University of California San Francisco

Henry Sánchez, MD, MS

For decades, Henry Sánchez, MD, MS, Professor of Pathology, has been a respected HS Clinical faculty member at UCSF. Because UCSF expanded its local Senate to include HS Clinical and Adjunct Faculty series, Sanchez’s service has shaped critical decisions at UCSF, within the broader University of California system, and at our public schools.

Sánchez has served on various UCSF and systemwide committees, at UCSF this included the IT Committee on Educational Technology (2014-17), and the Committee on Educational Policy, which he chaired (2002-05). At the systemwide Academic Senate, he served as the chair and vice chair of the Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) from 2016-2018 and 2014-2016, respectively; chairing/co-chairing the systemwide UC Taskforce on Standardized Testing; chairing and vice chairing the Committee on Educational Policy (2005-2007 and 2004-2005, respectively); chairing the Student Health Advisory Committee (2009-present); and numerous other committees.

His work has also allowed him to engage with a diverse group of exceptional faculty across departments and contribute to BOARS, where he helped oversee matters related to undergraduate admissions and served on a task force that revamped high school science education requirements. Sánchez’s broad experiences reflect his commitment to enhancing the University’s educational, research, and clinical missions.

In his teaching role, Sánchez has made significant contributions to UCSF's medical, dental, and health sciences curricula, developing innovative instructional tools like web-based learning modules and virtual microscopy, which have enriched student learning experiences. His research endeavors have spanned various fields, including neuropathology and AIDS-associated cancers, contributing valuable insights that have advanced UCSF’s clinical care and research protocols. Sánchez also plays a vital role mentoring students and participating in outreach programs that benefit both UCSF and the broader community.

Sánchez ’s advocacy for expanding voting rights to Health Sciences Clinical and Adjunct faculty is rooted in his belief that these faculty members are integral to UCSF’s success and its ability to fulfill its academic mission. As he has seen firsthand, these faculty contribute to teaching, research, and service in impactful ways. Expanding their representation in the UC Academic Senate, he argues, will strengthen governance, promote diversity, and further enrich the perspectives and policies that shape the University’s future.

Read on to learn more about Sánchez’s impact as a dedicated teacher and proponent for making education relevant and engaging for today’s current and future college students.

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Q&A With Henry Sánchez

When you think of your UCSF Senate Service, what are you most proud of?

During my time as BOARS chair, I was the chair/co-chair of the UC Academic Senate Standardized Testing Task Force, which examined the use of standardized tests in UC freshman undergraduate admissions resulting in a seminal report regarding standardized testing in UC undergraduate admissions. The report was endorsed by the University of California Academic Senate and presented to the Board of UC Regents in May 2020.

As chair of the BOARS subcommittee on Subject Area D (formally known as Laboratory Science)—part of the UC High School graduating subject requirement—we changed the name to “Science” and included approved interdisciplinary or earth and space sciences coursework. In addition, we recommended an optional third year of science, which could include computer science, engineering, or applied sciences. These Subject Area D changes broadened the field of science beyond biology, chemistry and physics, and better aligned with the adoption of the California Common Core State Standards (CA CCSS) and California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS).

Report: UC Academic Senate Standardized Testing Task Force

How has your service, extended beyond the Senate?

I continue to participate in educational outreach programs sponsored by UCSF Diversity and Outreach Office as well as local public schools. I have participated every year in the UCSF Cardiac Physicals for Bay Area high school athletes sponsored by the UCSF Departments of Sports Medicine, Cardiology and Pediatric Cardiology, and CPMC Pediatric Cardiology. I was an elected school board member on the San Bruno Park School District (TK-8) from December 2009 to November 2022. I was recently appointed to the Community Health Investment Committee to award public monies to support health services to the Peninsula Health Care District in San Mateo County during the COVID-19 pandemic and on the board of directors of the Peninsula Health Care District for a 4-year term and the Sonrisas Dental Health board as vice-chair.

What value have you personally gained from participating in Academic Senate?

Participating in the Academic Senate has broadened my understanding of the meaning of “shared governance” in making important decisions on critical issues in the UCSF Academic Senate and at the systemwide level. Another personal gain was working with a broad range of exceptional faculty outside my own department across the UCSF campus and participating in the UC Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS), which oversees all matters relating to admissions of undergraduate students at the systemwide level of the Academic Senate.

How do you contribute to health sciences?

My time is spent teaching and signing-out autopsy cases with pathology residents and rotating medical students. I also present the autopsy cases to various house staff and attending conferences at UCSF Moffitt Hospital including Cardiology Grand Rounds, UCSF Moffitt ICU Morbidity and Mortality. Other conferences occasionally include Pediatric ICU Morbidity and Mortality and Neonatology at Mission Bay, Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Conference, Cardiothoracic Surgery Conference, Pediatric Neuroradiology Conference, Pediatric Infectious Disease Conference, Pulmonary Grand Rounds and Radiation/Oncology Teaching Conference.

Please share a bit about your contributions to teaching:

My teaching responsibilities have included teaching pathology in the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Physical Therapy. I am currently lecturing first-year dental students in BMS 116, 117 and 118 covering mechanisms of disease and organ systems-based pathology relevant to dentistry in the second new dental curriculum at UCSF School of Dentistry. I was the deputy director for Pathology 101, 102 and 103 which involved creating examinations, coordinating faculty participation and syllabus publication, attending course committee meetings, lecturing, and serving as the laboratory leader. I have focused on building capacity to support UCSF students, including coordinating 7 review sessions annually, exam prep materials, a histopathology atlas for 2nd year medical and dental students, and more.

I have developed essential curricula, web-based learning modules, and exam resources, including serving as co-director of Life Cycle/ Epilogue and director of the former Integration and Consolidation Block, which involved developing new labs in the Cancer and Metabolism & Nutrition blocks with web-based learning modules, new lectures, small group sessions, laboratory exercises, and web-based examinations. I have directed, co-directed, and designed pathology courses offered to pharmacy, physical therapy, and dental students and helped develop and implement a structured USMLE Step 1 Prep course for the UCSF School of Medicine second year medical students. Currently, I give multiple lectures to second year medical students preparing for the USMLE Step I0 exam, which includes a pathology review manuscript of 225 pages.

I introduced podcasting in the fall of 2005 as a means of providing lecture and laboratory content in the schools of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, and division of physical therapy. I received a UCSF Instructional Grant for digital virtual microscopy to be used initially in the schools of medicine and dentistry at UCSF, which was implemented in fall 2009. Since then, I have incorporated the digital virtual microscopy in the curriculum in the schools of medicine and dentistry through UCSF Collaborative Learning Environment (CLE) sponsored and supported by the UCSF Library.

Finally, I have been teaching in the new UCSF Bridges Curriculum as a small group pathology leader to first year and second year medical students starting in August 2016 through December 2024. During the COVID-19 pandemic when UCSF distance learning occurred, I developed and implemented successfully with the help of Drs. Raga Ramachandran and Marta Margeta gross pathology labs via Zoom to first year UCSF medical students (2020-2024).

What are highlights from your research?

Project: POstmortem Systemic InvesTigation of Sudden Inpatient Death (POST SID) via a biweekly Adjudication Committee meetings to study all inpatient cardiac arrests without immediate survival after attempted resuscitation that receive a UCSF autopsy. Working with PI Dr. James Salazar, my role is to interpret the autopsy findings in conjunction with pre-mortem clinical findings. The goal of the study was to better define the actual cause(s) of inpatient cardiac arrest to potentially improve medical care of acute and underlying medical conditions, refine resuscitation protocols, and reduce the future incidence of inpatient cardiac arrest.

Project: Neuropathology of Prion Diseases. Working with PI Dr. Stephen DeArmond, my role was looking at animal models of prion diseases (histoblots and neuropathologic changes) to create a database for prion diseases in patients and assist in computer graphics. Supported by a National Institute of Aging contract, I looked at autopsy cases involving Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease infectivity in blood and visceral organs and assisted in developing autopsy protocols on patients with suspected prion diseases where tissue samples are collected for analysis.

Project: Molecular Analysis of AIDS-associated Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas. Working with PI Dr. Michael S. McGrath and Dr. Brian Herndier, my role was to identify autopsy cases at UCSF Medical Center that are related to AIDS-associated non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas and collect tissue samples for the San Francisco General Hospital AIDS Malignancy Bank.

Why should faculty vote to approve the Memorials to the Regents to expand faculty voting rights?

The HS Clinical/Adjunct faculty are major contributors to the success of the University of California in teaching, research, health sciences and university service at UCSF, which exemplifies the University of California Academic Senate’s mission “to support the University’s mission by strengthening the university, advancing its academic and public mission and ensuring the excellence of its educational and research programs.”