Research Summary

Dr. Rena Fox is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine since 2001. Dr. Fox was an undergraduate at Stanford, got her MD at UC San Diego and did her internal medicine residency at University of Washington. She was a general medicine clinician-educator fellow at UCSF with an interest in hepatitis C virus (HCV) during which time she was trained by UCSF hepatologists. Since then, her research has focused on improving the care of patients with liver disease. She studied the prevalence of HCV in the California prisons and was awarded the Jan Albrecht Award from AASLD. Her work includes studying electronic medical record strategies for improved HCV screening in primary care, cost-efficacy of DAA treatments, outcomes of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and algorithms for primary care providers to detect and risk stratify patients with NAFLD and advanced fibrosis. She worked with the VA for over a decade on creating HCV educational tools, national policies, and curriculum as medical editor for the VA Viral Hepatitis Website. As part of the CDC and DHHS Hepatitis Action Plan, she served as an editor for Hepatitis C Online, a curriculum for HCV education. She was a co-author and panel member of the clinical practice guidelines for the VA regarding the use of DAAs from 2013-2021. Dr. Fox is currently a voting panel member and the Chair of California Technology Assessment Forum (CTAF), a partner of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER). CTAF is an independent panel of medical experts who works with ICER to evaluate the clinical and economic value of new drugs, across all fields. She also proves telemedicine consultation on HCV management for providers in underserved and rural areas for the UCSF Hepatitis C ECHO clinic. Dr. Fox is currently Chair of the SFCAN Liver Cancer Task Force, through the Cancer Center, bringing together multiple entities working to reduce the incidence and mortality of HCC and she is on the Executive Advisory Board for End Hep C SF. Examples of her university service include the UCSF and System-wide Committee on Committees (Chair, UCSF), the SOM Faculty Council, the DOM Promotions Subcommittee and the UC Primary Care Residency Selection committee. She chaired two UCSF Task Forces regarding the affiliations between UCSF and faith-based hospitals. She served as the Senate representative on the UCSF Health Leadership Council from 2018-2024 and served a 3 year term as the UCSF representative for the UCOP Joint Clinical Advisory Committee on Covered Affiliations (2022-2025). Since 2024, she has been the Associate Medical Director of the Stayan Street Clinic (formerly St. Mary's) as they joined the UCSF Health Network. In clinical practice, she maintains a busy and large primary care panel in General Medicine Practice at the Mt. Zion campus and for 19 years she was also the sole generalist practicing in the UCSF Viral Hepatitis Clinic. As an educator, she works with medical students and internal medicine residents and lectures nationally on liver disease, especially for primary care audiences.

Research Funding

  • January 1, 2024 - June 30, 2028 - UCSF Hepatitis C Cure Initiative , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: UCSF Office of Population Health, Sponsor Award ID:
  • July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026 - MASH Care Pathways , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Petauri Kinect, Inc., Sponsor Award ID: NASH-002-24
  • January 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026 - UCSF LISTEN Study: Prospective, retrospective, and qualitative study of gender differences in hepatitis C virus. , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Gilead Sciences, Inc., Sponsor Award ID: IN-US-987-7490
  • July 1, 2020 - December 31, 2022 - Implementation of an Electronic Medical Record Algorithm to Identify and Refer Patients at High Risk of NASH from Primary Care , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Gilead Sciences, Inc., Sponsor Award ID: IN-US-989-5737
  • July 1, 2019 - - SF CAN Liver Cancer Task Force , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: SF CAN - The San Francisco Cancer Initiative, Sponsor Award ID:

Education

2018 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
Clinician-Educator Fellowship, 2001 - General Internal Medicine, UCSF
Internship and Residency, 2000 - Internal Medicine, University of Washington
M.D., 1997 - School of Medicine, University of California San Diego
Post-Baccalaureate, 1992 - , Bryn Mawr College
B.A., 1991 - Human Biology, Stanford University

Honors & Awards

  • UCSF Master Clinician, UCSF Department of Medicine, 2024
  • UCSF Health Team PRIDE Award Winner for UCSF HCV Project ECHO, UCSF, 2019
  • Excellence in Teaching Award, The Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators, UCSF Academy of Medical Educators, 2013
  • Robert H. Crede Award for Clinical Care, UCSF Division of General Internal Medicine, 2010
  • Top 10% Research Poster, EASL (European Association for the Study of the Liver), 2008
  • The Jan Albrecht Commitment to Clinical Research in Liver Diseases Award, AASLD, 2003
  • Outstanding Resident of the Year, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, 2000

Selected Publications

  1. Schonfeld E, Kierans AS, Fox R, Brandman D Using Incidental Radiologic Findings of Hepatic Steatosis to Improve the Diagnosis of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease.  View on PubMed
  2. Choi HH, Kim S, Shum DJ, Huang CY, Shui A, Fox RK, Khalili M. Assessing Adherence to US LI-RADS Follow-up Recommendations in Vulnerable Patients Undergoing Hepatocellular Carcinoma Surveillance. Radiol Imaging Cancer. 2024 01; 6(1):e230118.  View on PubMed
  3. Chu JN, Goldman ML, Brandman D, Sohn JH, Islam K, Ross LA, Fox RK Underrecognition and Suboptimal Quality of Care for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Cirrhosis in Primary Care Patients with Diabetes Mellitus.  View on PubMed
  4. Fox RK, Chu JN, Goldman ML, Islam KB, Brandman D Prospective study of a case-finding algorithm to detect NAFLD with advanced fibrosis in primary care patients.  View on PubMed
  5. Islam KB, Brandman D, Chu JN, Goldman ML, Fox RK Primary Care Providers and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Needs Assessment Survey.  View on PubMed
  6. Hiatt RA, Sibley A, Venkatesh B, Cheng J, Dixit N, Fox R, Ling P, Nguyen T, Oh D, Palmer NR, Pasick RJ, Potter MB, Somsouk M, Vargas RA, Vijayaraghavan M, Ashworth A. From Cancer Epidemiology to Policy and Practice: the Role of a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Curr Epidemiol Rep. 2022; 9(1):10-21.  View on PubMed
  7. Mukhtar NA, Fox RK Hepatitis C Virus Cure and Obesity: Watch the Weight.  View on PubMed
  8. Zavala VA, Bracci PM, Carethers JM, Carvajal-Carmona L, Coggins NB, Cruz-Correa MR, Davis M, de Smith AJ, Dutil J, Figueiredo JC, Fox R, Graves KD, Gomez SL, Llera A, Neuhausen SL, Newman L, Nguyen T, Palmer JR, Palmer NR, Pérez-Stable EJ, Piawah S, Rodriquez EJ, Sanabria-Salas MC, Schmit SL, Serrano-Gomez SJ, Stern MC, Weitzel J, Yang JJ, Zabaleta J, Ziv E, Fejerman L. Cancer health disparities in racial/ethnic minorities in the United States. Br J Cancer. 2021 01; 124(2):315-332.  View on PubMed
  9. Coffin PO, Santos GM, Behar E, Hern J, Walker J, Matheson T, Kinnard EN, Silvis J, Vittinghoff E, Fox R, Page K Randomized feasibility trial of directly observed versus unobserved hepatitis C treatment with ledipasvir-sofosbuvir among people who inject drugs.  View on PubMed
  10. Fox RK, Taddei TH, Kaplan DE Aspirin Use and Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Hepatitis B.  View on PubMed
  11. Kaplan DE, Chapko MK, Mehta R, Dai F, Skanderson M, Aytaman A, Baytarian M, D'Addeo K, Fox R, Hunt K, Pocha C, Valderrama A, Taddei TH, VOCAL Study Group Healthcare Costs Related to Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Among Veterans With Cirrhosis in the United States.  View on PubMed
  12. Serper M, Taddei TH, Mehta R, D'Addeo K, Dai F, Aytaman A, Baytarian M, Fox R, Hunt K, Goldberg DS, Valderrama A, Kaplan DE, VOCAL Study Group Association of Provider Specialty and Multidisciplinary Care With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Mortality.  View on PubMed
  13. Fox R Going Viral: Why Eliminating the Burden of Hepatitis C Requires Enhanced Cooperation Between Specialists and Primary Care Providers.  View on PubMed
  14. Goldberg DS, Taddei TH, Serper M, Mehta R, Dieperink E, Aytaman A, Baytarian M, Fox R, Hunt K, Pedrosa M, Pocha C, Valderrama A, Kaplan DE Identifying barriers to hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance in a national sample of patients with cirrhosis.  View on PubMed
  15. Kaplan DE, Dai F, Skanderson M, Aytaman A, Baytarian M, D'Addeo K, Fox R, Hunt K, Knott A, Mehta R, Pedrosa M, Pocha C, Valderrama A, Taddei T, VOCAL Study Group Recalibrating the Child-Turcotte-Pugh Score to Improve Prediction of Transplant-Free Survival in Patients with Cirrhosis.  View on PubMed
  16. Fox RK, Muniraj T Pharmacologic Therapies in Gastrointestinal Diseases.  View on PubMed
  17. Chahal HS, Marseille EA, Tice JA, Pearson SD, Ollendorf DA, Fox RK, Kahn JG. Cost-effectiveness of Early Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1 by Stage of Liver Fibrosis in a US Treatment-Naive Population. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Jan; 176(1):65-73.  View on PubMed
  18. Kaplan DE, Dai F, Aytaman A, Baytarian M, Fox R, Hunt K, Knott A, Pedrosa M, Pocha C, Mehta R, Duggal M, Skanderson M, Valderrama A, Taddei TH, VOCAL Study Group Development and Performance of an Algorithm to Estimate the Child-Turcotte-Pugh Score From a National Electronic Healthcare Database.  View on PubMed
  19. Fox RK Toward the Effective Co-management of Patients with Cirrhosis by Primary Care Providers and Specialists.  View on PubMed
  20. Belperio PS, Fox RK, Backus LI The State of Hepatitis C Care in the VA.  View on PubMed

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