Recent Publications from some of our Alum:

• Perceptions of the Role of Living Alone in Providing Services to Patients With Cognitive Impairment — Elena Portacolone, PhD, MPH, MBA, Julene Johnson, PhD, Sahru Keiser, MPH, Thi Tran, BA, Aug. 18, 2023
• Elena Portacolone, PhD, MPH, MBA, and her team’s new study were the subject of a New York Post’s Aug. 21 article “Living Alone is Like ‘Sending a Kid Out to Play on the Freeway’ for 1 in 4 Americans.”
• Rethinking Benefit and Responsibility in in the Context of Diversity: Perspectives From the Frontlines of Precision Medicine Research — Nicole Foti, PhD (alumna), Melanie Jeske, PhD (alumna), Janet Shim, PhD, July 13, 2023
• The Role of Polygenic Risk Scores in Breast Cancer Risk Perception and Decision-Making — Barbara Koenig, PhD, RN, Jennifer James, PhD, MSW, June 13, 2023
• Hospice Quality, Race and Disenrollment in Hospice Enrollees With Dementia — Lauren Hunt, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, Jennifer James, PhD, MSW, April 3, 2023
• Building Back Better: Going Big with Emancipatory Sciences — Carroll Estes, PhD, FAAN, Nicholas DiCarlo, MSW, LCSW, Jarmin Yeh, PhD, MPH, MSSW, Feb. 27, 2023
• Jarmin Yeh, PhD, MPH, MSSW, assistant professor in the Institute for Health and Aging (IHA), received a grant in the amount of $798,873 from the California Department of Public Health for her project "Replicating the IHSS + ADRD Training Project: Reducing the Social and Economic Impacts of Caregiving for Older Adults with ADRD in the IHSS System Through Training."
• Enhancing Dementia Knowledge and Self-Efficacy of In-Home Supportive Services Caregivers Through Online Training — Jarmin Yeh, PhD, MPH, MSSW, Brittney Pond, BA, Matthew Beld, Leslie Ross, PhD, Dec. 9, 2022
• California’s Direct Care Workforce — Lauren Hunt, PhD, RN, FNP, Jarmin Yeh, PhD, MPH, MSSW, Jan. 3, 2023
• Elena Portacolone, PhD, MBA, MPH, was among the experts cited in the U.S. News’ Oct. 17 article “What’s Keeping Some Hispanic Americans From Getting the COVID Shot?”
• Engagement and Advocacy of Community-Based Organizations Serving Older Adults in Native American, Rural, and Homeless Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic — Jarmin Yeh, PhD, MPH, MSSW, Oct. 8, 2022
• Science Estranged: Power and Inequity in Laboratory Life during the COVID-19 Pandemic - Melanie Jeske, PhD, August 9, 2022
• A Qualitative Study of Unaffected ATM and CHEK2 Carriers: How Participants Make Meaning of 'Moderate Risk' Genetic Results in a Population Breast Cancer Screening Trial — Jennifer James, PhD, MSW, Barbara Koenig, PhD, RN, July 25, 2022
• Entwined Oppressions: Historicizing Anti-Asian Violence in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Era — Jarmin Yeh, PhD, MPH, MSSW, Kourtney Nham, BA (current Sociology PhD student), Carroll Estes, PhD, FAAN, July 18, 2022
• Trauma-Informed Home Visiting Models in Public Health Nursing: An Evidence-Based Approach — Yvette Cuca, PhD, MPH, Carol Dawson-Rose, PhD, RN, FAAN
• Letter to Editor: Is It Ethical to Mandate Vaccination among Incarcerated Persons? Consider Enforcement and Ask People Living in Prisons and Jails — Jennifer James, PhD, MSW, June 20, 2022
• The Living Alone with Cognitive Impairment Project's Policy Advisory Group on Long-Term Services and Supports: Setting a Research Equity Agenda — Elena Portacolone, PhD, MBA, MPH, Julene Johnson, PhD, Thi Tran, Paula Martinez, Carrie Graham, PhD, May 16, 2022
• The Association Between Race and Place of Death Among Persons With Dementia — Jennifer James, PhD, MSW, Lauren Hunt, PhD, RN, FNP, May 23, 2022
• Emancipatory Visions: Using Visual Methods to Co-construct Knowledge With Older Adults — Jarmin Yeh, PhD, MPH, MSSW, April 1, 2022
• Race, Racism and Bioethics: Are We Stuck? — Jennifer James, PhD, MSW, March 8, 2022
• The Limits of Personalization in Precision Medicine: Polygenic Risk Scores and Racial Categorization in a Precision Breast Cancer Screening Trial — Jennifer James, PhD, MS, MSW, Barbara Koenig, PhD, RN, Oct. 29, 2021
• Updated Report: Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Facts and Figures in California: Current Status and Future Projections — Leslie Ross, PhD, Matthew Beld, MPH, Jarmin Yeh, PhD, Oct. 1, 2021
• Pre-Appointment Nurse Navigation: Patient-Centered Findings From a Survey of Patients With Breast Cancer — Jennifer James, PhD, MSW, Oct. 1, 2021
• Conviction: The Making and Unmaking of the Violent Brain - a new book by Oliver Rollins, PhD
• Age-friendly for Whom? An Aperture to the Lived Experiences of Older San Franciscans — Jarmin Yeh, PhD, MPH, MSSW, Aug. 11, 2021
• President's Message—The International Nursing Network for HIV Research — Yvette Cuca, PhD, MPH, Carol Dawson-Rose, PhD, RN, FAAN, May-June 2021
• Creativity, Resilience and Resistance: Black Birthworkers’ Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic — Jennifer James, PhD, March 25, 2021
• Improving End-Of-Life for Persons Living With Dementia: Bereaved Caregivers’ Observations and Recommendations — Jarmin Yeh, PhD, MPH, Jeff Newman, MD, MPH, Lauren J. Hunt, PhD, RN, Feb. 5, 2021
• Beyond Seeing Race: Centering Racism and Acknowledging Agency Within Bioethics — Jennifer James, PhD, MS, Feb. 1, 2021

Alumni News and Announcements:

• Sociology alum and Emerita Adele Clarke, PhD, is the 2023 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in Qualitative Inquiry, International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry 
• Jarmin Yeh, PhD, MPH, MSSW, assistant professor in the Institute for Health & Aging, received a California Department of Social Services grant for $300,000 for her project "Developing an Operational Plan for California Adult Protective Services Under the American Research Plan Act of 2021."
• Jen James, (PhD, 2016), will deliver introductory remarks at the April 12 Grand Rounds organized by the UCSF Bioethics and Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. James will be introducing the featured speaker, Michele Goodwin. Grand Rounds will be held in-person at Mission Bay and streamed via Zoom. CME credit available for attendees.
• Jarmin Yeh, PhD (2020), MPH, MSSW, assistant professor in the Institute for Health & Aging, was a featured speaker at a Feb. 15 event as part of the Manchester Urban Research Group’s “Conversation on Urban Ageing” series. The discussion focused on the meaning of place to older people and the need to promote social justice in urban, aging neighborhoods.
• Sociology alum Jennifer James (PhD, 2016) has been awarded multiple research awards:
  • received a four-year grant from the Greenwall Foundation, including $260,991 in year 1 funding, for her project, "Healthcare Decision-Making in California Women's Prisons: Historical Legacies of Injustice and Modern Regulatory Constraints."
  • named recipient of the 2021-2022 UCSF Society of Hellman Fellows Award. The Hellman Fellows Program is designed to assist promising early career faculty in their research. James will receive a $50,000 award.
  •  is one of three scholars nationwide to be named to the Greenwall Faculty Scholars Program in Bioethics’ Class of 2024. The program supports early-stage faculty members conducting innovative bioethics research addressing ethical, policy and practice issues. James will receive 50 percent salary support for three years to advance her bioethics career. Read the full announcement.
• UCSF Magazine ran an article What’s Wrong (and Right) With Race in Medicine featuring six panelists, one of whom was our own Jennifer James.  Read it here.
•  Jennifer James was also featured on the UCSF SON Science of Caring news site in Meet the UCSF Nursing Faculty Working to Illuminate COVID’s Impact
• On March 11, 2021 House Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) released a statement after President Biden nominated Health Subcommittee Deputy Staff Director and professional tax staffer, Melanie Anne Egorin, Ph.D, to serve as the next Assistant Secretary for Legislation at the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Egorin earned her PhD at UCSF in Sociology in 2004. Read the announcement, here. UPDATE 7/13/21 : Finance Committee Votes to Approve the Nominations of Melanie Egorin to HHS
• Alice Wong, (Sociology MS, 2004) was featured in KQED's article piece, "'So Angry, So Scared': California COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Change Leaves Disabled People Behind, Say Advocates" on February 1, 2021

In Memoriam

On September 7, 2022, we are sad to say Lyn Lofland, Sociology PhD 1971, passed away peacefully at home in hospice.  Dr. Lofland was a much-beloved Emerita Professor of Sociology at UC Davis.

We are saddened to learn of the loss of Dr. Steven Wallace, class of 1987.  At the time of his passing, Dr. Wallace was the Director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.  A statement on his passing can be read, here and you can read Remembering Steve Wallace in the Summer 2021 UCLA magazine

The sociology program mourns the loss of alumni Dr. Kathy Charmaz whom passed away July 26, 2020. Kathy was in the very first Sociology program cohort and graduated from the program in 1973. Her obituary, written by Dr. Adele Clarke, can be read here.