MERC is housed within the Division of General Internal Medicine in the UCSF School of Medicine and unites investigators from multiple disciplines, departments and schools. We conduct community and practice-based, clinical and outcomes research on health services, specific medical conditions, and prevention that addresses disparities in health and health care in pursuit of health equity. MERC is committed to promoting the development of investigators and supports training and mentoring of students, residents, fellows and junior faculty. MERC has built a network of relationships with community-based organizations and strives to incorporate the community perspective in training and research.
The Multiethnic Health Equity Research Center (formerly Medical Effectiveness Research Center) was established within the UCSF School of Medicine in 1993 under the guidance of Drs. Gene Washington and Eliseo Pérez-Stable. Recent Directors include Drs. Celia Kaplan and Tung Nguyen. The current Director is Dr. Leah Karliner, and Co-Director Dr. Maria Garcia.
Our Mission Statement
The mission of MERC is to promote equity in health and healthcare across ethnically and linguistically diverse groups through applied multidisciplinary research and by training the next generation of investigators committed to achieving health equity. We seek to discover the mechanisms that explain health disparities and to develop, evaluate, and implement interventions that prevent and treat disease and advance health equity within healthcare systems and communities.