UCSF at Dreamforce 2015: Big Data, Health Disparities and More

UC San Francisco is once again joining Salesforce Foundation to present Dreamforce 2015, where researchers, clinicians, educators and others will explore innovations in health care and research. 

Topics include ways to improve diagnosis of pregnancy complications, conduct better scientific research, and find new drugs by mining trillions of data points. 

Members of the campus community and public at large are invited to attend sessions in person, watch keynote talks online or get involved in many other ways at Dreamforce 2015. UCSF’s presence at Dreamforce includes: 

Translating Big Data

Atul Butte, MD, PhD, a world-renowned expert in medical technology and professor of pediatrics in the UCSF School of Medicine, focuses on building and applying computational tools to convert trillions of molecular, clinical and epidemiological data points collected by researchers worldwide, now commonly known as “big data,” into new diagnostics, therapeutics and insights into both rare and common diseases. He will focus his talk on how to make better diagnostics for pregnancy complications, repurpose existing drugs and find new ones to target cancers, and to understand the future of next-gen biotech companies. These efforts are part of the field of precision medicine, in which UCSF plays a leading role.

Eliminating Health Care Disparities

UCSF experts and policy makers are leading efforts to end health disparities. A panel of UCSF faculty and physician experts, led by Talmadge E. King, Jr., MD, new dean of the School of Medicine and vice chancellor for medical affairs, will showcase ways in which UCSF is working on multiple fronts to better understand the causes of health care inequities and to implement promising strategies to eliminate disparities.

Panel members include Esteban G. Burchard, MD, MPH, professor at the School of Pharmacy; Dayna Long, MD, pediatric specialist at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, and Sofia Noori, a third-year medical student in UCSF’s Program in Medical Education for the Urban Under-served. Noori is also seeking her MPH degree in health policy and management at UC Berkeley.

Pioneering A Modern Health System

Kristin Chu, deputy director of Information Services Unit at UCSF, will explain how the Salesforce platform is helping to improve operations across the medical school and hospitals at UCSF Health. In a discussion hosted by Joshua Newman MD, chief medical officer at Salesforce, Chu will describe the ways in which this electronic medical record-integrated platform streamlines operations, improves research and engages staff at UCSF.

Using Salesforce to Research Breast Cancer

Laura Esserman, MD, MBA, a professor of surgery and radiology at UCSF who is nationally recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts in breast cancer research and treatment, will discuss how she uses the Salesforce platform to research breast cancer. Esserman will be featured as part of a keynote talk with Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce. 

Get Involved

UCSF Benefit Concert: The Concert for UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals will be held in conjunction with the Dreamforce Gala. Many artists including the Foo Fighters and Gary Clark Jr. will perform on Sept. 17 at Pier 70 in an effort to help raise $10 million for the children’s hospitals. Over the past few years, the event has successfully raised more than $32 million to support these institutions. To donate, purchase tickets or help sponsor the event, go to www.theconcertforkids.com

Tour the Campus: Register on the Dreamforce Agenda Builder to visit the UCSF Mission Bay campus, biotech capital of the world, and the new UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco, which opened its doors in February 2015. Join the guided tours on September 17 or 18 and get a behind-the-scenes view of this cutting-edge hospital that supports groundbreaking discoveries to improve patient care and create new therapies and hope for children and their families. 

Dabble in the Arts: Help create murals for the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland and brighten the hospital walls with colorful splashes of hope. 

For more campus news and resources, visit Pulse of UCSF.