Annual UCSF Health Equity and Anti-Racism Research Symposium

Thank you to all who attended and presented at HEAR Symposium 2026!

See 2026 Symposium Highlights arrow_forward

UCSF Health Equity and Anti-Racism Research (HEAR) Symposium 2026

  • Wednesday, October 14, 2026
  • 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
  • Mission Bay Conference Center | 1675 Owens Street

The annual UCSF Health Equity and Anti-Racism Research (HEAR) Symposium showcases research and action to advance health equity. The goal of the symposium is to build community among researchers across disciplines and across units, schools and campus sites and the wider Bay Area. The 2026 HEAR Symposium is thrilled to announce Olveen Carrasquillo, MD, MPH, as this year’s keynote speaker.

UCSF endeavors to create greater understanding and supports the exchange of diverse ideas. The views and opinions of guest speakers on campus are their own and may not reflect the perspective of the University

Accessibility
UCSF welcomes all participants to our events. If you need to request a reasonable accommodation to participate in our event due to a disability, please contact Brooks Bigart by emailing [email protected] as soon as possible.

Translation
HEAR Symposium will offer AI-enabled live translation in 30 languages this year using Wordly – smartphone/tablet required. For translation details, please contact [email protected].

Time Program Speaker
8:00 am - 8:30 am Symposium Breakfast and Registration  
8:30 am - 8:35 am Welcome Renée Navarro, MD, PharmD, Vice Chancellor, Opportunity and Outreach
8:35 am - 8:40 am Opening Remarks S. Andrew Josephson, MD, Dean, School of Medicine
8:40 am - 8:45 am Symposium Introduction Tung Nguyen, MD, Associate Vice Chancellor, Research Opportunity and Impact
8:45 am - 9:35 am Plenary Presentations Session 1 with Q&A Discussant: Ifeyinwa Asiodu, PhD, RN, IBCLC, FAAN
8:45 am - 8:55 am Characteristics of Medicaid Reentry Waiver Enrollees and their Healthcare Utilization After Release from San Francisco Jail Karthik Rohatgi, MD and Katherine Miclau, BA
8:55 am - 9:05 am The Cultural Domain of Recovery Capital Among Emerging Adults with Prior Court Involvement Eduardo Guzman and Akemi Mii, PhD
9:05 am - 9:15 am Examining the Relationship Between Perceived Everyday Discrimination and Self-Reported Health among Californians Experiencing Homelessness Natrina L. Johnson, PhD
9:15 am - 9:25 am Cost-effectiveness of a contingency management intervention among people experiencing homelessness: analysis from a pilot randomized, clinical trial Dian Gu, PhD
9:25 am - 9:35 am Session 1 Discussion and Q&A Ifeyinwa Asiodu, PhD, RN, FAAN
9:35 am - 10:15 am Poster Session 1  
10:15 am - 11:05 am Plenary Presentations Session 2 with Q&A Discussant: Sharon Youmans, PharmD, MPH
10:16 – 10:26 am Pediatric Access through Resource Linkage (PEARL): Increasing SDoH Resource Connection for High-Risk Families in an Ambulatory Pediatric Surgery Setting Alondra Aguilar
10:26 am - 10:36 am Patient and Health-System Factors Associated with Scheduling and Completion of Outpatient Physical Therapy Referral Sang (Sam) Pak, PT, DPT, ACHIP
10:36 am – 10:46 am School-based programs may enhance equitable access to evidence-based ADHD treatment for families from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds: evidence from four trials Joshua Langfus, PhD
10:46 am – 10:56 am Mental Health Disparities at the Intersection of Racial and Sexual-Gender Minority Identity Using the All of Us Research Program Joya Terdiman
10:56 am – 11:06 am Plenary Session 2 Q&A Sharon Youmans, PharmD, MPH
11:06 am - 12:05 pm Keynote Address Olveen Carrasquillo, MD, MPH, Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research, Co-Director of the Clinical and Translational Science Cancer Institute, University of Miami
12:05 pm - 12:45 pm Poster Session 2  
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Symposium Lunch  
1:15 pm - 1:55 pm Poster Session 3  
2:00 pm - 2:50 pm Plenary Presentations Session 3 with Q&A Discussant: Jonathan Butler, PhD
2:01 pm - 2:11 pm It’s never too late to learn: Community-informed strategies to encourage acceptance and uptake of non-monetary educational incentives for research participation Barbara Green-Ajufo, DrPH, MPH
2:11 pm - 2:21 pm Gender expression and sexual identity disclosure to health care providers among sexual minority women: An exploratory mechanistic analysis Wint Thazin
2:21 pm - 2:31 pm Mid-pregnancy maternal leukocyte telomere length and preterm birth in a population-based Hispanic/Latina California cohort Odessa Garay, MS
2:31 pm - 2:41 pm Association of cardiometabolic risk factors for individuals with dementia across different communities Rochelle-Jan Reyes, MPH, BS
2:41 pm – 2:51 pm Plenary Session 3 Q&A Jonathan Butler, PhD
2:50 pm - 3:00 pm Closing Remarks and Thank You Vanessa Jacoby, MD, MPH, Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Research and Alejandra Rincón, PhD, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Opportunity and Outreach

POSTER PRESENTATION GUIDE

SPACE

AUTHOR(S) & ABSTRACT
1

Ashley Tsai
Advancing Health Equity for Older Asian Immigrant Women through Smartphone Literacy Workshops
2

Juliann Ly
Bridging Cultures & Healing Traditions: Zoosiab Happy Program Health Education & Herbal Remedy Initiatives for Hmong Older Adults
3

Jeanelle Dyan Daus
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Anti-Asian Hate on Asian Immigrant Elderly: A Qualitative Exploration
4

Socks Dijamco
Advancing Integrative Health Equity through Movement at On Lok
5

Ria Maharaj
Mental Health Needs of South Asians in San Francisco Bay Area and Greater New York Metropolitan Region Stemming from Social Isolation due to COVID-19
6

Danika Banh
Perceptions of Oral Health and Dental Treatment: A Qualitative Study of Southern California Vietnamese Boat Refugees
7

Shama Farhad & Ayona Chatterjee
Preliminary Assessment of Educational Outreach to Promote Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Diverse South Asian Communities in California
8

Nhi Le
The Impact of Racial Discrimination on Mental Health Among Asian Americans During COVID-19: A Qualitative Systematic Review
9

Isabella Hoang
Patient and clinician feedback in a human-centered design approach to refine Photo+Care, a patient-clinician communication intervention for multiethnic older adults with multimorbidity
10

Gina Nguyen
Diversity in STEM Matters
11

Sam Dennison
From Objects of Study to Partners for Health Equity: Community Grand Rounds
12

Stephanie Haft
Reflections from a Community Partnered Research Effort between UCSF Psychiatry and Acción Latina Researchers
13

Dylan Pillivant
Connecting Communities to Promote Healthcare Equity and Increase Accessibility of Preventive Screenings
14

Barune Thapa
Structural Racism and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Associations Between Historical Redlining and COVID-19 in the San Francisco Bay Area
15

Dimpho Orionzi
Process, Partnership, and Policy: Describing the Development of the University of California, San Francisco Anchor Institution
16

James Marks
Imagining Best Practices for Anti-Racist Community Building and Educational Interventions with the REPAIR Project
17

Fan Xia
Causal Decomposition Random Forest of Survival Disparity
18

Norlissa Cooper
What’s history got it do with it?  The Utility of Reparative Historical Inquiry (RHI) in Anti-Racist Community Building
19

Agatha Okobi
Anti-racism when discussing long-acting contraception
20

Sonja Goetsch-Avila
Centering Racial Justice and Health Equity in Contraceptive Care Quality Improvement: Development of a Quality Improvement Learning Collaborative
21

Isabella Thaper
Improving contraceptive agency through social support: findings from a qualitative longitudinal evaluation in Uganda
22

Sophie Morse
Housing instability, intimate partner violence, and delays in obtaining contraception among young people in California and Texas
23

Sarah Garrett
State-level interventions on key drivers of maternal health inequities: A landscape analysis of California laws & regulations
24

Janet Chu
Trends in liver cancer mortality by sex, race, and ethnicity in California from 2000-2019
25

Stephen Conn
Characteristics of Patients Living with Hepatitis C Admitted to UCSF
26

Shyam Patel
Rising Proportion of Hispanics and Women with Steatotic Liver Disease-related End-Stage Liver Disease and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Awaiting Liver Transplantation in the United States
27

Victor Cheuy
Influence of Diabetes and Kidney Disease Statuses on Physical Therapy Access and Utilization
28

Kimia Rezaei
Demographic Trends Among Patients with Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy, With and Without Macular Edema, Resulting in Retinal Detachment: Utilizing the TriNetX Database
29

Astrid Quirarte
Improving Support for Patients Who Speak Languages Other Than English at the Breast Care Center
30

Jennifer Yarger
Differences in perceived barriers to care for urinary symptoms among emerging adults
31

Tyler Wheeler
Understanding demographic predictors and practices of clozapine prescribing within a community mental health system

SPACE

AUTHOR(S) & ABSTRACT
1

Ximena Perez-Velazco
Food Voucher Preferences: Mixed-Methods Insights from a Community-Based Trial
2

Mira Sur & Edith Baca
Evaluating a Student Health Coach Training Curriculum in a Hypertension and Technologies Pilot Study: Using a Qualitative Research Approach
3

Monica Naranjo
Remote monitoring for Equity in Advancing Control of Hypertension – Pilot Analysis
4

Jeanette Wong
Barriers to Timely Colonoscopy Completion Following Abnormal Fecal Immunochemical Test Results in a Safety-Net System
5

Alexandra Velasquez
Clinical Research Coordinators: Learners for Equity (CIRCLE): Updates and Beyond
6

Elena Portacolone
Intervention led by Black nurses increase representation of Black communities in a clinical trials on dementia in the San Francisco Bay Area
7

Bow Suprasert
Diversifying inclusion of marginalized populations in health research: an application of Starfish Sampling to recruit and retain people who inject drugs in a longitudinal cohort study
8

Debby Oh
Health Atlas Tool Visualizes Place-Based Social Determinants of Health across the United States
9

Tiffany Chinn
Human-centered design to incorporate clinical team and leader perspectives to refine a photo-based patient-clinician communication intervention for older adults in primary care
10

Ritu Bansal
Designing for Equity: Using Systems Design in Improvement Work
11

Martha Ockenfels
Fostering Relationships with Community Partners to Guide Inpatient Equity Work
12

Noor-Ul-Ain Ali
Integrating Quality and Equity Measurement in Hospital Settings: A Scoping Review
13

Thye Peng Ngo
Prevalence and Correlates of Multiple Substance Use and Use Disorders Among Veterans on Long-Term Opioid Therapy
14

Manami Diaz Tsuzuki
Perspectives on Long-Acting Injectable HIV Treatment from Monolingual Spanish-Speaking Patients
15

Laura Cox
Infant feeding decisions among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV): A pilot study
16

Michael Deynu
Predictors of PrEP use and Missed PrEP doses due to alcohol use among sexually active individuals in San Francisco
17

Alexandrea Dunham
Biopsychosocial correlates of alcohol treatment utilization among sexual minority men who drink alcohol in the San Francisco Bay Area.
18

Christopher Hernandez
A Socio-Ecologic framework to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the risk for sexually transmitted infections among Men who have Sex with Men
19

Jonathan Gauphan
Transgender and Gender Expansive Psychedelic Users Concerns About Urge Against the Medicalization of Psychedelic Substances in Western Medical Contexts
20

Sabrina Islam
Truth-Telling as Empowerment for Sexual and/or Gender Minoritized Adults in a High-Stigma Environment
21

Vuong Do
Use of cigarettes, cannabis, and alcohol among Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults, by cultural subgroup and sex
22

Carly Kajiwara
Importance of Culturally Relevant E-Cigarette Prevention Curriculum in an Hawaiʻi Community Sample
23

Juanita Greene
Speak Up: Amplifying BIYOC Voices Through Understanding the Criminalization and Racialization of Cannabis
24

Dian Gu
Tobacco treatment and policies in mental health and substance use treatment facilities in the US
25

Griffin Gorsky
Maternal leave practices and health outcomes after prolonged postnatal infant hospitalization
26

Estrella Allen
A Descriptive Analysis of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms among Minoritized Populations in the US National Health Interview Survey 2022: Mental Health Practices and the Black Latiné community
27

Lynn Leng
Patient-Specific Clinical and Social Factors Associated with Same-Day Cancellations for Urologic Surgery
28

Mark Hawes
Built Environment, PTSD Symptoms, and Tobacco Use Among Permanent Supportive Housing Residents: A Moderation Analysis
29

Maria Dominguez
Promoting COVID Vaccination Uptake Among Low-Income, Limited English Proficient (LEP), and Newcomer Latino Immigrants in San Francisco
30

Kesia Garibay
Se necesita mucha voluntad, corazón, y valentía para servir: Promotoras response to COVID-19
31

Issa Beatriz Palomata
Mobilizing Towards Outcomes Through Advocacy

Keynote Speaker

 

Olveen Carrasquillo, MD, MPH

 

Olveen Carrasquillo, MD, MPH

Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo is the Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Miami and Co-Director of the Clinical and Translational Science Cancer Institute. He has over twenty-five years of experience leading over $125 million of NIH funded clinical and community-based health research projects in various chronic disease areas including diabetes, cancer cardiovascular disease, HIV and preventive health care services.

Dr. Carrasquillo has considerable experience directing large multi-center research projects. At present, he is MPI of the AllofUs research project and the PI of the state-wide Florida Community Engaged Alliance research program. Dr. Carrasquillo has led numerous cores for large research program project grants, often leading community and stakeholder engagement components these include the PCORNET funded OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium and UM-Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance (P50). He has been a standing member of various NIH study sections and served on various federal advisory committees. Dr. Carrasquillo serves on NHLBI Advisory Council and chair of PCORI’s Clinical Trails Advisory Committee and serves as chair of the editorial bBoard for the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Carasquillo has participated in many national and international committees as well such as the Lancet Commission on Health Policy and various National Academy of Medicine’s committees.

As a clinical leader. for 12 years Dr. Carrasquillo served as Chief of UM’s Division of General Internal Medicine, where he oversaw 52 faculty including clinicians, educators, and researchers. He continues to practice medicine in both the inpatient and outpatient settings and provides oversight of residents and students in UM clinics. Dr. Carrasquillo also serves on the Board of Directors of two local community-based organizations - The Health Council of South Florida Health Council (HCSF) and Miami-Dade Area Health Education Center (AHEC). He often works with local and national media discussing his own research and health care topics of particular relevance to the local communities.

Anti-Racism Science Strategy Convening

Wednesday, October 8, 2025 | 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM | Fisher Banquet Room

All are welcome to participate in a convening, hosted by the Office of Associate Vice Chancellor Research Opportunity & Impact (AVC-ROI) and sponsored by the Office of Opportunity and Outreach, following HEAR Symposium, designed to explore the future of anti-racism research at UCSF.

UCSF endeavors to create greater understanding and supports the exchange of diverse ideas. The views and opinions of speakers on campus are their own and may not reflect the perspective of the University.

UCSF welcomes all participants to our events. If you need to request a reasonable accommodation to participate in our event due to a disability, please contact Erica Wong at [email protected].

Capacity is limited and registration is required.

REGISTER

A female-presenting person with short dark hair. They are wearing dark-framed glasses, gold earrings, and a gold necklace. The person is also wearing a light green jacket with floral patterns with a black pointed collar.
A female-presenting person with short dark hair. They are wearing dark-framed glasses, gold earrings, and a gold necklace. The person is also wearing a light green jacket with floral patterns with a black pointed collar.

Keynote

Monica McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN

  • Interim Director, Center for Anti-Racism; Professor, Department of Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing; Professor, School of Public Health, University of Washington School of Nursing
  • Immediate Past Chair, Sexual and Reproductive Health Section of the American Public Health Association (2020-2026)
  • Board Member, Black Mamas Matter Alliance
  • Editor in Chief, Health Equity Journal

UCSF endeavors to create greater understanding and supports the exchange of diverse ideas. Views and opinions of guest speakers on campus are their own and may not reflect the perspective of the University.

Participants of the 2023 HEAR Symposium are seated in a well-lit gymnasium smiling and watching a speaker at the front of the room out of view.
Participants of the 2023 HEAR Symposium are seated in a well-lit gymnasium smiling and watching a speaker at the front of the room out of view.

2024 HEAR Symposium

Did you miss this year’s symposium in-person?

View Dr. Monica McLemore’s keynote address and all of our plenary and special presentations!

WATCH RECORDING

Abstract Information

HEAR Symposium 2026 will accept abstracts until July 7, 2026 at 11:59 PM.

  • Abstracts can be submitted for work that has been presented elsewhere or submitted to a journal for publication, but not for work that has already been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
  • We encourage first authors at all levels from students to full professors. The first author will be the presenter if selected for a plenary presentation.
  • Each person can be first author on only one submission.
  • Faculty, staff, and trainees affiliated with San Francisco Bay Area health care and research institutions are eligible to submit abstracts.
  • We encourage submissions that focus on health equity and anti-discrimination research. Examples include work that addresses structural and social determinants of health; interventions for health equity; and community and other stakeholder-engaged research. We will also consider submissions that report on health and healthcare disparities.
  • UCSF does not use race, gender, sex, or other protected categories or proxies for protected categories in the selection process.

Structured abstracts are required and must conform to the following organization.

Non-conforming abstracts will not be reviewed.

  1. All required components of the abstract including the title and all authors must fit on 1-page and must be in 11-point font.
  2. The body of the abstract (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions) must not exceed 400 words.
  3. Up to 2 figures, graphs or tables are permitted as along as it fits on the 1-page limit with all other required components of the abstract.
  4. Please submit abstracts as PDF files. Save the PDF file name by: First Author Last name and first initial-Name of Abstract (e.g., Rivera A.-Abstract2026.pdf).
  5. Required components of the abstract:
    • Title. No all caps, quotes, underlining or bolding.
    • Authors. Please list all authors by last name and initials and academic/professional affiliation. Please indicate the academic/professional title of first author.
    • Background. Describe the context and importance of the study and specify the purpose or goal of the study.
    • Methods. Include a description of the methods used including setting, population, sampling techniques, measures, and analytical procedures.
    • Results. A summary of results presented in sufficient detail to support the conclusions. Up to 2 tables, graphs or figures are permitted as long as the entire abstract is on one page.
    • Conclusions. State the implications of the findings for clinical practice, research, education, or policy. We strongly discourage abstracts that have not yet produced results. Statements such as "The results will be discussed" or "Other data will be presented” are not acceptable.

Sample abstract for HEAR Symposium

Sponsorship

Become a sponsor of health equity research! We are committed to providing HEAR Symposium as a free event that is open to all and are thankful to our sponsors. Contact [email protected] with inquiries.

Thank You to Our 2024 Sponsors

Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRNH) logo

Asian American Research Center on Health logo

Center for Aging in Diverse Communities logo

Center for Climate, Health and Equity (CCHE) logo

 

Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education logo

Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies logo

Multiethnic Health Equity Research Center logo

UCSF Institute for Health and Aging logo

 

UCSF Community Government Relations logo

UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics logo

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Office of DEIA logo