The Harold S. Luft Award for Mentoring in Health Services and Health Policy Research was established by the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UCSF to recognize UCSF faculty who provide mentoring in the areas of health services and/or health policy research and who demonstrate the mentoring qualities exemplified by Dr. Luft. 

Eligibility

UCSF faculty, at any career stage, with research/teaching interests in health policy and/or health services research may be nominated. Letters of nomination should demonstrate that nominees have made significant or sustained impact on the professional development of individuals they have mentored.

Criteria

1.     Inspire and stimulate mentees to do their best and most creative work.

2.     Expand mentees’ ways of thinking by fostering an appreciation of different points of view.

3.     Develop career opportunities for mentees.

4.     Create communities of learners and maintain life-long contact with mentees.

5.     Serve as a role model in leadership, professionalism, integrity and life balance.

Selection Committee includes representatives from the four UCSF schools.

Award – a plaque is presented to the award recipient at an award celebration, the individual's name appears on a permanent plaque at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, and the individual’s profile is posted on the Institute's website.

This Year's Winner!

We are delighted to announce that Edward Yelin, PhD, has been selected as this year's recipient of the Harold S. Luft Award for Mentoring in Health Services and Health Policy Research. 

Ed is a professor in the UCSF Department of Medicine’s Division of Rheumatology and in the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. For 20 years he has directed the Division’s Arthritis Research Group, now based at Laurel Heights. Ed has received numerous accolades for his health services and health policy work related to chronic disease, especially on employment among persons with arthritis and other chronic illnesses, and his work related to the impact of changes in the health care system on persons with arthritis. 

Not only is Ed a star in his field, but he also is a stellar mentor and role model who is dedicated to the growth and well-being of all who work with him—staff, trainees, and junior and senior faculty. 

Here are a few excerpts from the letters nominating Ed:

“Ed encourages his mentees to pursue their own research path, while challenging them to question their own assumptions underlying that research.”

“His passion for high-quality clinical research is contagious…”

“… no one has been a better mentor for rheumatology trainees and junior faculty than Ed Yelin.”  Through their (Ed and Patti Katz) example, they have taught what it means to really care about the health care that our patients receive and how to conduct research that makes a real difference in the world.”

“He always makes time, regardless of what else he has on his plate.  All—whether staff, fellow, or faculty—know that Ed’s door is always open.”

“… at times, he was my personal cheering squad!"

“Rather than listing the projects he was interested in and working on, he spent an enormous amount of time learning what my interests were. Only in retrospect can I appreciate the generosity that this approach entailed..."  “I can only aspire to be this generous as I mentor my own mentees.”

“… his example has generated a climate of collective mentoring, support, and collaboration in our group that I believe is unique at UCSF.”  “…and his practices will continue, as his mentees in turn become mentors.”
 
“… when efforts to obtain support for trainees and faculty has failed, he has gone into his own reserves to provide it.”

“Ed is uniquely supportive of female mentees, including those with children—from home-delivered meals in the first few weeks post-partum to a conducive work environment.”

Previous Winners

2009: Lisa A. Bero, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Clinical Pharmacy at UCSF

2010:  Michael D. Cabana, MD, MPH, Professor and Director, Division of General Pediatrics at UCSF

2011: Ruth E. Malone, PhD, MS, RN, Professor and Chair, Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences at UCSF

About Hal Luft

Harold (Hal) Luft, PhD, joined the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies and UCSF in 1978.  Before that, he was a faculty member at Stanford University and Associate Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program.  He became Associate Director of the Institute in 1986, Acting Director in 1993, and Director in 1995. Since its inception in 1972, the Institute has been extremely fortunate to have leaders with broad vision, exceptional standards of excellence, and clarity of purpose.  As the Institute's second director, Dr. Luft contributed to and exemplified the Institute’s legacy of leadership and service.

That legacy includes the training and mentoring of future health services and health policy leaders.  Dr. Luft often refers to himself as a 30+ years' postdoc because he has been involved in teaching and mentoring graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and interns for more than 30 years and has also advised junior faculty.  He has been an exemplary teacher, mentor, and role model, and under Dr. Luft's directorship, the Institute, which is an organized research unit, continued and enhanced its leadership role in interdisciplinary training.

Dr. Luft was named Director of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute in July 2008, but he maintains an Emeritus Professor title at UCSF and continues to serve as a mentor.  Indeed, he has built training and research bridges between the two institutes.