Alicia Fernandez, MD
Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

628-206-5394

Alicia Fernandez, M.D. is Professor of Medicine at UCSF, a general internist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, Associate Dean of Population Health and Health Equity for UCSF SOM. She is the founding Director of the UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence, a HRSA and UCSF funded initiative to increase academic diversity.

Show full bio (190 words) Hide full bio

Dr. Fernandez directs the Latinx and Immigrant Health Research Program at the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations, which generates actionable research to increase health equity and reduce healthcare disparities.

Dr. Fernandez’s research interests are in health care equity with a focus on the role of language, literacy and cultural barriers in cardiometabolic disease care outcomes, patient experience, and patient-clinician trust. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Russell Sage Foundation and The Greenwall Foundation. She is an editor of the Lange textbook, Medical Management of Vulnerable and Underserved Patients (Lange,2nd edition).

Dr. Fernandez’ national service includes service on the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Board of Directors, and past service on NIH and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) study sections, as well as advisory or focused committees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Academy of Medicine and other national health focused organizations. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2024 and appointed to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in January 2025.

Awards

Show all (16) Hide

  • COVID Heroes Award, California Senate District 11, 2021
  • Distinguished Citizen Award, Commonwealth Club, 2021
  • Thomas N. Burbridge Award for Public Service, University of California, San Francisco, 2021
  • Annual John Benson Professionalism Article Prize, ABIM Foundation, 2020
  • Distinguished Professor of Health Equity, Society of General Internal Medicine Annual Meeting, 2020
  • Roundtable on Health Literacy, Institute of Medicine, 2014-now
  • Board of Governors, Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), 2014-now
  • Fellow, American College of Physicians, 2012
  • Arnold P. Gold Professorship Award for Humanism in Medicine, Arnold P. Gold Foundation, 2009-2012
  • Outstanding Research Paper-of-the-Year Award, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2005
  • Richard J. Haber, MD Excellence in Outpatient Teaching Award, University of California, San Francisco Department of Medicine, 2004
  • Latino Health Policy Leadership Fellow, National Hispanic Medical Association, 2003
  • Early Career Research Award, Hellman/UCSF, 2001
  • Significant Improvement in Medicine for Immigrant Populations and Urban Poor, Mayoral Achievement Award, City of San Francisco, 2000
  • Kaiser Award for Excellence in Housestaff and Medical Student Teaching, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, 2000
  • Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1993

Education & Training

Show all (5) Hide

  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training University of California 2017
  • Fellowship Health Services Research University of California, San Francisco 1998
  • Residency Internal Medicine Primary Care University of California, San Francisco 1997
  • MD Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine 06/93
  • BA Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry Yale College 06/84

Websites

Show all (5) Hide

Grants and Projects

Show all (6) Hide

Publications (198)

Top publication keywords:
Emigration and ImmigrationLanguagePrejudiceMedical ErrorsCommunicationHungerTranslatingCultural CompetencyCommunication BarriersDiabetes Mellitus, Type 2Students, MedicalCultural DiversityPhysician-Patient RelationsPhysiciansCulturally Competent Care

Show all (193 more) Hide