Wlodarczyk, MD
Professor of Medicine
Attending Physician, Positive Health Clinic at ZSFG Ward 86
Street Outreach Services and SF Homeless Outreach Team Van Physician
Academic interests: Providing care to homeless persons, trying to connect with difficult-to-reach vulnerable populations, providing low-barrier care
Other interests: Hiking and art