2025
April 2025
"Communication After Emergent Surgery by English Proficiency: An Exploratory Qualitative Study"
A recent publication by Dr. Tasce Bongiovanni in the Journal of Surgical Research.
January 2025
Congratulations to Dr. Alison Huang for for being recently elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, a medical research honor society dedicated to the advancement of research that extends understanding of diseases and improves treatment, as well as mentoring future generations of physician-scientists.
2024
November 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Maria Chao, appointed Director of Research at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health and Osher Foundation Endowed Chair in Research in Integrative Health. Dr. Chao will lead the Center’s robust research program, which rigorously tests the effectiveness of integrative health approaches, how they work, and how they can be optimized to improve health and well-being.
November 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Alison Cohen for her two new grants, "Evaluation Support for Newborn Supply Kit Initiative", a federal contract from the US Health and Human Services and "Modeling Disability-Adjusted Life Years Post-COVID Infection: Estimating the Impacts of Long COVID and Other Post-COVID Consequences", a grant from PolyBio Foundation.
November 2024
Congratulations to Drs. Van Park and Janice Tsoh as MPIs of the CARE Registry, recently featured in the UCSF News Center. The CARE Registry is a health research registry of Asian American and Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) adults who are interested in participating in various types of research.
November 2024
"Interventions to Increase Affordable Care Act Marketplace Enrollment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Cohen in Population Health Management.
November 2024
"The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative-4 (ADNI-4) Engagement Core: A culturally informed, community-engaged research (CI-CER) model to advance brain health equity"
A recent publication by Dr. Van Park in Alzheimer's & Dementia.
November 2024
"Designing and optimizing clinical trials for long COVID"
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Cohen in Life Sciences.
November 2024
"The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative-4 (ADNI-4) Engagement Core: A culturally informed, community-engaged research (CI-CER) model to advance brain health equity."
A recent publication by Dr. Van Park in Alzheimer's & Dementia.
November 2024
"Critical Feminist Epidemiology in Action: Reflections from a Multidisciplinary Partnership Between Mujeres Unidas y Activas and Academic Researchers"
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Cohen in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
November 2024
"A call from patient-researchers to advance research on long COVID"
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Cohen in Cell.
October 2024
"Novel Strategies to Promote Alignment between Healthcare and Social Care Systems By Addressing the Social Drivers of Health"
A recent publication by Dr. Elizabeth Dzeng in Critical Care Clinics.
October 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Sheiphali Gandhi for receiving the 2024 Irene Perstein Award in recognition of her research on silicosis and its prevalence in vulnerable workers in CA.
September 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Veronica Yank for her new NIA funded grant titled "Improving Incontinence Support for Family Caregivers and Persons Living with Dementia".
August 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Alison Huang for her new R01 grant from the NCCIH and the ORWH titled "A Randomized Trial of a Remotely Delivered Group Pelvic Yoga Program for Women with Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome.
August 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Grace Lin for her new UCSF Resource Allocation Program (RAP) grant titled "Towards Personalized Cancer Screening Recommendations in Older Adults".
July 2024
Dr. Leah Karliner featured in language access podcast. Listen to her in "Part 3: Strategy, Policy, and Resources", part of a three-part series from the Western North Carolina Health Policy Initiative
June 2024
"The Integration of Clinical Trials With the Practice of Medicine: Repairing a House Divided"
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Huang in JAMA.
June 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Nhung Nguyen for receiving the 2024-2025 Hellman Fellowship and joining the UCSF Society of Hellman Fellows.
June 2024
"Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection in Older Outpatient Women"
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Huang in JAMA Internal Medicine.
June 2024
"Disparities in Access, Management and Outcomes of Critically Ill Adult Patients with Trauma"
A recent publication by Dr. Tasce Bongiovanni in Critical Care Clinics.
June 2024
"Antibiotic-Sparing Prevention of Urinary Tract Infections-New Evidence Regarding d-Mannose"
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Huang in JAMA Internal Medicine.
May 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Jane Jih for her research on a photo-based communication intervention to promote diet-related discussions among older adults with multi-morbidity being highlighted in the NIMHD newsletter.
April 2024
"Intersectional Mentorship in Academic Medicine: A Conceptual Review"
A recent publication by Dr. Orlando Harris in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
April 2024
"Designing implementation strategies for the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ and key populations content in undergraduate nursing curricula in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Protocol for a Multi-Methods Research Project"
A recent publication by Dr. Orlando Harris in JMIR Research Protocols.
March 2024
"Care needs assessment of older adults with dementia in a semi-rural district in Vietnam: A community-based cross-sectional study"
A recent publication by Dr. Van Park in Psychogeriatrics.
March 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Nhung Nguyen for her new K01 grant from NIDA titled "Developing a smartphone-based intervention targeting high-risk situations of nicotine vaping among young adults".
March 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Jane Jih for being appointed as a member of the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health Advisory Committee on Minority Health.
March 2024
"Older adults with overlapping caregiving responsibilities and care needs in a U.S. national community-based sample"
A recent publication by MERC co-authors, Drs. Alison Huang and Veronica Yank in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
March 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Nynikka Palmer for being elected Vice President of Research for the Academy of Communication in Healthcare.
March 2024
"Prescription of estrogen therapy and sedating medications in older women in a national ambulatory care sample"
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Huang in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
February 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Veronica Yank for her new grant from NIA Impact Collaboratory titled "Primary Care-Based Pilot ePCT of an Online Workshop for Family Caregivers of PLWD."
January 2024
"Language Access Systems Improvement initiative: impact on professional interpreter utilisation, a natural experiment"
A recent publication by MERC co-authors, Drs. Leah Karliner, Sunita Mutha, Celia Kaplan, and Maria Garcia in BMJ Open.
January 2024
"Military Sexual Trauma and Menopause Symptoms Among Midlife Women Veterans"
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Huang in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
2023
December 2023
"Global rural health disparities in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: State of the science"
A recent publication by Dr. Veronica Yank in Alzheimer's & Dementia.
December 2023
"Predictors of psychological distress among rural family/friend caregivers of people living with dementia in the United States: Consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic"
A recent publication by MERC faculty co-authors, Drs. Ken Covinsky, Leah Karliner, and Veronica Yank in the Journals of Gerontology Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.
December 2023
"Faculty knowledge, actions, and perceptions of sponsorship: an institutional survey study"
A recent publication by MERC faculty co-authors, Drs. Mia Williams and Veronica Yank in Medical Education Online.
December 2023
"It's Incapacitated me in so Many Ways": Older Adults' Lived Experience with Postoperative Symptoms at Home Following Major Elective Surgery
A recent publication by Dr. Veronica Yank in Annals of Surgery.
November 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Alison Huang for her new grant as MPI of a NICHD R01-funded multicenter trial of oral letrozole therapy for women with symptomatic uterine fibroids and as co-chair of the JAMA Clinical Trials Summit in Chicago, IL on October 10-11, 2023.
November 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Van Park for her new grant from NIA titled "Asian Americans and Racism: Individual and Structural Experiences (ARISE)".
October 2023
Congratulations to Drs. Alison Huang, Celia Kaplan, and Leah Karliner for being awarded an NIH Office of Research on Women's Health U3 Supplement entitled, "Language-Concordant Mobile Health Training and Support for Behavioral Management of Urinary Incontinence for Women with Limited English Proficiency".
October 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Stuart Gansky for his two new grants as Co-PI from NIDCR including "Clinical and Translational Research Innovation in Dental Schools (ClinTrain-RIDeS)" and "Smiles of Hope - Proyecto Hispanico de Esperanza (SoPHE)".
October 2023
Associations between tobacco and cannabis use and anxiety and depression among adults in the United States: Findings from the COVID-19 citizen science study
A recent publication by Dr. Nhung Nguyen and MERC co-author, Dr. Pam Ling in PLoS One and featured in U.S. News.
October 2023
Flavored Tobacco and Nicotine Use Among California Adolescents: Preferences by Use Experience and Survey Format Effects
A recent publication by Dr. Stuart Gansky in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
October 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Alison Huang as the administrative core lead entitled "Learners to LeAders in benign Urology, benign Nephrology, and non-Cancer Hematology" for UCSF's new NIDDK-funded multi-institutional research training grant.
September 2023
Dr. Grace Lin contributed to a STAT news story cautioning against expensive full-body MRI scans.
September 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Alison Huang for her new NIH subcontract award to lead the data coordinating center for an NIA-funded multicenter randomized trial of an integrated treatment program for older adults with comorbid nocturia and insomnia.
September 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Karly Murphy for being awarded the Irene Perstein Award from the UCSF School of Medicine.
September 2023
Congratulations to Drs. Lisa Ochoa-Frongia and Mia WIlliams for being elected to the Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators.
September 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Alison Huang on her new role as the UCSF DGIM Director of Research
September 2023
Understanding the caregiving experiences of Asian Indian, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese American family care partners of persons living with dementia
A recent publication by MERC faculty co-authors, Drs. Janice Tsoh and Van Park in Aging & Mental Health.
September 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Nicole Appelle for receiving the 2023 AME Award in Excellence in Teaching.
September 2023
Social strain and conflict among older community-dwelling adults serving as caregivers: Findings from a national sample
A recent publication by MERC faculty co-authors, Drs. Alison Huang and Veronica Yank in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
September 2023
The development of the Cognitive Assessment for Tagalog Speakers (CATS): A culturally and linguistically tailored test battery for Filipino Americans
A recent publication by Dr. Van Park in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions.
August 2023
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Huang in the Journal of General Internal Medicine and featured in KCBS.
July 2023
Silicosis Among Immigrant Engineered Stone (Quartz) Countertop Fabrication Workers in California
A recent publication by Dr. Sheiphali Gandhi in JAMA Internal Medicine and featured in NPR.
July 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Alison Cohen for her new grant "The 3E Study: Economic and Educational Contributions to Emerging Adults' Cardiometabolic Health" from NHLBI and recent publication, "It’s a Matter of Trust: How Thirty Years of History Prepared a Community-Based Organization to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic" in Social Sciences.
July 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Van Park for her two new grants,"Asian Cohort for Alzheimer's Disease (ACAD)" and "Collaborative Approach for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Research and Education (CARE 2.0)" from NIA.
July 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Miranda Hill for being accepted into the Leaders in Equitable Evaluation and Diversity Fellowship (LEEAD), a program of the Expanding the Bench Initiative.
July 2023
Inclusion of Vietnamese Americans: Opportunities to understand dementia disparities
A recent publication by Drs. Van Park and Alka Kanaya in Alzheimer's & Dementia.
July 2023
It’s a Matter of Trust: How Thirty Years of History Prepared a Community-Based Organization to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Cohen in Social Sciences.
July 2023
Multiple Chronic Conditions and Disability among Vietnamese Older Adults: Results from the Vietnamese Aging and Care Survey (VACS)
A recent publication by Dr. Van Park in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.
June 2023
Asian Americans' and Pacific Islanders' preferences in recruitment strategies and messaging for participation in the CARE registry: A discrete choice experiment
A recent publication by MERC faculty co-authors, Drs. Van Ta Park, Janice Tsoh, Alka Kanaya, and Stuart Gansky in Alzheimer's & Dementia.
June 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Leah Karliner for being awarded the Building Capacity for Dissemination Engagement Award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for her project "Building Capacity to Disseminate Evidence for Language Access Services".
June 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Alison Huang and MERC co-investigators, Drs. Celia Kaplan and Leah Karliner, for their RAP grant from the Mt. Zion Health Fund for their project, "A Mobile Health Program to Improve Access to Language-Concordant Training and Support for Behavioral Management of Urinary Incontinence in Latina and Chinese American Women".
June 2023
Efficacy of Continuous Transdermal Nitroglycerin for Treating Hot Flashes by Inducing Nitrate Cross-tolerance in Perimenopausal and Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Huang in JAMA Internal Medicine.
May 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Jason Satterfield for his new grant "The UCSF Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Collaborative Care Program" from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
April 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Alka Kanaya for receiving the 2023 Kelly West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology from the American Diabetes Association.
April 2023
A WeChat-based Intervention, Wellness Enhancement for Caregivers "A WeChat-based Intervention, Wellness Enhancement for Caregivers (WECARE), for Chinese American Dementia Caregivers: Pilot Assessment of Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Efficacy
A recent publication by MERC faculty, Dr. Van Park in JMIR Aging.
April 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Ida Sim for being appointed UCSF's first Chief Research Informatics Officer.
March 2023
"Long Overdue": Nurse and Resident Physician Perspectives on Implementation of Dual-Handset Interpreter Phones in the Inpatient Setting
A recent publication by Dr. Maria Garcia including MERC co-authors, Drs. Leah Karliner, Sunita Mutha, Lev Malevanchik, and Mia Williams.
March 2023
Challenges and opportunities for medical referrals at a mobile community health clinic serving sexual and gender minorities in rural South Carolina: a qualitative approach
A recent publication by Dr. Orlando Harris.
March 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Maria Garcia and co-investigators for being 2023 Catalyst Awardees for their project "Optimizing Depression Care Delivery in Primary Care Through a Technology-Enhanced Intervention (Optimize-D-Rx)".
March 2023
Understanding the concept of trust and other factors related to COVID-19 vaccine intentions among Black/African American older adults prior to vaccine development
A recent publication by Dr. Orlando Harris.
February 2023
Social Support and Technology Use and Their Association With Mental and Physical Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Asian Americans: The COMPASS Cross-sectional Study
A recent publication by MERC faculty, Drs. Van Park and Janice Tsoh in JMIR Public Health Surveillance.
February 2023
Elder Mistreatment Experienced by Older Caregiving Adults: Results from a National Community-Based Sample
A recent publication by MERC faculty, Drs. Alison Huang and Veronica Yank in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
February 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Van Park for her new grant "KIMCHI (Koreans Invested in Making Caregivers Health Important)," funded by a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award.
February 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Alison Huang for being designated as the 2023 Distinguished Professor of Aging and Geriatrics for the national Society of General Internal Medicine annual meeting.
February 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Van Park for being elected as a new member of the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) Scientific Review Committee. She will be reviewing DEI-focused New Investigator Awards applications.
2022
December 2022
The mediating role of social support between HIV stigma and sexual orientation-based medical mistrust among newly HIV-diagnosed gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men
A recent publication by Dr. Miranda Hill.
December 2022
A photo-based communication intervention to promote diet-related discussions among older adults with multi-morbidity
A recent publication by Dr. Jane Jih.
December 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Alison Huang for being awarded the UCSF Inquiry Award for Outstanding Mentorship in Student Research & Scholarship.
December 2022
Dr. Tung Nguyen was featured in Nature on decolonizing science and his suggestions for health reforms in health research.
December 2022
Congraulations to Jasmine Santoyo-Olsson for her recent profile in the Women of UCSF Health.
November 2022
A scoping review of dementia caregiving for Korean Americans and recommendations for future research
A recent publication by Dr. Van Park.
November 2022
Menopausal Hormone Therapy for Prevention of Chronic Conditions: When Is Enough, Enough?
A recent publication by Dr. Alison Huang.
October 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Van Park for her new grant, "Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) prevalence in American Samoa" from the National Institute on Aging.
October 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Tung Nguyen on his new role as UCSF Associate Vice Chancellor for Research – Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism.
October 2022
Partial Language Concordance and Professional Interpreters: Navigating Primary Care Visits to Optimize Care for Limited English-Speaking Patients
A poster by student intern, Dennis Dea on his summer project with co-investigators including MERC co-directors Drs. Leah Karliner and Maria Garcia.
October 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Ida Sim for being elected to the National Academy of Medicine.
October 2022
Technology-Assisted Motivational Interviewing: Developing a Scalable Framework for Promoting Engagement with Tobacco Cessation Using NLP and Machine Learning
A recent publication by Dr. Jason Satterfield.
October 2022
Disaggregating AAPI Health Data - Key to Combating Health Disparities
Dr. Van Park participated in this media briefing, jointly organized by Stanford Center for Asian Health Research and Education and Ethnic Media Services, and discussed two ongoing projects, CARE Registry and Asian Cohort for Alzheimer's Disease. The briefing resulted in 22 news articles in various languages.
September 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Jason Satterfield for his new grant, "Integrating Non-Pharmacologic Strategies for Pain with Inclusion, Respect and Equity (INSPIRE)" from the NIH/NINDS HEAL Initiative. The 5 year project will develop a mobile app and pain coaching program that integrates CBT with physical therapy and mindfulness for underserved and vulnerable populations (in English, Spanish, and Cantonese).
September 2022
Study protocol for a hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of the Building Better Caregivers online workshop for rural family/friend caregivers of people living with dementia
A recent publication by Dr. Veronica Yank and coauthors including MERC director, Dr. Leah Karliner.
September 2022
Transforming an educational ecosystem for substance use disorders: A multi-modal model for continuous curricular improvement and institutional change
A recent publication by Dr. Jason Satterfield.
August 2022
The Association of Limited English Proficiency With Morbidity and Mortality After Trauma
A recent publication by Dr. Tasce Bongiovanni.
August 2022
Equitability of Depression Screening After Implementation of General Adult Screening in Primary Care
A recent publication by Dr. Maria Garcia and coauthors including MERC director, Dr. Leah Karliner.
August 2022
"'She hardly goes out': Racism is keeping many Asian Americans from going to the doctor."
Dr. Jane Jih was quoted in this Vox article.
August 2022
Racial Bias Beliefs Related to COVID-19 Among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders: Findings From the COVID-19 Effects on the Mental and Physical Health of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Survey Study (COMPASS)
A recent publication by Dr. Van Park.
July 2022
Congratulations to MERC co-director, Dr. Jane Jih on her new role as Associate Editor of the journal Health Equity.
July 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Orlando Harris for being selected by the American Academy of Nursing to be inducted into the 2022 Class of Fellows. The inductees will be recognized for their significant contributions to health and health care at the Academy’s annual Health Policy Conference, taking place on October 27-29, 2022 in Washington, DC. This year’s conference theme is “From Reflection to Impact: Positioning Nursing's Future.”
July 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Therese Chan Tack for being named as Advisor on a RAP Digital Health grant. Dr. Chan Tack will be working with the Centers for Excellence in Primary Care and Clinical Informatics and Improvement Research. The team will be studying telehealth equity across ambulatory care settings. The grant builds on her MZHF experience delivering tailored digital health education to high-needs populations, and partnership with the Telehealth Resource Center and Clinical Data Science and Innovation teams creation of the UCSF Health Telehealth Equity dashboard.
July 2022
Climate Change, Health and Social Justice
MERC faculty Dr. Orlando Harris has co-founded a new course on climate change, health, and social justice.
July 2022
Congratulations to Drs. Veronica Yank and Jane Jih for their acceptance into the UCSF-Coro Faculty Leadership Collaborative.
June 2022
Climate Change, Public Health, Health Policy, and Nurses Training
A recent publication by Dr. Orlando Harris.
June 2022
Limited English Proficiency Associated With Suboptimal Pain Assessment in Hospitalized Trauma Patients
A recent publication by Dr. Tasce Bongiovanni.
June 2022
Getting the remaining unvaccinated Americans vaccinated will require for us to engage in dialogue, rebuild trust with communities, and conduct the necessary outreach.
A recent publication by MERC faculty Dr. Orlando Harris.
January 2022
Discrimination Experiences during COVID-19 among a National, Multi-Lingual, Community-Based Sample of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: COMPASS Findings
MERC faculty, Drs. Van Ta Park and Janice Tsoh, are authors on this recent publication that examined the prevalence of, and factors associated with discrimination experiences attributable to being an AAPI during the COVID-19 pandemic.
January 2022
Race-based prescribing for black people with high blood pressure shows no benefit
A study recently published by MERC Faculty Dr. Michael Potter and Dr. Leah Karliner.
January 2022
Knowledge Gaps, Challenges, and Opportunities in Health and Prevention Research for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders: Report From the 2021 National Institutes of Health Workshop
MERC faculty, Drs. Alka Kanaya and Janice Tsoh contributed to this report.
January 2022
Congratulations to MERC faculty, Dr. Alison Huang for her new grant "Cognitive, urinary, and functional trajectories of older women using pharmacologic treatment strategies for urgency incontinence" from the National Institute on Aging.
January 2022
Integrating Oral, Physical, and Mental Health Via Public Health Literacy
MERC faculty, Dr. Stuart Gansky, published on how and why health policy efforts can and should focus on interventions that have combined oral, physical and mental health benefits and that can reduce associated health disparities.
January 2022
COVID-19 Two Years Later: The Impact on Research and Public Health in Diverse Communities
MERC faculty, Dr. Van Park served on this panel hosted by the NIH-FDA COVID-19 Scientific Interest Group and the NIAID Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
January 2022
Lessons learned delivering telehealth-based yoga for older and diverse populations
MERC faculty, Dr. Alison Huang, published lessons learned on the benefits and challenges of telehealth platforms to deliver movement-based interventions.
2020
December 2020
Congratulations to to MERC Co-Director, Dr. Maria Garcia, for being selected part of the 2021 Class of Deans' Population Health and Health Equity (PHHE) Scholars.