Dear School of Medicine Community,

As the Chancellor stated in his July 30th campus message, “As a leading university committed to the health sciences, we must confront the way racism perpetuates a system of inequities for people of color. False hierarchies based on race rationalize laws, public policy, and customs that have built bias and discrimination into society’s institutional practices.”

I write today to share updates on initiatives the School of Medicine has undertaken to confront these issues and to reiterate our commitment to the expansive anti-racism work that lies ahead.

These are tumultuous times, as we face two pandemics. The first, COVID-19, has catalyzed biomedical, public health, and social scientists to race for a vaccine and a strategy that will protect our communities and our health care workforce. The second, more insidious pandemic, is the one that has endured since the beginning of American Medicine. It is one that does not attract as much attention, but has been highlighted because of COVID-19 – that of health and health care disparities.

Unlike COVID-19, there is no vaccine being developed to combat healthcare disparities. There is, however, prevention and treatment. For the last five years, a School of Medicine priority has been to make UCSF the most diverse, equitable, and inclusive academic medical system in the country. We have advanced this goal through Differences Matter, a multi-year, multi-faceted School of Medicine initiative, and have been successful in a number of areas, including...