Interim Dean Sam Hawgood has announced the appointment of Claire D. Brindis, Dr PH, as the director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, effective June 2.  Dr. Brindis served as acting director of the Institute from 2006 to 2007 and has been interim director since 2007.

In her new position, Dr. Brindis will continue the Institute’s legacy of leadership and service established by founding director Dr. Philip R. Lee and prior director Dr. Harold S. Luft.  She will encourage and enhance the collaborations between IHPS faculty and other UCSF researchers, educators and clinicians.

"By integrating a health policy perspective in our research, education, and service missions, [Dr. Brindis] will expand the impact of our scientific discoveries and improve the evidence upon which our local, state, national and international health policies are based", Hawgood stated in his announcement.

Dr. Brindis has had a long and exemplary career at UCSF where she has been instrumental in founding several centers. One, the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, is focused on reproductive health research and policy. Two others address national policy related to adolescent and young adult health, the National Adolescent Health Information and Innovation Center and the Public Policy Analysis and Education Center for Adolescents and Young Adult Health.

Dr. Brindis is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Adolescent Medicine and in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Health Sciences. Her research focuses on program evaluation of a wide range of health topics and training strategies, child and adolescent health policy, and the effective translation of research into policy.

Dr. Brindis has been honored with a variety of national, state, and local awards. In 1994, she received the Integrity Award from the Office of Inspector General, Office of Evaluation and Inspections, US Department of Health and Human Services.  The California Department of Health Services honored Dr. Brindis with the 2000 Beverlee A. Myers Award for Excellence in Public Health. In 2005, she was awarded the Federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau Director's Award: “In Recognition of Contributions Made to the Health of Infants, Mothers, Children, Adolescents & Children with Special Needs.

Most recently, Dr. Brindis received the 2009 UCSF Chancellor’s Award for the Advancement of Women in recognition of her long-standing and tireless advocacy efforts to improve campus policies impacting the lives of our faculty and staff. A native of Argentina, Dr. Brindis is particularly committed to advancing our commitment to increasing campus-wide diversity.