Sara Ackerman, PhD, MPH

ASSOC ADJ PROF-HCOMP
Social Behavioral Sciences
[email protected]
+1 415 502-1760

Sara Ackerman, PhD, MPH, is a medical anthropologist, Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Director of Bioethics and Regulatory Support at UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Dr. Ackerman conducts empirical ethics research using qualitative
methods and public engagement to advance our understanding of how genomics, artificial intelligence and other emerging medical technologies shape the lived experience of patients, caregivers and communities.

Publications: 

The Combined and Comparative Impacts of Financial Incentives Versus Practice Facilitation Implementation Support for Social Risk Screening in Community Health Centers.

Health services research

Hessler D, Marino M, Kaufmann J, Gold R, King A, Wing H, Donovan J, Pisciotta M, Ackerman S, Goldberg B, Gottlieb LM

Genomic sequencing in diverse and underserved pediatric populations: parent perspectives on understanding, uncertainty, psychosocial impact, and personal utility of results.

Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics

Biesecker BB, Ackerman SL, Brothers KB, East KM, Katherine M Foreman A, Hindorff LA, Horowitz CR, Jarvik GP, Knight SJ, Leo MC, Patrick DL, Rini C, Robinson JO, Sahin-Hodoglugil NN, Slavotinek A, Suckiel SA, Veenstra DL, Zinberg RE, Hunter JE

Patient understanding of prenatal exome sequencing.

American journal of obstetrics & gynecology MFM

Swanson K, Norton ME, Ackerman SL, Lianoglou BR, Sahin-Hodoglugil NN, Sparks TN

Provision of digital devices and internet connectivity to improve synchronous telemedicine access in the U.S.: a systematic scoping review.

Frontiers in Digital Health

Bell J, Gottlieb LM, Lyles CR, Nguyen OK, Ackerman SL, De Marchis EH

Experts' Views on Children's Access to Community-Based Therapeutic and Education Services After Genomic Sequencing Results.

Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP

Outram SM, Brown JEH, Norstad M, Zamora AN, Ackerman SL

Genetic ancestry and diagnostic yield of exome sequencing in a diverse population.

NPJ genomic medicine

Mavura Y, Sahin-Hodoglugil N, Hodoglugil U, Kvale M, Martin PM, Van Ziffle J, Devine WP, Ackerman SL, Koenig BA, Kwok PY, Norton ME, Slavotinek A, Risch N

Using visual storytelling to share aggregate findings with families participating in clinical genomics research.

Genetics in Medicine Open

Astrid N. Zamora, Julia E.H. Brown, Simon Outram, Sara L. Ackerman

Caregivers' and providers' perspectives of social and medical care after pediatric liver transplant: Results from the multi-center SOCIAL-Tx study.

Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society

Wadhwani SI, Alvarado A, Shifman HP, Bautista B, Yalung J, Squires JE, Campbell K, Ebel NH, Hsu E, Vittorio J, Zielsdorf S, Desai DM, Bucuvalas JC, Gottlieb L, Kotagal U, Lyles CR, Ackerman SL, Lai JC

Patient Perspectives on Social Risk Screening and Documentation in a Dermatology Clinic.

JAMA dermatology

Wilkerson K, De Marchis E, Rudd N, Williams JC, Pantell M, Ackerman SL, Amerson EH, Chang AY

Author Correction: Diagnostic yield of pediatric and prenatal exome sequencing in a diverse population.

NPJ genomic medicine

Slavotinek A, Rego S, Sahin-Hodoglugil N, Kvale M, Lianoglou B, Yip T, Hoban H, Outram S, Anguiano B, Chen F, Michelson J, Cilio RM, Curry C, Gallagher RC, Gardner M, Kuperman R, Mendelsohn B, Sherr E, Shieh J, Strober J, Tam A, Tenney J, Weiss W, Whittle A, Chin G, Faubel A, Prasad H, Mavura Y, Van Ziffle J, Devine WP, Hodoglugil U, Martin PM, Sparks TN, Koenig B, Ackerman S, Risch N, Kwok PY, Norton ME

Access to prenatal exome sequencing for fetal malformations: A qualitative landscape analysis in the US.

Prenatal diagnosis

Sahin-Hodoglugil NN, Lianoglou BR, Ackerman S, Sparks TN, Norton ME

Community Health Center Staff Perspectives on Financial Payments for Social Care.

The Milbank quarterly

Lopez JM, Wing H, Ackerman SL, Hessler D, Gottlieb LM

“We were trying to do quality versus quantity”: Challenges and opportunities at the intersection of standardized and personalized social care in community health centers.

SSM - Qualitative Research in Health

Sara L. Ackerman, Holly Wing, Benjamín Aceves, Maura Pisciotta, Danielle Hessler, Laura M. Gottlieb

Diagnostic yield of pediatric and prenatal exome sequencing in a diverse population.

NPJ genomic medicine

Slavotinek A, Rego S, Sahin-Hodoglugil N, Kvale M, Lianoglou B, Yip T, Hoban H, Outram S, Anguiano B, Chen F, Michelson J, Cilio RM, Curry C, Gallagher RC, Gardner M, Kuperman R, Mendelsohn B, Sherr E, Shieh J, Strober J, Tam A, Tenney J, Weiss W, Whittle A, Chin G, Faubel A, Prasad H, Mavura Y, Van Ziffle J, Devine WP, Hodoglugil U, Martin PM, Sparks TN, Koenig B, Ackerman S, Risch N, Kwok PY, Norton ME

Diagnostic Yield of Exome Sequencing in a Diverse Pediatric and Prenatal Population is not Associated with Genetic Ancestry.

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences

Mavura Y, Sahin-Hodoglugil N, Hodoglugil U, Kvale M, Martin PM, Van Ziffle J, Devine WP, Ackerman SL, Koenig BA, Kwok PY, Norton ME, Slavotinek A, Risch N

O40: Clinical utility of prenatal exome sequencing in a diverse cohort*.

Mary Norton, Billie Lianoglou, Matthew Shear, Sara Ackerman, Nuriye Sahin-Holodlugil, Mark Kvale, Jessica Van Ziffle, W. Patrick Devine, Ugur Hodoglugil, Pierre-Marie Martin, Barbara Koenig, Neil Risch, Pui-Yan Kwok, Anne Slavotinek, Teresa Sparks

O41: Genes associated with disease in fetuses compared to children: Exome sequencing in a large pediatric and prenatal cohort.

Teresa Sparks, Billie Lianoglou, Nuriye Sahin-Holodlugil, Mark Kvale, Jessica Van Ziffle, W. Patrick Devine, Ugur Hodoglugil, Pierre-Marie Martin, Barbara Koenig, Pui-Yan Kwok, Sara Ackerman, Anne Slavotinek, Neil Risch, Mary Norton

Patient perspectives on the utility and impact of prenatal exome sequencing.

American journal of obstetrics and gynecology

Kate Swanson, Nuriye Sahin-Hodoglugil, Teresa N. Sparks, Sara Ackerman, Billie R. Lianoglou, Sarah L. Downum, Mary E. Norton

The social value of genomic sequencing for disadvantaged families facing rare disease.

Social science & medicine (1982)

Outram SM, Brown J, Ackerman SL

Pediatric Primary Care Perspectives of Mental Health Services Delivery during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Children (Basel, Switzerland)

Lee CM, Lutz J, Khau A, Lin B, Phillip N, Ackerman S, Steinbuchel P, Mangurian C

Parental Hopes and Understandings of the Value of Prenatal Diagnostic Genomic Sequencing: A Qualitative Analysis.

Frontiers in genetics

Outram SM, Brown JEH, Zamora AN, Sahin-Hodoglugil N, Ackerman SL

"Let's Just Wait Until She's Born": Temporal Factors That Shape Decision-Making for Prenatal Genomic Sequencing Amongst Families Underrepresented in Genomic Research.

Frontiers in genetics

Brown JEH, Zamora AN, Outram S, Sparks TN, Lianoglou BR, Norstad M, Sahin Hodoglugil NN, Norton ME, Ackerman SL

Perspectives and preferences regarding genomic secondary findings in underrepresented prenatal and pediatric populations: A mixed-methods approach.

Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics

Rego S, Hoban H, Outram S, Zamora AN, Chen F, Sahin-Hodoglugil N, Anguiano B, Norstad M, Yip T, Lianoglou B, Sparks TN, Norton ME, Koenig BA, Slavotinek AM, Ackerman SL

Differences in Hospitals' Workplace Violence Incident Reporting Practices: A Mixed Methods Study.

Policy, politics & nursing practice

Odes R, Chapman S, Ackerman S, Harrison R, Hong O

Readiness to implement on-site molecular testing for tuberculosis in community health centers in Uganda.

Implementation science communications

Nalugwa T, Handley M, Shete P, Ojok C, Nantale M, Reza T, Katamba A, Cattamanchi A, Ackerman S

Multicomponent Strategy with Decentralized Molecular Testing for Tuberculosis.

The New England journal of medicine

Cattamanchi A, Reza TF, Nalugwa T, Adams K, Nantale M, Oyuku D, Nabwire S, Babirye D, Turyahabwe S, Tucker A, Sohn H, Ferguson O, Thompson R, Shete PB, Handley MA, Ackerman S, Joloba M, Moore DAJ, Davis JL, Dowdy DW, Fielding K, Katamba A

Improving Patient Safety in Public Hospitals: Developing Standard Measures to Track Medical Errors and Process Breakdowns.

Journal of patient safety

Ackerman SL, Gourley G, Le G, Williams P, Yazdany J, Sarkar U

The difficulties of broad data sharing in genomic medicine: Empirical evidence from diverse participants in prenatal and pediatric clinical genomics research.

Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics

Norstad M, Outram S, Brown JEH, Zamora AN, Koenig BA, Risch N, Norton ME, Slavotinek A, Ackerman SL

Conceptualization of utility in translational clinical genomics research.

American journal of human genetics

Smith HS, Brothers KB, Knight SJ, Ackerman SL, Rini C, Veenstra DL, McGuire AL, Wilfond BS, Malek J

Perceived Utility of Genomic Sequencing: Qualitative Analysis and Synthesis of a Conceptual Model to Inform Patient-Centered Instrument Development.

The patient

Smith HS, Morain SR, Robinson JO, Canfield I, Malek J, Rubanovich CK, Bloss CS, Ackerman SL, Biesecker B, Brothers KB, Goytia CN, Horowitz CR, Knight SJ, Koenig B, Kraft SA, Outram S, Rini C, Shipman KJ, Waltz M, Wilfond B, McGuire AL

Examining access to care in clinical genomic research and medicine: Experiences from the CSER Consortium.

Journal of clinical and translational science

Gutierrez AM, Robinson JO, Outram SM, Smith HS, Kraft SA, Donohue KE, Biesecker BB, Brothers KB, Chen F, Hailu B, Hindorff LA, Hoban H, Hsu RL, Knight SJ, Koenig BA, Lewis KL, Lich KH, O'Daniel JM, Okuyama S, Tomlinson GE, Waltz M, Wilfond BS, Ackerman SL, Majumder MA

Laboratory business models and practices: implications for availability and access to germline genetic testing.

Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics

Scheuner MT, Douglas MP, Sales P, Ackerman SL, Phillips KA

OP511 Financing of germline testing: implications for availability and access.

Molecular Genetics and Metabolism

Grace Lin, Maren Scheuner, Julia Trosman, Paloma Sales, Sara Ackerman, Michael Douglas, Christine Weldon, Allison Kurian, Kathryn Phillips

Design and execution of a public randomization ceremony to enhance stakeholder engagement within a cluster randomized trial to improve tuberculosis diagnosis in Uganda.

Contemporary clinical trials communications

Reza TF, Nalugwa T, Nantale M, Adams K, Fielding K, Nakaweesa A, Oyuku D, Nabwire S, Musinguzi J, Ojok C, Babirye D, Ackerman SL, Handley MA, Kityamuwesi A, Dowdy DW, Moore DAJ, Davis JL, Turyahabwe S, Katamba A, Cattamanchi A

Frequency of violence towards healthcare workers in the United States' inpatient psychiatric hospitals: A systematic review of literature.

International journal of mental health nursing

Odes R, Chapman S, Harrison R, Ackerman S, Hong O

Lessons learned about harmonizing survey measures for the CSER consortium.

Journal of clinical and translational science

Goddard KAB, Angelo FAN, Ackerman SL, Berg JS, Biesecker BB, Danila MI, East KM, Hindorff LA, Horowitz CR, Hunter JE, Joseph G, Knight SJ, McGuire A, Muessig KR, Ou J, Outram S, Rahn EJ, Ramos MA, Rini C, Robinson JO, Smith HS, Waltz M, Lee SS

Study protocol: a cluster randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of onsite GeneXpert testing at community health centers in Uganda (XPEL-TB).

Implementation science : IS

Reza TF, Nalugwa T, Farr K, Nantale M, Oyuku D, Nakaweesa A, Musinguzi J, Vangala M, Shete PB, Tucker A, Ferguson O, Fielding K, Sohn H, Dowdy D, Moore DAJ, Davis JL, Ackerman SL, Handley MA, Katamba A, Cattamanchi A

The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Training Program in Implementation Science: Program Experiences and Outcomes.

Frontiers in public health

Shete PB, Gonzales R, Ackerman S, Cattamanchi A, Handley MA

Patients Assess an eConsult Model's Acceptability at 5 US Academic Medical Centers.

Annals of family medicine

Ackerman SL, Dowdell K, Clebak KT, Quinn M, Shipman SA

Redesigning primary care in the safety net: A qualitative analysis of team-based care implementation.

Healthcare (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Lyson HC, Ackerman S, Lyles C, Schillinger D, Williams P, Gourley G, Gupta R, Handley M, Sarkar U

Transitioning Patients From Specialty Care to Primary Care: What We Know and What We Can Do.

The Journal of ambulatory care management

Ackerman SL, Gleason N

Innovative Implementation Studies Conducted in US Safety Net Health Care Settings: A Systematic Review.

American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality

Lyles CR, Handley MA, Ackerman SL, Schillinger D, Williams P, Westbrook M, Gourley G, Sarkar U

Evaluation of a Brief Dermatologist-Delivered Intervention vs Usual Care on Sun Protection Behavior.

JAMA dermatology

Mallett KA, Turrisi R, Billingsley E, Trager B, Ackerman S, Reavy R, Robinson JK

Safety-net institutions in the US grapple with new cholesterol treatment guidelines: a qualitative analysis from the PHoENIX Network.

Risk management and healthcare policy

Fontil V, Lyles CR, Schillinger D, Handley MA, Ackerman S, Gourley G, Bibbins-Domingo K, Sarkar U

eConsult-Transforming Primary Care or Exacerbating Clinician Burnout?

JAMA internal medicine

Gleason N, Ackerman S, Shipman SA

Meaningful use in the safety net: a rapid ethnography of patient portal implementation at five community health centers in California.

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA

Ackerman SL, Sarkar U, Tieu L, Handley MA, Schillinger D, Hahn K, Hoskote M, Gourley G, Lyles C

The Ethics of Translational Science: Imagining Public Benefit in Gene-Environment Interaction Research

Engaging Science, Technology, and Society

Sara L. Ackerman, Katherine Weatherford Darling, Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, Robert A. Hiatt, Janet K. Shim

The Ethics of Translational Science: Imagining Public Benefit in Gene-Environment Interaction Research.

Engaging Science, Technology, and Society

Ackerman SL, Darling KW, Lee SS, Hiatt RA, Shim JK

Implementation Science Workshop: Barriers and Facilitators to Increasing Mammography Screening Rates in California's Public Hospitals.

Journal of general internal medicine

Clarity C, Gourley G, Lyles C, Ackerman S, Handley MA, Schillinger D, Sarkar U, Conigliaro J

Performance Measurement and Target-Setting in California's Safety Net Health Systems.

American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality

Hemmat S, Schillinger D, Lyles C, Ackerman S, Gourley G, Vittinghoff E, Handley M, Sarkar U

Identifying barriers to and facilitators of tuberculosis contact investigation in Kampala, Uganda: a behavioral approach.

Implementation science : IS

Ayakaka I, Ackerman S, Ggita JM, Kajubi P, Dowdy D, Haberer JE, Fair E, Hopewell P, Handley MA, Cattamanchi A, Katamba A, Davis JL

Understanding Medicaid Managed Care Investments in Members' Social Determinants of Health.

Population health management

Gottlieb L, Ackerman S, Wing H, Manchanda R

States' Influences on Medicaid Investments to Address Patients' Social Needs.

American journal of preventive medicine

Gottlieb LM, Quiñones-Rivera A, Manchanda R, Wing H, Ackerman S

Adoption and impact of an eConsult system in a fee-for-service setting.

Healthcare (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Gleason N, Prasad PA, Ackerman S, Ho C, Monacelli J, Wang M, Collado D, Gonzales R

Accounting for complexity: Gene-environment interaction research and the politics of quantification

Science, Technology, & Human Values

Ackerman SL, Darling KW, Lee SS, Hiatt RA, Shim JK.

Qualitative analysis of programmatic initiatives to text patients with mobile devices in resource-limited health systems.

BMC medical informatics and decision making

Garg SK, Lyles CR, Ackerman S, Handley MA, Schillinger D, Gourley G, Aulakh V, Sarkar U

The Action Research Program: Experiential Learning in Systems-Based Practice for First-Year Medical Students.

Teaching and learning in medicine

Ackerman SL, Boscardin C, Karliner L, Handley MA, Cheng S, Gaither TW, Hagey J, Hennein L, Malik F, Shaw B, Trinidad N, Zahner G, Gonzales R

Coordinated performance measurement and improvement efforts in California's safety net systems: early experience and lessons.

Implementation Science

Urmimala Sarkar, David Lown, Sara Ackerman, Courtney Lyles, Gato Gourley, Dean Schillinger, Margaret A Handley

Accounting for Complexity: Gene-environment Interaction Research and the Moral Economy of Quantification.

Science, technology & human values

Ackerman SL, Darling KW, Lee SS, Hiatt RA, Shim JK

Rates of sunburn among dermatology patients.

JAMA dermatology

Mallett KA, Ackerman S, Turrisi R, Robinson JK

Health worker perspectives on barriers to delivery of routine tuberculosis diagnostic evaluation services in Uganda: a qualitative study to guide clinic-based interventions.

BMC health services research

Cattamanchi A, Miller CR, Tapley A, Haguma P, Ochom E, Ackerman S, Davis JL, Katamba A, Handley MA

Using Rapid Ethnography to Support the Design and Implementation of Health Information Technologies.

Studies in health technology and informatics

Ackerman S, Gleason N, Gonzales R

Race and ancestry in the age of inclusion: technique and meaning in post-genomic science.

Journal of health and social behavior

Shim JK, Ackerman SL, Darling KW, Hiatt RA, Lee SS

Homogeneity and heterogeneity as situational properties: producing--and moving beyond?--race in post-genomic science.

Social Studies of Science

Shim JK, Darling KW, Lappe MD, Thomson LK, Lee SS, Hiatt RA, Ackerman SL

When to repatriate? Clinicians' perspectives on the transfer of patient management from specialty to primary care.

Journal of general internal medicine

Ackerman SL, Gleason N, Monacelli J, Collado D, Wang M, Ho C, Catschegn-Pfab S, Gonzales R

Patient attitudes about specialty follow-up care by telephone.

The American journal of managed care

Eng JA, Hunter CJ, Handley MA, Boscardin CK, Gonzales R, Ackerman SL

One size does not fit all: evaluating an intervention to reduce antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis.

BMC health services research

Ackerman SL, Gonzales R, Stahl MS, Metlay JP

Cultural capital: accounting for power in patient-physician interactions.

JAMA internal medicine

Ackerman S, Auer R, Gonzales R

Benefit or burden? A sociotechnical analysis of diagnostic computer kiosks in four California hospital emergency departments.

Social science & medicine (1982)

Ackerman SL, Tebb K, Stein JC, Frazee BW, Hendey GW, Schmidt LA, Gonzales R

The context of antibiotic overuse.

Annals of internal medicine

Ackerman S, Gonzales R

A framework for training health professionals in implementation and dissemination science.

Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges

Gonzales R, Handley MA, Ackerman S, O'sullivan PS

California HealthCare Foundation Case Study

The Kiosk Will See You Now: Lessons from an ED Experiment

Ackerman, S.
Gonzales, R.

Massage for children undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation: a qualitative report.

Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM

Ackerman SL, Lown EA, Dvorak CC, Dunn EA, Abrams DI, Horn BN, Degelman M, Cowan MJ, Mehling WE

Evidence-Based Practice Manual (Yeager K, Roberts AR, eds)

Establishing collaborations that engender trust in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases

Thomas JC, Eng E, Ackerman S, Earp JA, Ellis H, Carpenter C.