Himali Weerahandi

Himali Weerahandi, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. As a clinician-investigator, her work focuses on improving transitions of care, particularly for older adults moving from skilled nursing facilities to home after hospitalization. She leads NIH-funded research on systems-level interventions to reduce readmissions and enhance care quality.

• BA in Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University (2004)
• MD, Temple University School of Medicine (2009)
• Residency in Internal Medicine/Primary Care, New York University Medical Center (2012)
• Residency and MPH in Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (2014)
• Fellowship in General Internal Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (2016)

Dr. Weerahandi’s research centers on transitions of care, post-acute care, skilled nursing facilities, healthcare equity, and the impact of systemic factors on patient outcomes. Her work integrates clinical insights with health services research to address gaps in care coordination, particularly for vulnerable older adults. She has extensively studied discharge practices, readmission risks, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on long-term care settings. A growing theme in her scholarship is anti-racism in medicine, including how structural inequities affect maternal and post-hospital outcomes.

Her recent publications span topics such as equity in hospital readmission metrics, long-term sequelae of COVID-19 in nursing homes, electronic health record tools for diabetes management, and the emotional toll of microaggressions in academic medicine. These works reflect a strong commitment to translational research, health equity, and patient-centered care models.

Her scientific awards include the National Institutes of Health/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute K23 Career Development Award, supporting her investigation into transitions from skilled nursing facilities to home after heart failure hospitalization.

Dr. Weerahandi has collaborated with multidisciplinary teams across institutions and has contributed to policy discussions through her research. She is actively involved in advancing best practices in hospital medicine and post-acute care delivery. Her work has been featured in major journals and public discourse, highlighting its relevance to both clinical practice and healthcare policy.