Donald Abrams, MD
Donald I. Abrams, MD, is chair of the Hematology/Oncology Division at San Francisco General Hospital and Director of Clinical Programs at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. He is a professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Abrams received an A.B. in Molecular Biology from Brown University in 1972 and graduated from the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1977. After completing an Internal Medicine residency at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in San Francisco, he became a fellow in Hematology/Oncology at the Cancer Research Institute of the University of California, San Francisco in 1980.

Kevin Barrows, MD
Kevin Barrows is an Assistant Clinical Professor with the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Barrows also serves as Director of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Education Program at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. He received his MD from the UCSF School of Medicine in 1993 and completed his family practice residency and board certification in 1996. Dr. Barrows has pursued diverse clinical interests including international health, emergency medicine, hospital medicine, and community primary care. Currently, his primary interest is in mind-body medicine, especially the application of mindfulness practice in health care settings.

Alicia Boccellari, PhD
Alicia Boccellari is a Clinical Professor of Psychology at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine and is the Director of the Division of Psychosocial Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Boccellari has conducted research and clinical trials on a variety of topics, including HIV associated dementia, homelessness, and Post Traumatic Stress disorder. She has published numerous articles on a variety of topics, including bereavement and grief, and helping caregivers cope with family members who have severe physical and/or neurological disorders. Dr. Boccellari’s innovative programs have received national recognition as well as numerous honors and awards.

Daniel Dohan, PhD
Daniel Dohan is Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Institute for Health Policy Studies and the Department of Anthropology, History, and Social Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. His research examines poverty and health, including studies of the provision of cancer and emergency care to the poor, the relationship between low-income communities and healthcare institutions, and the effects of welfare reform on poor people with substance abuse problems. Dr. Dohan’s work is primarily ethnographic, but he also combines ethnographic and quantitative approaches. His background is in sociology with post-doctoral training in health policy through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholars in Health Policy Research Program and a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Alcohol Studies. In December 2003, the University of California Press published a book based on his dissertation, The Price of Poverty: Money, Work and Culture in the Mexican-American Barrio.

David Elkin, MD
David Elkin received his BA and MD from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed one year of training in internal medicine before changing to a psychiatry residency, which he completed in 1989 at the University of California at Davis. Since then, he has worked at SFGH on the ethics committee as well as on the consultation-liaison service of the Department of Psychiatry. From 1991-1992 he also practiced at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley, CA. He has small psychotherapy practices in Oakland and San Francisco. Dr. Elkin is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at UCSF and helps to coordinate medical student education for the SFGH Department of Psychiatry. He is the editor of Introduction to Clinical Psychiatry for medical students, published in 1999 by Appleton and Lange.

Anne Hughes, RN, PhD
Anne Hughes is an advance practice nurse specializing in palliative care at Laguna Honda Hospital. Palliative care helps people living with serious illness improve the quality of their lives and find relief from distressing symptoms and illness related problems. Anne is a nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist and nationally certified as an advanced oncology certified nurse (AOCN). Before working at Laguna Honda, Anne worked with persons with HIV/AIDS and cancer at San Francisco General Hospital for ten years. Anne has been a nurse since 1974; she completed her associate degree in nursing at Gwynedd-Mercy College, outside of Philadelphia. She completed her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Boston College and master’s degree in nursing from University of Washington. In 2007. Anne completed her PhD at UCSF where she studied the meaning of dignity to persons with serious illness, who live in the city and don’t have a lot of money. Anne has written and lectured on a number of topics related to living with serious illness.

Diane Jones, RN
Diane Jones is currently a Clinical Nurse III with the UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) Positive Health Program. Ms. Jones is also a trainer/consultant with the Harm Reduction Training Institute. Previous to her work with Health at Home, Ms. Jones worked with the Emergency Department and was Head Nurse at the AIDS/Oncology Special Care Unit at San Francisco General Hospital. Her extensive background in nursing and community organizing includes work with the HIV/AIDS, the San Francisco Women’s Center/Women’s Building, and as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tongo, West Africa.

Shieva Khayam-Bashi, MD
Shieva Khayam-Bashi, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor with the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF/SFGH, is Medical Director of the Skilled Nursing Facility – Ward 4A at SFGH. Dr. Khayam-Bashi received her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from San Francisco State University and her M.D. from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Khayam-Bashi has been recognized with numerous honors and awards for excellence in medical instruction and patient care. Her interests in international health and in providing medical care to underserved communities has led her to work with people in developing countries and with migrant farm workers. In addition to her clinical expertise, Dr. Khayam-Bashi’s success as a physician can be attributed to her warm spirit and compassionate nature.

Anita Kline, MSW, LCSW
Anita Kline recently retired as an oncology social worker at San Francisco General Hospital where she gave practical and emotional support to people with cancer in the oncology clinic, the breast clinic and the adult inpatient units. She has helped to facilitate a support group for Spanish-speaking women with cancer, which celebrated its 10- year anniversary in October 2002. Ms. Kline has worked at SFGH since 1985, first on the AIDS ward and then with cancer patients. Prior to SFGH she worked at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Ms. Kline graduated from the University of Michigan in 1965 with a degree in music. She fell in love with Latin America and the Spanish language as a Peace Corps volunteer in Chile from 1966 to 1968. Ms. Kline received her social work degree from UC Berkeley in 1970. She raised a son at their home in Bernal Heights and continues to travel and make music whenever possible.

Carol Lam, MSW
Carol Lam is an oncology social worker at San Francisco General Hospital. She provides emotional support and resources to both cancer patients and their families via the oncology clinic, breast clinic and adult inpatient units. Ms. Lam began her work as an orthopedic social worker at SFGH in 1998 and became an oncology social worker in 2002, after receiving her Master’s in Social Work degree from San Francisco State University.

Judith Luce, M.D. [Advisory Board President]
Judith Luce, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, is the co-founder and director of the Breast Clinic at San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Luce received her Bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Luce has won many awards, honors, and professional appointments, including recognition for her instruction of medical students and excellence as a scientific investigator. She has been active with the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society. Dr. Luce is also a leader in developing educational and other programs for patients who face obstacles in accessing healthcare. Dr. Luce’s interests include tennis, knitting, and travel with her family.

Rachel Orkand, MSW
Rachel Orkand is an oncology social worker at San Francisco General Hospital, providing practical and emotional support to people with cancer in the oncology clinic, breast clinic, and inpatient units. Rachel grew up in Sacramento, graduated from Rice University in Texas with a major in Sociology and Policy Studies, and received her Master’s in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley. She has also spent many months over the years working on her Spanish in Oaxaca, Mexico, which she continues to perfect with the help of all of the patients at SFGH. She was a recipient of the SFGH Employee Recognition Award along with the entire Hematolgy-Oncology Clinic Team. Ms. Orkand lives in Oakland with her fiance Brett, and loves traveling, rock climbing, bike riding and reading.

Kavitha Ramchandran, MD
Dr. Ramchandran graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Human Biology and a minor in feminist studies in 1999. She then went on to receive her MD at University of California, San Francisco in 2004. During her medical training she took a one year hiatus to pursue independent research in the area of micrometastases in breast cancer for which her work was recognized at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. As a medical student, Dr. Ramchandran collaborated on the development of the Breast Clinic Waiting Room Program and the CARE program at San Francisco General Hospital. Prior to starting fellowship at Northwestern, she completed her internal medicine residency at University of California, San Francisco.

Dawn Surratt, RN, MS
Dawn Surratt works as a research nurse with UCSF focusing on cancer symptom management. After having worked for years in primary prevention and early detection programs, she is now interested in improving the standards and delivery of care to cancer survivors, particularly those receiving palliative care. She is an advanced practice nurse, with a focus in community health. Ms. Surratt has worked as a health educator, direct care nurse, manager and consultant on various public health projects related to reproductive health, STD and HIV prevention and treatment and cancer control in the United States, India, and Kenya. She enjoys singing, day hiking, outrigger canoeing and Brazilian music.

Carmen Vasquez, RN
Carmen Vasquez has been the Resource Nurse for Obstetrics, Dysplasia, and Gynecology Clinics at SFGH’s Women’s Health Center for the past 22 years. At the Women’s Health Center, Ms. Vasquez provides direct educational, medical, and psychosocial care to patients at Ward 86, the Community Health Network, Community Clinics, and the Nutrition and Eligibility Departments at SFGH. Ms. Vasquez has an extensive background working with diverse people and communities. She was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Ms. Vasquez received her Nursing degree from Harlem Hospital Center School of Nursing.

Piera Wong, RN, MS, CNS
Piera Wong is the Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist on Ward 5A at SFGH. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Cal State Hayward, her Master’s of Science and Clinical Nurse Specialist degrees in Oncology Nursing from the University of California, San Francisco. Ms. Wong has conducted extensive research on mucositis pain in head and neck cancer patients. She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the Meredith Murphy Scholarship.