Faculty Retirements FY26

David Claman is a pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist who has spent nearly four decades at UCSF. After graduating from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1987, he came to UCSF for his internal medicine residency and completed fellowships in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. In 1994, he became director of the UCSF Sleep Disorders Center, leading its growth through 2025 while caring for thousands of patients. A dedicated clinician, educator, and mentor, Claman has trained hundreds of pulmonary fellows, residents, and sleep medicine fellows. He received the California Thoracic Society Outstanding Clinician Award in 2010, the UCSF Exceptional Physician Award in 2014, and the UCSF Pulmonary Faculty Excellence and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. Throughout his career, he has been recognized for his commitment to outstanding patient care, teaching, and mentorship.

Miranda Dunlop is an internal medicine physician who will retire in June after 20 years at UCSF. She earned her MD and completed her primary care internal medicine residency at UCSF before joining the division of general internal medicine. Throughout her career, she practiced primary care at the Parnassus and Mount Zion campuses while serving as medical director and internal medicine residency educational site director for the second-floor primary care clinic at Mount Zion. Known for her dedication to patient care and medical education, Dunlop has helped train generations of residents while caring for patients across the UCSF community. She will return in the fall as a part-time recall physician while exploring new interests in medicine.

Stephen Gluck is a nephrologist retiring after a long and distinguished academic career. Before joining UCSF in 2006 as chief of the division of nephrology, he served as chief of nephrology at the University of Florida. A physician-scientist, Gluck conducted groundbreaking research in electrolyte transport and acid-base regulation, publishing in leading journals including Science, Nature, and The Lancet. An accomplished clinician, he provided expert care across the full spectrum of nephrology, with particular expertise in kidney stones, electrolyte and acid-base disorders, and dialysis management. He is a member of both the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, reflecting his enduring contributions to research, clinical care, and academic medicine.

Jacquelyn Maher is chief of the division of gastroenterology at ZSFG and director of the UCSF Liver Center. An internationally recognized physician-scientist, her research focuses on the causes and progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Her laboratory has advanced understanding of how dietary sugar contributes to fatty liver disease and how metabolic stress leads to liver cell injury. More recently, her team has pioneered the use of patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells to model NAFLD, creating new opportunities to study the disease across diverse patient populations. Through her leadership in research, clinical care, and mentorship, Maher has helped advance the field of liver disease and improve understanding of one of the world's most common chronic liver conditions.

James Mailhot is a noninvasive cardiologist retiring after 10 years at UCSF. After earning his MD from Georgetown University School of Medicine, he completed his internal medicine residency at Boston City Hospital and cardiology fellowship training at Mt. Zion Hospital and Stanford University Medical Center. Throughout his career, Mailhot held numerous leadership roles, including director of the cardiac care unit and chief of staff at UCSF/Mt. Zion, and later served as director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at California Pacific Medical Center. A dedicated clinician and educator, he has mentored generations of residents and fellows while providing expert care across a broad range of cardiovascular conditions. He brought his Golden Gate Cardiology practice to UCSF in 2016, where he continued caring for patients through his retirement.

Gina Moreno-John is a primary care physician and professor of medicine at UCSF. She serves as director of community, opportunity and access in the division of general internal medicine, where she leads initiatives focused on health equity, community engagement, and social justice education. Moreno-John also directs the UCSF Food Equity and Justice program, expanding innovative food-as-medicine programs to improve access to nutritious food for patients experiencing food insecurity. An educator and advocate, she teaches social medicine and behavioral medicine to primary care residents and has helped develop programs that prepare clinicians to communicate across differences and address the social determinants of health. Her work has helped advance more equitable care for underserved communities throughout San Francisco.

Pamela Munster is a physician-scientist and professor of medicine at UCSF whose research and clinical work focus on breast cancer and precision oncology. After earning her medical degree from the University of Bern, she completed her internal medicine residency at Indiana University and a hematology-oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering, where she specialized in breast cancer. She later held leadership roles at Moffitt Cancer Center before joining UCSF, where she serves as the Marian Moghadam Safinia Distinguished Professor in Residence, program leader for molecular oncology, and co-leader of the BRCA Center at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Munster is the founder of Alessa Therapeutics and has held national leadership roles with the National Cancer Institute, Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, and the American Board of Internal Medicine. Her research has advanced understanding of inherited and epigenetic drivers of cancer while helping translate scientific discoveries into innovative patient care.

Don Ng joined the division of general internal medicine at UCSF in 1992 as a clinician educator. A primary care physician fluent in Cantonese, he built a practice serving primarily monolingual Cantonese-speaking patients and dedicated his career to improving care for immigrant Chinese communities. His clinical interests included hepatitis B, nasopharyngeal, esophageal, and gastric cancers, smoking cessation, and the prevention and management of chronic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and kidney disease. In addition to providing culturally and linguistically responsive care, Ng served as medical director of the general internal medicine practice at UCSF Mount Zion. After retiring in 2021, he returned to care for patients as recall faculty before fully retiring in 2026.

Joel Palefsky is an infectious diseases physician and researcher retiring in July 2026 after a remarkable 37-year career at UCSF. An internationally recognized leader in human papillomavirus (HPV) research, his work has transformed the prevention of HPV-related cancers. Palefsky founded the world's first clinic dedicated to anal cancer prevention and led the landmark ANCHOR Study, which established the benefit of anal cancer screening and treatment in high-risk populations and informed guidelines worldwide. His research also contributed to the FDA approval of HPV vaccination for males. He is the founder and past president of the International Anal Neoplasia Society, past president of the International Papillomavirus Society, and continues to lead global efforts to expand HPV vaccination and cancer screening. He has published more than 450 peer-reviewed papers and received numerous awards for research, teaching, and mentorship. He will return as recall faculty to continue his research.

Christine Ritchie serves as the Harris Fishbon Distinguished Professor in Clinical Translational Research and Aging in the division of geriatrics. She  completed her medical training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she also completed her residency, chief residency, and geriatrics fellowship. A nationally recognized leader in geriatrics and palliative care research, Ritchie has advanced models of care for people with chronic serious illness, multimorbidity, and complex care needs. Her work spans clinical care, health services research, and patient-centered technologies designed to improve quality of life and support patients and families through serious illness. She has also held national leadership roles with the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and the American Academy of Home Care Medicine.

Diane Sliwka completed her internal medicine residency at Maine Medical Center and a Rabkin Fellowship in Medical Education at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Since joining UCSF, Sliwka has combined clinical care, education, and leadership, founding the UCSF Bedside Hospitalist Procedure Service and developing a procedural training curriculum for internal medicine residents. She now serves as executive medical director for patient experience and chief physician experience officer at UCSF Health, where she leads initiatives to improve the experiences of patients, families, and clinicians. She also founded and directs the UCSF Health Center for Enhancement of Communication in Healthcare, advancing communication skills and compassionate care across the health system.

Margaret Tempero serves as director of the UCSF Pancreas Center, director of the Cancer Early Detection and Interception initiative, and leader of the Pancreas Cancer Program at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Previously, she was founding deputy director of the Cancer Center and chief of hematology and oncology at UCSF. A pioneer in the development of antibody-based cancer therapies, Tempero has led national and international research on gastrointestinal cancers, particularly pancreatic cancer. She has served as president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Pancreatic Association, and as editor in chief of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Her work has helped shape the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of pancreatic cancer worldwide.

Kirsten Tolstrup is a noninvasive cardiologist retiring after 10 years at UCSF. Born in Denmark, she earned her medical degree from the University of Copenhagen before completing her internal medicine residency at the University of Southern California and a cardiology fellowship at the University of New Mexico. Prior to joining UCSF in 2016, she held leadership positions at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of New Mexico, directing echocardiography and cardiac imaging programs. At UCSF, Tolstrup specialized in echocardiography, valvular and structural heart disease, and procedural imaging. She established a multidisciplinary heart valve clinic and later served as associate chief of ambulatory cardiology. Through her clinical care, research, and leadership, she helped advance multidisciplinary approaches to cardiovascular care and the treatment of complex valvular heart disease.

Alan Venook is a medical oncologist and nationally recognized expert in colon and liver cancers. A UCSF faculty member since 1988, he leads the gastrointestinal oncology program at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Venook earned his medical degree and completed his hematology-oncology fellowship at UCSF after an internal medicine residency at the University of California, Davis, and two years of service in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. An internationally recognized clinical investigator, he led a landmark study of advanced colon cancer that was the first to identify important differences between right- and left-sided colon cancers, helping to transform the understanding and treatment of colorectal cancer. His career has been defined by advancing gastrointestinal cancer research while providing exceptional care for patients with colon and liver cancers.

Maria Wamsley serves as director of the UCSF Program for Interprofessional Practice and Education, leading the development of interprofessional curricula for learners across the Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. She co-directs the PISCES Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship and is a member of the UCSF Academy of Medical Educators. Her research focuses on interprofessional collaboration, longitudinal medical education, professional identity formation, and faculty development. Through her leadership in education, she has helped prepare generations of health professionals to deliver collaborative, team-based patient care.