Insights & Advice

Illustration of a doctor in an office reaching through a phone screen and holding a stethoscope on the back of a patient in the phone.

Ask the Expert

A New Kind of House Call: Is Telemedicine Right for You?

UCSF experts explain how to get safe, stress-free virtual care.
Robert Wachter sits on his couch in his home, resting is arm on the back.

Ask the Expert

Is AI the Cure for Health Care’s Biggest Challenges?

Exploring what generative Al can — and can’t yet — do for patient care.
Illustrated cartoon of four friendly immune-system characters posed like a superhero team: a green germ detective holding a magnifying glass, a purple cell with a wrench and yellow hard hat, a blue medical cell with a red cross using a stethoscope, and a red armored cell with a shield, all against a radiant orange background.

Mythbuster

Is Your Immune System Smarter Than You Think?

It’s a laser-focused, germ-fighting army — and so much more.
Illustration of an older woman playing a brain-shaped piano.

Ask the Expert

Can Music Benefit Our Brains?

Here’s how music may help flex our neurons.

Recent Features

Video icon: A young man in glasses has his eyes open during surgery as he looks at a screen. Blue surgery drapes are all around him.

Science

Awake to Protect Speech

Watch how Nolan undergoes awake brain surgery to stop his seizures — while safeguarding his speech.
Sculpture of the anatomical insides of a human body, made entirely out of pieces of colorful plastic.

Health

The Plastic Inside Us

Microplastics have infiltrated our bodies. What does that mean for our health?
Collage-style illustration of the silhouette of a man pushing a pulsating red dot up a mountain. Collaged diagrams of brains make up the mountain.

Science

Can We Train Our Brain to Unlearn Chronic Pain?

Scientists are working to rewire the brain’s pain pathways and unlock lasting relief.
Olivia Waters smiles and stands outside the Clinical Sciences Building at UCSF’s Parnassus Heights campus.

Human Interest

Breaking Through

A transformative program is lifting up communities, one future doctor at a time.
Illustration of two scientists wearing white lab coats standing in a green field with a glowing horizon line. The sky is a deep purple with zebrafish swimming toward the horizon.

Science

The Quest to Reinvent Anesthesia

A curious mix of AI, chemistry, and zebrafish is advancing the hunt for safer, smarter anesthetics.
Photograph of a silver box on a conveyor belt. The box has a flap on one side, a red light flashing on top, an injection pen and needle pointing to the left on a dial, and a label that reads "GLP-1". On the left side of the box on the conveyor belt is a large iced tea in a plastic cup and a large order of french fries in a red and white cardboard fast-food fry container. On the right side of the box on the conveyor belt is a small version of the iced tea, french fries, and a tiny green apple.

Health

Are the New Weight Loss Drugs Too Good to Be True?

The real answer isn’t “yes” or “no.” Here are six things you need to know.
Illustration in a dreamy style, of the side profile a woman with her eyes closed and her hands to her chest, looking calm and meditative. Behind her is a window frame with blue and purple skies and pink and red flowers blooming.

Human Interest

The Power of Deep Rest

A truly restorative state that alters our bodies at the cellular level can counter stress.
A hand holds up a white model of a brain in front a an image of a MRI scan of a human brain.

Science

The Future of Neuroscience: Building a Silicon Brain

A digital twin of a human mind? It isn’t science fiction.
Illustration of the silhouette of a cyclist flipped upside down, falling from a bicycle against a backdrop of stylized, colorful rolling hills with a vibrant yellow sky.

Health

On the Rise

The trending threats you may not know about.
Painting depicts the evolution of man from ape to human, with several side profile figures walking in a line in front of a blue sky and grassy day landscape. The figures are apes, hominids, a Neanderthal, and humans. The first human is nude and holds a primitive tool; the following human is a female, early 20th-century nurse; the next is a man in a white doctor's coat, holding a model of a DNA double-helix; the final human is a woman wearing modern clothes and a virtual reality headset.

Science

On the Origin of Diseases

Insights from human evolution could change how we understand and treat illness.
Illustration of two scientists studying viruses under a microscope.

Science

How HIV Changed Medicine Forever

HIV research not only tamed AIDS, it also transformed science and health care.
Photo realistic collage illustration of an older man, fractured with cut out shapes and half a face of an older version of himself.

Science

The Road to Rejuvenation

UCSF researchers are finding out whether we can cancel – or at least delay – old age.

 

Alumni Stories

Read more

Illustrated portrait of Michael Drake
  • Alumni Stories

A Steward of Public Education

Michael Drake, MD ’75, has spent more than five decades advancing public education and health care — from UCSF to the presidency of the University of California. “I always liked school, so I never left,” says Drake, the recipient of the 2025 UCSF Lifetime Service Award.

UCSF News

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