News

UCSF research into student needs drives policy changes

In 2015, when Suzanna Martinez, PhD, left the traditional postdoctoral path toward a faculty position at UCSF and instead took a staff research position at the UC Nutrition Policy In

Where health inequities have landed in the long tail of the COVID-19 pandemic

Work from this department analyzing California death records has significantly contributed to the current understanding that COVID-19 has hit marginalized racial and ethnic communities unduly hard. Postdoctoral fellow Hélène Aschmann, PhD, recently tackled national mortality data over a longer...

For Black patients, nixing ‘race adjustment’ may improve kidney transplant odds

Using equations to calculate kidney function that do not include race adjustments would result in Black patients gaining time on the transplant waitlist before their kidneys fail that matched similar durations for white patients, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco and Hennepin County...

Lower salt trumps other lifestyle changes in combatting high blood pressure, UCSF model shows

Imagine a visit to the doctor where you received news that you had an early form of a deadly disease. To stop the disease from progressing, you would need to drink less, exercise more, eat a healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables, cut back on salt, and lose weight.

Physical activity may still not match pre-Covid 19 pandemic levels

Step counts – a measure of physical activity – were markedly lower early in the COVID-19 pandemic than pre-pandemic and remained lower, on average, in the two years following the onset of the global pandemic.

Older homeless people are at great risk of dying

A quarter of the participants in a long-term study of older people experiencing homelessness in Oakland died within a few years of being enrolled, UC San Francisco researchers found.

Routine depression screening may capture underdiagnosed patient populations

Screening for depression at the primary care level could dramatically increase the likelihood of treatment for those who are traditionally undertreated – racial and ethnic minority individuals, older adults, those with limited English proficiency and men – according to a new study led by UC San...

For checking blood pressure at home, basic cuffs are just as good

When patients are diagnosed with hypertension – as nearly half of American adults have been – they are often advised to buy a blood pressure monitoring device to use at home. Daily home readings paint a clearer picture of a patient’s blood pressure than those taken every few months at the doctor’s...

San Francisco, San Mateo Co. residents urged to share long COVID stories

UC San Francisco, San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) and San Mateo County Health (SMC Health) are partnering with local community groups in a q

Marginalized groups have less well controlled blood pressure – but why?

Epidemiological research reveals that, for almost every disease, marginalized people have worse outcomes.