Announcing the appointment of Dr. Phyllis Tien as chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the SF VA

Dear Colleagues:

We are delighted to announce that Phyllis Tien, MD, MSc has accepted the position of Chief of Infectious Diseases at the San Francisco VA Health Care System (SFVAHCS). Dr. Tien is Professor of Medicine at UCSF. Phyllis is an East Bay native who received her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley, her master’s degree from the Harvard School of Public Health, and her MD from UCSD. She then returned to the Bay Area to complete both her internal medicine residency and fellowship in infectious diseases at Stanford. Following completion of another fellowship at UCSF’s Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, Phyllis joined the DOM faculty in 2000, based in the SFVAHCS Infectious Disease section.

Phyllis is an outstanding clinical and translational investigator who has received continuous NIH funding since 2005. She has published over 250 original articles, mostly focused on viral infections (specifically HIV, HCV, and recently SARS-CoV-2) and their associated metabolic and immune perturbations and effects on clinical comorbidities. She is recognized nationally and internationally for her expertise in HIV-related metabolic disorders, including fatty liver disease in women and metabolic disorders in patients with HIV/HCV coinfection. Her research program is anchored by the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS)-Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Combined Cohort Study (MWCCS), which integrates two of the largest (encompassing 13 clinical centers) NIH-funded cohorts in the U.S. From 2018 through 2020, she served as co-chair of the MWCCS Executive Committee.

Phyllis has provided extraordinary research mentorship to over 60 students, residents, fellows, and early career faculty. For the past decade, she has been funded by a K24 award from NIAID to support her mentorship of early career investigators in HIV research. She is a recipient of our department’s Floyd Rector Resident Research Mentoring Award. Phyllis has also provided extensive service to her field, serving as a member of multiple NIH guideline panels, NIH study sections, and the USAID COVID-19 Technical Advisory Group. In addition to her myriad academic and professional commitments, Phyllis remains a dedicated clinician, providing superb care as an attending physician in the VA ID clinic, the ID consult service, and the medical wards.

We are grateful to the members of the search committee, chaired by Dr. Josue Zapata, Associate Professor of Medicine and SFVAHCS Associate Chief of Medicine. We also thank Dr. Harry Lampiris, who is retiring in 2023 after 13 years of service as division chief and 30 years as a UCSF faculty member. 

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Phyllis Tien on her new role as division chief. 

Ken McQuaid, MD
Professor and Chief of the Medical Service, SFVAHCS
Vice-Chair, Department of Medicine

Robert M. Wachter, MD
Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine