UCSF Academic Senate’s Second Faculty Research Lecture in Social, Behavioral, and Health Policy Sciences Awarded to Rita Redberg, MD, MSc
The Academic Senate is pleased to announce the selection of Rita Redberg, MD, MSc, as the recipient of the Second Faculty Research Lectureship in Social, Behavioral, and Health Policy Sciences for her work on health policy and reducing low-value care. Her lecture will take place on Wednesday, December 04, 2024, from 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. on Parnassus Campus in Health Sciences West room 302, with a reception to follow. There will also be a Zoom broadcast.
Dr. Rita Redberg is an exceptional scholar who has made significant scientific contributions through her pioneering research and leadership in four key areas: reducing low-value care, enhancing payor coverage policies, improving FDA regulation of drugs and medical devices, and advancing women’s cardiovascular health.
Her recent work on adoption, surveillance, and payment for new medical technologies is particularly important, raising key questions about payment decisions by insurers and the federal government. She understands that wasteful health care spending contributes to disparities in access to health care services by raising prices for insurance and care, pushing people out of care, and limiting resources that might otherwise directly address health disparities.
Dr. Redberg also made pioneering contributions identifying the lack of women in clinical studies and differences in safety and effectiveness of treatments, especially in cardiovascular medicine. Her research revealed that the gender of participants was not reported in 28% of studies and that many studies did not assess gender differences in outcomes. This research informed subsequent FDA guidance and built on her earlier work advocating for sex-specific data in cardiovascular research.
Dr. Rita Redberg, MD, MSc, is a UCSF professor in general and preventive cardiology. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2017. She served more than 15 years as Editor-in-Chief of JAMA Internal Medicine, started the American Heart Association’s Women in Cardiology Committee in 1994, Chaired the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee for five years, served as a MEDPAC Commissioner for six years, cofounded the UCSF Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, and received the Bernadine Healy Award for Visionary Leadership in Women’s Health at The Health of Women 2023 conference. In addition, Dr. Redberg directs UCSF’s Inquiry program that supports medical students’ research, and she mentors many medical students and residents in policy-related projects and directs the Ambulatory Cardiology Curriculum for Internal Medicine residents. She is truly one of the most outstanding health policy scholars at UCSF, and she is an inspiration to all who believe in UCSF’s mission of advancing health worldwide.