Dear UCSF Community,
On Tuesday, UCSF lost a great member of our community with the passing of former Chancellor Philip Randolph Lee, a visionary advocate for health policy research and social justice who served under two U.S. presidents.
As UCSF’s third chancellor, from 1969 to 1971, Dr. Lee served during a time of great transformation in our nation’s history. He was an early advocate for health equity and is widely regarded as UCSF’s first chancellor to champion diversity, equity and inclusion.
Dr. Lee was the first person to serve the nation as Assistant Secretary for Health, playing a leading role in implementing Medicare during President Lyndon Johnson’s administration. At UCSF, he was a beloved mentor and colleague, not only guiding the growth of our biomedical research enterprise, but working in the vanguard of health policy research by advancing an interdisciplinary approach to the field.
He was appointed by then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein as the first president of the San Francisco Health Commission, the governing body for the city’s health department. Dr. Lee served in that role from 1985 until 1989, during the height of the AIDS epidemic. He is remembered for formulating crucial public health guidance that saved many lives during that public health crisis.
Dr. Lee established an institute at UCSF, now known as the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, that became a nationwide model for bringing evidence to bear on policy making decisions.
He remained a leader among the UCSF faculty until 1993, when he returned to Washington, DC, to again serve as Assistant Secretary of Health, this time under President Bill Clinton.
Dr. Lee will...
Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that after a national search, Matthew Cook will be joining UCSF Health as president of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, and senior vice president of Children’s Services, effective December 31.
Matt will be responsible for UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, a $1.4 billion pediatric enterprise. He will oversee strategic direction, operations and clinical services for all pediatric services and will partner with academic programs. Matt will report directly to me and the Board of Directors of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. He will be a core member of the UCSF Health leadership team, and member of the UCSF Health Leadership Council, which shapes our strategic direction.
His appointment was enthusiastically recommended by the Board of Directors of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, and on Tuesday, we received approval for his appointment from the UC Board of Regents.
Matt is a seasoned health care leader, with experience in operations and strategy and a history of working effectively with boards. Since 2016, he has been president of Riley Children’s Health and also chief strategy officer of Indiana University Health (IU Health) in Indianapolis, the largest health system in Indiana with over $7 billion in revenue, 17 hospitals and 40,000 employees.
At Riley Children’s Health, he has provided strategic direction and leadership for pediatric services throughout IU Health, as well as the maternity program based in downtown Indianapolis. He has direct leadership of the 314-bed Riley Hospital for Children and the 101-bed maternal and newborn health program at IU Methodist Hospital, along with the 39-bed pediatric program at IU...
Dear UCSF Community,
The November 3, 2020 general election is unique in many ways, but one thing remains constant: voting is how we make our voices heard.
All registered California voters were mailed ballots in early October. If you did not receive your ballot, check that your voter registration is accurate by today’s deadline. You can vote early and track your ballot. If you choose to vote in person, follow public health guidelines.
At UCSF, we are committed to encouraging civic participation throughout our campus and community. For example, UCSF Health is promoting voting information with patients, and UCSF students and residents are conducting nonpartisan outreach to encourage voter engagement.
As a reminder, UCSF legally must remain nonpartisan, and UCSF employees cannot support or oppose candidates or ballot measures within their University roles or with UCSF resources. However, you may participate in campaign activities on your own time, with your own resources, and without any inference of University endorsement. Watch this short video for more information about UCSF advocacy guidelines.
You can make a difference in our democracy by ensuring that your friends, family, and colleagues have a plan to exercise their constitutional right to vote, a freedom that comes from the hard struggles and sacrifices of many champions who came before us. Visit ucsf.edu/vote for more information on campus efforts and...
Dear Colleagues,
I am very pleased to share the news that Jennifer Doudna, PhD, Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair in Biomedical and Health Sciences at UC Berkeley, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes, and adjunct professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology at UCSF, has been named to receive the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Doudna shares the Nobel with her long-time collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, PhD, Director of the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens in Berlin.
Doudna and Charpentier received the prize for their co-development of CRISPR-Cas9, a genome targeting and editing technology that has ushered in a new era of genetics. Their work has transformed the way scientists study genes and their function and has the potential to revolutionize biomedicine.
Inspired by CRISPR’s potential for treating human disease and improving food security through more sustainable agriculture, Doudna spearheaded the creation of the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI), a joint UC Berkeley / UCSF venture she leads as executive director.
Doudna oversees a lab at the Gladstone Institutes at Mission Bay and has been an adjunct professor at UCSF since 2016. She collaborates with physicians and scientists here and at the Gladstone to develop CRISPR-based gene therapies for diseases ranging from cancer to HIV to familial vision and movement disorders.
Read more about the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry:
- NobelPrize.org
- ...
Dear UCSF Community,
With the first flu patient admissions already underway in our medical center, we want to draw your attention to an important and looming deadline.
As you are aware, UC President Michael Drake, MD, has strongly encouraged universal flu vaccines for the entire UC community by Oct. 31, 2020, and is requiring all students, faculty and staff living, learning or working on any UC site to have a flu vaccine effective Nov. 1, unless they have an approved medical exemption, or disability or religious accommodation.*
We ask for your support to help keep our frontline care providers and all other faculty, staff, learners and patients healthy this fall. So far, more than 60% of our UCSF Health employees have received their influenza vaccines, along with 35% of our Campus employees. During the next few weeks, we will need to vaccinate 19,000 additional members of the UCSF community.
There are numerous options available for you to get your vaccine, including on-site flu clinics, Occupational Health clinics, your primary care provider and most pharmacies. Please visit the Occupational Health Services web site for a full list of on-site clinic locations and dates, as well as additional free options for members of UC health plans. For additional guidance, including how to submit outside documentation and a manager’s toolkit, please visit the...