ARCHES Core Faculty
Christina Mangurian, MD
Director
Dr. Mangurian is a Professor of Psychiatry and Vice Chair for Diversity and Health Equity in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Mangurian founded and directs the UCSF Program of Research on Mental health Integration among Underserved and Minority populations (PReMIUM) and her NIH-funded research program focuses on improving preventative health care of people with severe mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder), particularly among underserved minority populations. Dr. Mangurian received the 2018 UCSF Academic Senate Distinction in Mentoring award and the 2017 UCSF Chancellor’s Award for the Advancement of Women.
Urmimala Sarkar, MD, MPH
Faculty Lead
Urmimala Sarkar MD, MPH is Professor of Medicine at UCSF in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Associate Chair for Faculty Experience for the Department of Medicine, Associate Director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations. Dr. Sarkar’s research expertise is innovating for health equity, using novel approaches to enhance the quality and safety of outpatient care in safety-net health care settings. She holds a K24 mentoring grant from the National Cancer Institute, serves as the principal investigator for the primary care research training T32 grant, and joint principal investigator for UCSF‘s LEAP learning health systems K12 early-career faculty training grant. She received the 2017 School of Medicine’s Pathways to Discovery Mentoring Award, the 2019 ZSFG Department of Medicine’s Mentoring Award, and the 2021 Society for General Internal Medicine National Mid-Career Mentoring Award.
Katrina Abuabara, MD
Faculty Lead
Dr. Abuabara has a joint appointment with Department of Dermatology, the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, and the new UCSF-UCB Computational Precision Health graduate group. Her research examines how biological, sociocultural, and environmental factors influence chronic inflammatory disease. This includes research on atopic dermatitis disease course and comorbidities, the role of skin barrier function in aging, the impact of environmental microbes and climate on immune medicated disease, and how salt in the diet influences sodium storage in the skin and autoimmune and chronic inflammatory disease.
Ryan Hernandez, PhD
Faculty Lead
Dr. Ryan Hernandez’ research focuses on computational genomics and complements the department’s emerging strengths in quantitative sciences and genomics: First, he seeks to characterize the patterns of genetic variation within and between populations using large-scale genome resequencing data. A second branch of research in his lab focuses on developing novel population genetic simulation techniques. Such simulations are used to lend insight into the plausible evolutionary forces that have shaped patterns of genetic variation, including the implications of complex interactions among selected alleles in non-stationary demographic environments. His third branch of research seeks to exploit population genetic models of demographic history and natural selection to interrogate the genetic basis of disease. By capitalizing on recent theoretical advances, Dr. Hernandez is constructing models of population dynamics that will utilize genomic re-sequencing data to discover novel regions of the genome that underlie genetic susceptibility to disease and drug response.
Steve Mack, PhD
Faculty Lead
Dr. Steve Mack is an Adjunct Professor in Pediatrics who does basic science at Benioff Children’s Hospital, Oakland. His work focuses on histocompatibility and immunogenetics — understanding how variation in immune genes impacts infectious disease, autoimmune disease and cancer, and the developing novel informatic tools and systems aimed at maximizing bone-marrow transplant outcomes. He is also an avid science-fiction fan, does not believe it is possible to consume too much chocolate, and serves as the President of his daughter’s High School PTA.
Claire Brindis, DrPH
Faculty Lead
Dr. Claire Brindis is a Distinguished Emerita Professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy (on Recall), Department of Pediatrics and Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Health Sciences and Emerita Director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Brindis is also the Co-Director of the Adolescent and Young Adult Health National Resource Center. She is also a Founding Director of the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and IHPS, UCSF. As a bicultural, bilingual researcher, she Incorporates a variety of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, as well as community participatory research. Dr. Brindis’ research focuses on program evaluation and the translation of research into policy at the local, state, and national level.
ARCHES Changemaker Circle
Renee Navarro, MD, PharmD
Changemaker
Dr. Renee Navarro, Professor of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care is the inaugural Vice Chancellor of Diversity and Outreach, charged with creating and maintaining a diverse institutional environment where everyone has an opportunity to excel. In her new role, Navarro will collaborate with faculty, staff and students to develop and carry out a strategic plan for diversity and inclusion at the campus and within the health system – and in recruitment and retention of faculty, students, trainees and staff. Navarro will work closely with other senior administrators to address issues of diversity that cut across faculty, student, staff and operational lines. Navarro will serve as an institutional expert on diversity goals, act as the campus spokeswoman for best practices, and establish and lead an advisory group. Navarro established a campus-wide multicultural center to provide space and resources that support inter-professional collaboration among UCSF faculty, staff, trainees and students for outreach, recruitment, community building and advocacy. She develops and leads the strategic plan, Roadmap to Inclusive Excellence, as well as the 2021 Anti-racism Initiative.
Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH
Changemaker
Dr. Fuentes-Afflick has been a UCSF faculty member since 1993. She is Vice Dean for the UCSF School of Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center and Professor of Pediatrics. Previously, she served as Vice Dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Medicine (2012-2022) and Chief of Pediatrics at Zuckerberg San Francisco General (2009-2022). As a pediatrician and epidemiologist, Dr. Fuentes-Afflick has conducted research studies focused on issues of acculturation, immigrant health, and health disparities. Her scholarship has also focused on professionalism, misconduct, faculty development, and the importance of diversity in academic medicine and academic pediatrics.
Alicia Fernandez, MD
Changemaker
Dr. Alicia Fernandez is Professor of Medicine at UCSF, a general internist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, Associate Dean of Population Health and Health Equity for UCSF SOM. She is the founding Director of the UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence, a HRSA and UCSF funded initiative to increase academic diversity. Dr. Fernandez directs the Latinx and Immigrant Health Research Program at the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations. which generates actionable research to increase health equity and reduce healthcare disparities.
Cherrie Boyer, PhD
Changemaker
Dr. Cherrie Boyer is a Professor of Pediatrics based in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine where she serves as the Associate Division Director for Research and Academic Affairs. She is an internationally recognized social health psychologist with over 30 years of research, teaching, and mentoring experience. She has been the recipient of many grant awards and has been a productive investigator, publishing widely in the areas of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention in adolescents and young adults. Her program of research focuses on the development and evaluation of cognitive-behavioral and community-level intervention strategies utilizing culturally competent strengths-based frameworks to promote sexual and reproductive health to reduce the risk of STIs, HIV, and unintended pregnancy and their sequelae. In addition to her role in providing research and career mentoring to postdoctoral research and clinical fellows and early career faculty in Pediatrics, Dr. Boyer serves as a research and career mentor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Prevention Science, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) Visiting Professors Program, which mentors early career research scholars in the fields of social and behavioral science, medicine, nursing, and public health. Additionally, she is the Program Director for the Ujima Mentoring Program, based in CAPS, which provides multidisciplinary research mentoring and funding to early career investigators, particularly those at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), who focus their programs of research on high priority areas that address HIV prevention, care, and treatment in Black/African American communities. Additionally, she is a Co-Director of the University’s School of Medicine Differences Matter Diversify the Academy Workgroup.
Catherine Waters, RN, PhD, FAAN
Changemaker
Dr. Catherine Waters is a professor in the Department of Community Health Systems, a member of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and former appointed member of the San Francisco Health Commission. Her program of research focuses on health promoting lifestyle interventions in collaboration with public and private community partnerships.
Maga Jackson-Triche, MD
Changemaker
Dr. Maga Jackson-Triche is the inaugural Department of Psychiatry Vice Chair for UCSF Health and Vice President for Adult Behavioral Health Services, UCSF Health. Dr. Jackson-Triche has an impressive track record of clinical and administrative success within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) network and its affiliated academic institutions. A graduate of the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine and the UCLA School of Public Health, Jackson-Triche has served in key leadership roles within VHA including VA Greater Los Angeles, VA Southeast Louisiana, and VA Northern California Health Care Systems, and in 2012, was asked to serve a term as the Acting Deputy Chief Mental Health Consultant for the VA’s Office of Mental Health Services in Washington, DC. In addition to her extensive clinical and administrative work, Jackson-Triche has held academic appointments with the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, and UC Davis School of Medicine. An experienced researcher with numerous academic studies, articles, books, and book chapters to her credit, she has also served as a reviewer for the Journal of General Internal Medicine, Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management, and Medical Care.
Sharon Youmans, PharmD, MPH
Changemaker
Dr. Sharon Youmans is a Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Executive Vice Dean of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Pharmacy. She received her PharmD degree from UCSF in 1985 and completed a pharmacy residency at California Pacific Medical Center in 1986. She received her MPH degree with an emphasis in community health education from San Jose State in 2005. In 2007 she was appointed as Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, and in 2013 appointed Vice Dean.
Claire Brindis, DrPH
Changemaker
Dr. Claire Brindis is a Distinguished Emerita Professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy (on Recall), Department of Pediatrics and Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Health Sciences and Emerita Director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Brindis is also the Co-Director of the Adolescent and Young Adult Health National Resource Center. She is also a Founding Director of the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and IHPS, UCSF. As a bicultural, bilingual researcher, she Incorporates a variety of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, as well as community participatory research. Dr. Brindis’ research focuses on program evaluation and the translation of research into policy at the local, state, and national level.