Jim Arnold

This document presents a transcript of an interview with Keith Yamamoto, Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of California, San Francisco, discussing the Informed Health 2015 event. The interview highlights UCSF's Precision Medicine initiative, focusing on leveraging digital health, big data, and health informatics to advance biomedical research and personalized patient care. Key discussion points include the computational challenges in data analysis, ethical considerations, and the role of interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships with technology companies. Yamamoto also elaborates on the future impact of wearable devices and longitudinal data in enabling early disease diagnosis and treatment.

The primary discussion focused on research presentations concerning older adults in the correctional environment, specifically examining how anxiety contributes to physical health among this population. Key discussion points included the context of the study, research questions regarding anxiety symptoms and their link to physical health measures, and the methodology employed. The analysis involved examining self-reported anxiety, ADL impairment, chronic disease frequency, and quality of life metrics. Findings indicated that anxiety measures, particularly nervousness, correlated significantly with poorer physical health outcomes, including ADL impairment and multimorbidity. Implications discussed the need for concurrent intervention for both physical and mental health conditions, increased frequency of assessment, and policy considerations regarding the impact of incarceration on anxiety and health.

The panel discussion, moderated by Alan Ashworth, focused on "Immunotherapy and the rise of personalized medicine," which is the final panel of a weeklong event on AI, Big Data, and Health. Key discussion points included defining precision medicine, contrasting it with traditional cancer treatments (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy), and highlighting the shift toward biomarker-driven targeted therapies and harnessing the immune system against cancer. Panelists discussed challenges such as drug accessibility, tumor resistance to treatment, the necessity of physician training for interpreting genomic profiles, and the complexity of integrating genetic information with host immune system responses. The role of algorithms and artificial intelligence in triaging molecular changes was also mentioned.

This annual retreat presentation outlines the strategic efforts of the University of California, San Francisco CTSI Community Engagement and Health Policy program. It focuses on building and sustaining trusting relationships with community partners to advance translational research and health policy. Key areas of focus include effective community consultation, developing comprehensive health policy data resources, and integrating community-engaged research into academic training programs. The program aims to address historical negative perceptions, foster mutually beneficial relationships between the university and community, and ultimately achieve tangible, sustainable improvements in community health outcomes.

The meeting involved introductions of new members, including representatives from Duke University and the University of Colorado who presented information on advising physicians providing patient-centered care to justice-involved individuals. Updates were provided on the NIH grant funding renewal process, which received positive initial reviews. An upcoming in-person meeting at ACCEJ on April 10th was announced. The primary focus was a presentation by the Humane Prison Hospice Project representatives, Lisa Deal and Fernando Mar, detailing their organization's work in transforming end-of-life care for incarcerated people through education, advocacy, and training incarcerated peers as end-of-life caregivers. Discussions covered the challenges of an aging prison population and resistance to change within the carceral system, as well as strategies to support compassionate release efforts by developing community partnerships for housing and care placement post-release.