Research is one of the three primary missions of the Department of Community Health Systems. Our faculty conducts insightful and novel research in areas related to the Department's specialty programs. Research increases our knowlege about important specific issues, as well as leading to overall advancements in standards of health care. It also provides insights into the adequacy of current heath care services and the viability of new and old treatment protocols.

CHS faculty research focuses on vulnerable populations and communities such as: the homeless and disadvantaged; elderly; persons with psychiatric disorders and issues of trauma and abuse; high-risk infants and children; workers at risk for or living with injury or disability; individuals with choronic diseases such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and HIV infections; incarcerated persons; and ethnic and immigrant minorities.

Areas of faculty research address major community health issues such as:

• The impact of disease or conditions on vulnerable populations (e.g. premature birth on infants and families, chronic illness and disability on health-related quality of life, stigma on access to care),
• Community and patient based intervention (e.g. self-management of chronic illnesses, health promotion in severe mental illness, lifestyle health behaviors and risk reduction, strategies to manage infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and TB, injury prevention, and drug and alcohol abuse), and
• Health care systems analysis and intervention (e.g. patient safety, organization of nursing staff to deliver care, multidisciplinary health care delivery, organization and financial aspects of health care delivery.

We are very fortunate to have access to the wealth of resources available here at UCSF, one of the foremost health science campuses in the country. Resources are available here that are not available at many other universities, including many of the country's finest researchers.

In addition, the School of Nursing is ranked among the top two or three US nursing schools in dollar support and research awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Funds from NIH and other funding sources have allowed our faculty to maintain research programs which improve patient care and provide opportunties for students to participate in important research efforts.