Leadership Transition in the UCSF School of Medicine Vice Dean's Office at ZSFG

Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH will be stepping down as Vice Dean of the UCSF School of Medicine at ZSFG to assume the role of Chief Scientific Officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges in July 2024. We will announce interim leadership in the coming weeks.

Dr. Fuentes-Afflick has served as Vice Dean of ZSFG since 2022 – managing the ZSFG Dean’s Office enterprise to successfully collaborate with a wide array of individuals and organizations throughout UCSF and the City and County of San Francisco, including the 2023 opening of the new research and academic building, UCSF Pride Hall. The project highlighted the 150-year partnership of the two institutions, UCSF and the San Francisco Department of Public Health, of which ZSFG hospital and clinics are a part.

Prior to that time, Dr. Fuentes-Afflick served as Vice Dean for Academic Affairs for the UCSF School of Medicine for 10 years and oversaw the recruitment, development, and advancement of a diversified academic workforce, as well as innovative programs for faculty orientation, career development, and leadership training. 

Dr. Fuentes-Afflick’s research career at UCSF has focused on the issues of acculturation, immigrant health, and health disparities, including work on maternal and infant health among Latino immigrants. She has written extensively on the need to reduce harassment and bias in academic medicine and has been a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in academic pediatrics and academic medicine throughout her career.

Dr. Fuentes-Afflick has served on the National Advisory Council for the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. She is a past president of the American Pediatric Society and the Society for Pediatric Research. In 2010, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, where she chaired the Membership committee, was elected to the Governing Council, appointed to the Executive Committee, and elected as Home Secretary. In 2020, she was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.            

Please join us in thanking Elena for her extensive work supporting, advocating for, and mentoring leaders, faculty, learners, and staff at UCSF and ZSFG, and for her unwavering commitment to enhancing diversity, equity, belonging, and anti-oppression. We wish her all the best in her new role.