15th Annual Faculty Research Lecture in Clinical Science
Awarded to Nancy Adler, PhD
The Academic Senate is pleased to announce the selection of Nancy Adler, PhD, as recipient of the Fifteenth Annual Faculty Research Lectureship – Clinical Science for her trailblazing research on socioeconomic determinants of health. The lecture, titled “Social Determinants of Health: Power, Population, and Precision” will take place on Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at 3:30 p.m. in N-225, Parnassus Campus, reception to follow outside in the Nursing Building Lobby. The event will be simulcast and a reception will follow.
Lecture Title: Social Determinants of Health: Power, Population, and Precision
Date/Location: November 17, 2015 from 3:30 – 5:00pm in N-225, Parnassus Campus
Live Simulcast: http://lecture.ucsf.edu/ets/Play/4e8d0e8738e546aa9e7ed19df83f74e01d
Nancy Adler, PhD
One of the world’s eminent and accomplished social scientists, at the time Dr. Adler began her tenure at UCSF, in 1977, there was little attention given to the marked differences in morbidity and mortality associated with socioeconomic conditions. Dr. Adler’s landmark papers in JAMA and American Psychologists, demonstrating that socioeconomic status was linked to health across the whole range of socioeconomic status, challenged common explanations for health disparities.
As director of the MacAurthur Foundation Research Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health for 15 years, Dr. Adler influenced the NIH agenda, for example, by organizing a scientific meeting at the NIH attended by more than 400 researchers and NIH staff. The MacArthur network contributed fundamental concepts and approaches to studying the mechanisms responsible for health disparities.
Dr. Adler has published over 250 peer-reviewed publications, more than one hundred of which have been published since the start of 2010. Of particular note, she has developed a measure of subjective social status that is strongly linked to health outcomes, independent of objective socioeconomic status, which is used internationally.
In addition to health disparities, she has greatly informed women’s health and reproductive health. Testing core psychological theories of “rational choice” to examine determinants and consequences of unwanted pregnancy, her work demonstrated the capacity of adolescents to make rational choices while also showing the limitations of the model to fully account for behavior and informing development of strategies to increase effective contraceptive use. Dr. Adler’s research and writings on abortion, including an influential article in Science has informed legislation and judicial decisions regarding restrictions on the procedure.
Dr. Adler has also been a generous and effective mentor for junior faculty and students. She has received numerous awards including the 2009 Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award and the 2014 Holly Smith Award for Exceptional Service to the School of Medicine from UCSF.
Dr. Adler was selected by Thomas Reuters in 2014 as one of the “World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds.” She has received the Distinguished Scientific Award from the American Psychological Association and the James McKeen Cattell Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Society. In addition to the acclaim she has received for her contributions to the field of Psychology, she has been recognized as a leading researcher in women’s health by her selection for the Marion Spencer Fay Award.
Dr. Adler is a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Science and the Institute of Medicine, and has been selected for major leadership roles in the latter. She was elected by the IOM membership to serve on its Governing Council and is serving on its Executive Committee.
Dr. Adler is a Professor and Vice-chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco and Director of the Center for Health and Community. She received her PhD from Harvard University in 1973.
The Fifteenth Annual Faculty Research Lecture – Clinical Science will be held in N-225, Parnassus Campus on Tuesday, November 17, 2015, at 3:30 p.m. and will be simulcast to other UCSF sites as availability permits. Refreshments will be provided. The lecture is open to the campus community and the general public.
Since 2001, this award has been bestowed on an individual member of the UCSF faculty with outstanding achievements in clinical research. Nominations are made by UCSF faculty, who consider the clinical research contributions of their colleagues and submit nominations for this prestigious award to the Academic Senate Committee on Research. Each year, the Committee on Research selects the recipient of this award.