An interdisciplinary community of clinicians, researchers, and educators addressing ethical questions in health and biomedical research.

UCSF Bioethics connects faculty, staff, students, and trainees from across UCSF, creating a protected space for moral reflection that spans the university’s professional schools and health system. Faculty members conduct original research and policy analysis on a wide range of topics. They consult on moral and ethical concerns while embedded within bioscience or clinical projects. They devise strategies to effectively incorporate patient and citizen input into ongoing governance of science, clinical practice, and public health practice. And they provide a Research Ethics Consultation Service and direct educational programs for UCSF’s four professional schools.

In all of these settings, our faculty members seek to answer this question: How can we ensure the ethical use of our ever-expanding technological prowess?

Faculty Spotlight: Bani Tamraz, PharmD, PhD

Associate Professor
Department of Clinical Pharmacy

My primary interest is identification of genetic determinants of drug response and translating that information into practical treatment strategies: Discovery to application. The MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study (MWCCS), formerly The Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) cohort, a multi-center longitudinal observational cohort, currently provides the perfect laboratory for conducting pharmacogenomics (PGx) research. I have nested several PGx studies within WIHS, providing me with the opportunity to examine how PGx factors interact with other pharmacokinetic factors to determine drug exposure and treatment outcome. In particular, my work with WIHS has enabled me to examine PGx variations associated with ethnicity which is an understudied, but high priority area of research. Besides PGx studies in HIV, I have studies in the areas of pediatric bone marrow transplant, ophthalmology and in vitro fertilization.

In addition to discovery work, I am leading projects with an overarching vision of creating the UCSF Health-School of Pharmacy service for translating known PGx findings into clinical practice. I am leading several spin off projects related to clinical application of PGx at UCSF: a cost-effectiveness analysis of PGx in transplant and development of clinical decision support (CDS) structure for delivering the PGx-based treatment recommendations to clinicians.

Past Faculty Spotlights:
Pramita Kuruvilla, MD, FAAFP, HEC-C
Becky Deboer, MD, MA
Jarmin Yeh, PhD, MPH, MSW