ZSFG Primary Care Track: Our People - 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. ​​​​​​

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.

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. 

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

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.  

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

Sophia Chang, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Chief Clinical Informatics Officer, Clover Health

Academic interests: Complex care, population health, health informatics

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.

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

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