Leah Karliner, MD, MAS

Dr. Karliner is Professor in Residence in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She is Director of the Center for Aging in Diverse Communities (CADC), an NIA funded Resource Center on Minority Aging Research. She is also Director of the Multiethnic Health Equity Research Center (MERC) in the Division of General Internal Medicine, and a member of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is both a practicing general internist and a health services researcher, with expertise in practice-based and communication research. She completed her training – including her MD degree, a residency in primary care internal medicine, a general internal medicine research fellowship and a Master’s of Advanced Studies in Clinical Research all at UCSF. Dr. Karliner’s scholarly work centers on improving quality of care for limited English speaking patients, and the study of health disparities and communication at critical clinical junctures for older patients such as hospital transitions and breast cancer diagnosis, as well as in chronic care management in primary care. Ultimately, the goal of her research agenda is aimed at achieving health equity through improved communication and clinical outcomes.