Our Vulnerable Populations Aging Research Core (VARC) resource collections and program offerings are all curated and designed by our team of leading experts in the field of aging research.
Our VARC experts support investigators who are conducting research by teaching the skills and knowledge needed to enroll and retain older subjects for a range of study designs, particularly those with medical or social vulnerability. Our experts have also pushed the envelope on advancing methods research by conducting original investigations statistical methods that have special relevance to aging research. Finally, our experts host VARC Office Hours where investigators may sign up to receive guidance pertaining to primary data collection for vulnerable and aging populations and to resources such as sampling design, recruitment, and retention. Please reach out to our experts directly to schedule a consultation.
VARC Experts
Rebecca Sudore, MD
VARC Co-Director
Expertise: Implementation science, community-engaged research, community advisory boards, intervention development, randomized trials, health and digital literacy, recruitment and retention of medically and socially vulnerable older adults, health communication, patient empowerment, medical decision making, and advance care planning.
Liaison to the UCSF CTSI Research Action Group for Equity.
View Rebecca's UCSF Profile
Krista Harrison, PhD
VARC Co-Director
Expertise: Qualitative research methods (interviews, focus groups) in populations impacted by dementia, serious illness, and/or homeboundedness, public health ethics and policy analysis, implementation science, program evaluation.
Liaison to Medical Cultures Lab, IHPS
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Theresa Allison, MD, PhD
Expertise: Ethnography and mixed methods among people with dementia, participatory research and performance analysis, research in home- and facility-based settings, consent in populations with cognitive impairment, IRBs, program building & program evaluation
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Sarah Garrett, PhD
Expertise: Sociology, community-based participatory research, community advisory boards, qualitative research (semi-structured interviews, focus groups); primary data collection with people with dementia or cancer, providers, care partners, visualizing qualitative data, managing large qualitative datasets and teams, health equity.
Liaison to Medical Cultures Lab, IHPS
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Elizabeth Dzeng, PhD, MD, MPH
Expertise: Medical sociology, medical ethics, qualitative research, community-based participatory research, human-centered design, institutional cultures and policies, end-of-life care, serious illness care, international comparisons (particularly US/UK comparisons), structural racism, equity, neoliberalism/financialization.
Liaison: Division of Hospital Medicine, IHPS, MCL
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