Current Projects
Our lab is dedicated to advancing health equity through research in several key areas, including digital health, patient safety, social media, resilience and equity in academic medicine, as well as cancer survivorship and chronic diseases. By exploring these diverse research domains, we aim to drive positive change and address disparities in healthcare delivery and outcomes. Browse through the summaries below to learn more about the exciting work underway in our lab, and check back regularly for updates as we continue to advance health equity research.
CHARMED
This goal of the Comparing Hypertension Remote Monitoring Evaluation Redesign (CHARMED) study is to evaluate different ways to use home blood pressure checking. The study team will offer patients different ways of checking blood pressure at home and offer primary care clinics different types of training and support to help teams of nurses, pharmacists, medical assistants and doctors treat high blood pressure. The study team will include 2500 adults with hypertension in this study. This will be achieved by recruiting participants from primary care clinics at three large safety-net health systems. It is expected that the study will identify effective strategies to implement, maintain and scale home blood pressure monitoring for diverse patients.
DIAL
The goal of the DIAL study is to better understand the digital skills older adults need to successfully use patient portals, telemedicine, and other digital health tools. As healthcare increasingly relies on technology, many older adults—particularly those receiving care in safety-net health systems—face barriers to accessing and using these resources. The study team is working with English-, Spanish-, and Cantonese-speaking adults to identify the digital skills needed for common healthcare tasks and to better understand the usability challenges patients experience. Findings from this work will inform the development of practical tools to assess digital health readiness and guide interventions that help patients engage with digital healthcare. Ultimately, this study aims to improve equitable access to digital health technologies and ensure that digital innovations work for all patients.
IMPACTT
The goal of the IMProving Adherence to Colonoscopy through Teams and Technology (IMPACTT) study is to improve colorectal cancer (CRC) screening among vulnerable populations. The IMPACTT study will use a multilevel approach to support and increase the completion of a diagnostic colonoscopy following an abnormal fecal immunochemical test (FIT) by patients in the San Francisco Health Network.
INSPIRED
The purpose of the Implementation Strategies for Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring in Racially and Ethnically Diverse Populations (INSPIRED) trial is to evaluate patient-level and clinic-level strategies to increase implementation of self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) monitoring programs with clinical support. SMBP monitoring is an evidence-based, guideline-recommended practice that is most effective when combined with clinical support. However, SMBP monitoring with clinical support has had limited adoption in many safety net clinical settings due to multi-level barriers. In response, Dr. Elaine Khoong and her team are working with patients and clinics to co-design implementation strategies to increase SMBP monitoring tailored with safety net patients and clinicians. The trial will take place at two SF clinics and four Alameda Health System-based clinics. Patients will be enrolled and use cellular-enabled BP monitors for 12 months. Clinical champions at each clinic site will be trained as well.
Machine Translation
Written discharge instructions from the emergency room improve patient understanding of their medical condition and key next steps maintaining health. There are challenges to providing instructions to patients with a non-English language preference. This study seeks to study if (1) machine translation tools (e.g., Google Translate) or large language models (e.g., ChatGPT) can safely and accurately translate discharge instructions into Chinese, Russian, and Spanish and (2) if improving readability of discharge instructions with a large language model can improve on the accuracy and safety of using machine translation.
PRISM
The Promoting Research in Social Media and Health Symposium (PRISM) is one of the few symposiums dedicated to social media and health research. An all-day event that fosters a collaborative learning community, PRISM provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity for participants to meet, collaborate, and advance their work. Now in its ninth year, PRISM has hosted academic researchers, industry partners, patients, and advocates from over 40 unique institutions.
REACH
The Remote Monitoring for Equity in Advancing Control of Hypertension (REACH) is an hypertension intervention-based research study that seeks to mobilize patients with hypertension through MyChart training and at-home blood pressure monitoring with a text messaging assistance platform that encourages self-management of hypertension. REACH emphasizes equity and accessibility of technology programs for English or Spanish speaking patients with hypertension in a safety-net healthcare system.
RecoverX
The purpose of this project is to support Recovery Exploration Tech, Inc. (RecoverX) in applying their innovative software platform to improve patient safety by validating RecoverX’s diagnosis and next best action AI engine on retrospective data.
The Doctor’s Company (TDC)
The Doctors’ Company (TDC) is the nation's largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurer. Through a $1 million gift to UCSF, TDC will partner with researchers at UCSF to advance research related to patient safety and digital medicine. The team of UCSF faculty involved in the collaboration includes Urmimala Sarkar, Julia Adler-Milstein, Kiran Gupta, and Lisa Rotenstein.
UCSF S.O.L.V.E. Health Tech
The purpose of the UCSF Surmounting Obstacles for Patients with Low Income and Vulnerabilities Through (S.O.L.V.E.) Health Tech program is to make digital health products more equitable by partnering directly with digital health companies. Despite billions of dollars invested in the digital health industry annually, we have not yet seen a meaningful, sustained reduction in health care expenditures or equitable improvement of health outcomes. This is because very little of the robust private investment in digital health goes to companies led by members of historically excluded groups, and privately developed digital health products rarely focus on marginalized populations. In response, Dr. Sarkar and Dr. Courtney Lyles founded UCSF S.O.L.V.E. Health Tech, the nation’s first health equity incubation partner dedicated to bridging innovation in the private sector with the needs of patients often excluded from digital health design, development, and implementation.