Fall 2026

A smartphone, partially decaying and turning to soil, is displayed against a blue background. The screen shows a glowing brain graphic with the text: "Scroll, Swipe, Rot: UCSF scientists are researching how the digital environment affects our minds -- and what to do about it."

Screens keep us more connected than ever — but scientists are only beginning to understand what constant digital distraction is doing to our attention, memory, and mood. This issue looks at the toll it’s taking on our brains, and how to push back. PLUS: Whether the latest weight-loss drugs could also curb addiction, why testosterone may not be the miracle hormone it’s marketed as, and how many sudden cardiac deaths may actually be misdiagnosed.

Behind the cover

About this Issue:

Vol. 15, No. 1
Editorial Team

Features

A large smartphone, partially buried in soil, is set against a dark background, with a brightly lit screen showing multiple images: people celebrating and dancing, dog memes and photos, a wildfire, and a podcaster, along with thumbs-up, heart, smiley face, and angry face emojis.

Science Fall 2026

How Digital Life Erodes Cognitive Health — and What You Can Do to Get It Back

Screens keep us constantly connected and entertained. Scientists are beginning to understand the costs.

Two women with long curly hair and draped clothing pose beside a third figure created from black and white ASCII code text characters in a classical painting style.

Science Fall 2026

Sudden Death, Misunderstood

A colorful, flat illustration of a person in a blue lab coat, surrounded by shapes like amino acid chain circles, helical protein structures, and high-tech devices.

Science Fall 2026

Our Future Medicines Will Toggle, Hinge, and Slide

Science Fall 2026

Can the Latest Weight-Loss Drugs Curb Other Cravings Too?

Insights & Voices

Anatomist

The Skin: Visible Clues to Disease

Your skin reveals more than you’d think. UCSF researchers are using it to catch cancer earlier and decode diseases throughout the body.
Perspectives

Showcasing Art That Celebrates Creativity and Healing Amid Cancer

For patients facing life-threatening illnesses, art can be a lifeline. See how UCSF’s Art for Recovery program — recently featured at SFMOMA — helps patients express what words can’t.
Ask the Expert

How Can We Fix the Health Care Workforce Shortage?

Boomers are retiring from health care just as their own medical needs rise. A UCSF health economist unpacks the shortage and what it will take to fix it.
Ask the Expert

Can AI Cause Psychosis?

A UCSF psychiatrist explains what’s really going on with chatbots and mental health.
Mythbuster

Is Testosterone a Miracle Hormone?

“The public is being fed information about testosterone that is incomplete.” Two UCSF specialists bust the myths politicians and influencers won’t.
Ask the Expert

The Right Drug, the First Time

Akinyemi Oni-Orisan, PharmD, PhD, is using genetics to help end the guesswork in prescribing.

Illustrated portrait of Jessica Zegre-Hemsey

Alumni Stories
Fall 2026

Saving Minutes in Cardiac Emergencies

“Cardiovascular systems of care start the moment someone calls 911,” says Jessica Zègre-Hemsey, MSN ’06, PhD ’11, RN, the 2025 UCSF Nursing Alumni Association Jane Norbeck Distinguished Service Award winner.

Books

The End of Violence: Eliminating the World’s Most Dangerous Epidemic

In this provocative book, UCSF resident alum and epidemiologist Gary Slutkin, MD, draws on his decades of work combating tuberculosis, cholera, and HIV at the World Health Organization to reframe violence as a contagious disease. He offers a blueprint for prevention grounded in interruption, community intervention, and shifting social norms.

Videos

UCSF’s Last Lecture

Jennifer Cocohoba, PharmD ’01, MAS ’08, a professor of clinical pharmacy, reflects on time, connection, and the meaning of care. Shaped by her years providing HIV care and her long-term relationships with patients, she shows how trust is built slowly — and why the moments that matter most are when someone finally lets you in. Watch it on UCSF’s YouTube channel.

Podcasts

GeriPal Podcast

Hosted by UCSF physicians Alex Smith, MD ’02, MS, MPH, and Eric Widera, MD ’02, GeriPal explores aging and serious illness through frank conversations with clinicians, researchers, and patients. It’s thoughtful, occasionally funny, and focused on helping people live well, even in life’s hardest circumstances.