The Climate Crisis is a Health Crisis
Medicine must reckon with the coming catastrophe.
Winter 2020
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Features
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What Will Health Look Like in 2050?
No one can see the future, but that won’t stop us from trying. We asked UCSF faculty and alumni to score these predictions for likelihood and impact.
Health Care is Going Green
The health care sector accounts for as much as 10% of the U.S. carbon footprint and 5% globally, according to recent studies. This sobering statistic has an upside: It means that changes in the industry can play a major role in addressing the climate crisis.
How Scientists Might Tame Cancer
Basic scientist Zena Werb, who has studied cancer cells in UCSF labs for more than four decades, shares her take on the future of cancer medicine.
Aging Is Not Optional. Or Is It?
With the global population of seniors projected to reach 1.5 billion by 2050, it will be more important than ever to reduce the burden of age-related disease. In the future, science will allow us to intervene in the aging process to make this a reality, according to geriatrician John Newman.
Can Technology Mend Our Broken Minds
Scientists have documented the influence of information overload on attention, perception, memory, decision-making, and emotional regulation. But the same technologies contributing to the cognition crisis could help solve it, argues neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley.
AI Will Give Your Doctor Superpowers
Artificial intelligence manages our phones and homes, helps us navigate, and advises us what to watch, read, listen to, and buy. Soon it will transform our health, says trauma surgeon and data-science expert Rachel Callcut.
The End of Infertility Is in Sight
Advances in medicine and public health have dramatically extended the lifespan of hearts, lungs, and other vital organs. But for women, the ovaries remain a stubborn exception. That may soon change, says fertility expert Marcelle Cedars.
Insights & Voices
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Should You Take a Direct-to-Consumer DNA Test?
With the rise of “direct-to-consumer” DNA tests, investigating your genes is easier than ever. But taking one of these tests may not be right for you, says UCSF professor Kathryn Phillips, PhD, who studies new health care technologies.
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Radical Investment in San Francisco’s Future
UCSF sociologist Howard Pinderhughes, PhD, says insufficient housing, economic opportunity, and educational inequity stand in the way of a healthy San Francisco. Nevertheless, he believes there is room for optimism and the possibility for change.
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The Case of the Elusive Infection
For 15 years, nobody could figure out what was making a young woman so sick. Then neurologist Michael Wilson, MD, tried a radical new test.
