Research

	Dr. Renuka Nayak is interested in advancing precision medicine by studying the impact of the gut microbiome on treatment of rheumatic diseases. Her research focuses on mechanisms by which human gut microbes interact with prescribed drugs and how this impacts patient response to therapy. She holds a joint appointment at the SFVA and UCSF Parnassus campus. Visit the Nayak lab website.
	Dr. Christine L. Hsieh’s primary research interests are in innate immunity and neuroimmunology.  Major projects in her laboratory include 1) the study of macrophage and microglia subsets in the context of traumatic brain injury with the goal of identifying and targeting harmful or helpful populations during neuroinflammation, and 2) identifying molecular and cellular mechanisms related to aberrant or autoimmune responses in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Dr. Hsieh directs the San Francisco VA Flow Cytometry Core Facility, which is available to the UCSF and VA research communities. Visit the Hsieh lab website.
	Dr. Mary Nakamura's research focuses on a relatively new field called osteoimmunology, which refers to the study of interactions between the skeletal and immune systems. Loss of bone or osteoporosis is a significant problem for patients due to aging but the process is also accelerated by inflammatory and autoimmune diseases yet can also be worsened during therapy for these diseases. Her research in the laboratory focuses on understanding mechanisms that regulate bone loss particularly due to autoimmune disease. Using translational approaches, she is interested in determining factors that predispose rheumatoid arthritis patients to local and systemic bone loss and how bony erosion can be better assessed in patients.
	Dr. Lianne Gensler is the Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) Clinic Director at UCSF Health. Currently, she is enrolling patients in observational studies to better understand outcomes in patients with AS. One of these is in collaboration with other investigators to better understand the genetic contributions towards the disease. She is also studying a survey tool to identify patients with AS early, with the hope of reducing the current delay to diagnosis of 5-10 years. She serves as the Chair of the Spondyloarthritis Research And Treatment Network (SPARTAN), and on the American College of Rheumatology guideline committee for the management of Axial Spondyloarthritis.
	Dr. Gabriela Schmajuk co-directs the Quality and Informatics Lab (QUIL) at UCSF. The mission of QUIL is to improve patient outcomes.  She uses EHR data to develop and test measures of quality and medication safety. Dr. Schmajuk is funded by the Agency for Research and Healthcare Quality (AHRQ), the National Institutes of Health (NIAMS), the Rosalind Russell/Ephraim P. Engleman Rheumatology Research Center, and the VA's HSR&D. She is co-PI for the SFVA’s Measurement Science QUERI, which builds EHR-enabled dashboards for use nationally within the VAHCS.

Contact Information

Dr. Gabriela Schmajuk
[email protected]

Dr. Lianne Gensler
[email protected]

Dr. Mary Nakamura
[email protected]

Dr. Renuka Nayak
[email protected]

Dr. Christine L. Hsieh
[email protected]