Sara Ackerman, PhD, MPH, is a coordinator with CTSI’s Implementation Science (Ims) program, which is part of the Institute’s Clinical and Translational Science Training program. [Editor's note: Please contact Clair Dunne, MPA, for the most up-to-date Implementation Science program info.]
Since September, 2010.
What do you do at UCSF and how is it connected to the UCSF mission?
I’m a medical anthropologist who wears two hats at UCSF. I spend a good part of my time conducting research on technology adoption in healthcare settings. I’m particularly interested in the social and cultural effects of technological devices and systems and how they transform our understanding of, and ways of dealing with, disease and illness. The rest of my effort is devoted to UCSF’s Implementation Science Program, where I provide administrative support, distribute news and information about implementation science to the UCSF community, serve as a guest lecturer for clinical research training courses, and collaborate with the program’s directors in developing new training programs.
What are the most challenging and rewarding parts of your job?
Collaborating with colleagues from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds is truly fulfilling to me, in part because I enjoy the puzzle and reward of cross-cultural engagement. It’s not easy to juggle many different tasks and responsibilities while always facing another grant application or publication deadline, but this is a challenge that most UCSF employees are all too familiar with! One part of my job that I find a bit daunting is answering a question I’m asked frequently: “What exactly is implementation science?” In case you’re wondering, it’s an exciting new field that draws on public health and a host of other disciplines to determine how to better apply and adapt research findings to improve health and health care delivery in a wide range of clinical and community settings.
What do you like most about working at CTSI?
Without a doubt, the people!
If you chose another career path outside UCSF what would it be?
I can imagine myself as a professor at a small liberal arts college, probably somewhere like Mills College.
What's something that members of the UCSF community would be surprised to know about you?
That I know how to make books. And I don’t mean write books, but how to design and assemble them, including papermaking, printing on an old-fashioned cylinder press, and bookbinding. You may think that bookmaking is a dying art, but there’s a thriving book arts community in the Bay Area and beyond!
What are your favorite things to do with your free time?
I’m a city girl who also loves hiking and backpacking. My favorite wilderness area is California’s Sierra Nevada, but I’ve hiked in many other beautiful places, including a three-week trek around the Annapurna mountain range in Nepal. Wow!