Margot Kushel, MD

Margot Kushel, MD is a Professor of Medicine and Division Chief at the Division of Health Equity and Society at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center and Director of the UCSF Action Research Center for Health Equity (formerly Center for Vulnerable Populations) and UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. Margot's research focuses on reducing the burden of homelessness on health through examining efforts to prevent and end homelessness and mitigating the effects of housing instability on health care outcomes. She uses a variety of research methodologies with an aim towards informing the development of programs and policies to end homelessness via understanding the complex interactions between health and housing. She has a particular interest in homelessness in older adults and homelessness in medically complicated individuals. She is the PI of an NIA funded R01 that developed the HOPE HOME (Health Outcomes in Populations Experiencing Homelessness in Older Middle agE) cohort, an ongoing longitudinal cohort study examining the causes and effects of homelessness on adults aged 50 and over in Oakland, CA and MPI of the Empowering Formerly Homeless Older Adults to Engage in Advance Care Planning in Permanent Supportive Housing (ACP-PSH): An RCT. She is the PI of the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness. Margot is actively engaged in training and mentorship. She is the PI of a K24 award from NIA to mentor junior investigators in aging in historically marginalized populations. Margot works with diverse stakeholders to implement programmatic and policy changes based on her research. She maintains an active clinical practice at ZSFG in primary care internal medicine. Margot gives testimony at local and state levels and frequently speaks to the press about issues surrounding homelessness. Margot is a Board Member of Housing California and the National Homelessness Law Center and the Steinberg Institute and is an appointed member of the California Interagency Task Force on Homelessness.