Rebecca Sudore

Dr. Rebecca Sudore is a distinguished Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she serves as an ARC Core Faculty member. She is a geriatrician and palliative medicine physician who directs the Innovation and Implementation Center in Aging & Palliative Care (I-CAP) and the Vulnerable Populations Aging Research Core of the NIA-funded Pepper Center. Recognized for her exceptional contributions to healthcare, she received the prestigious 2025 UCSF Founders Day Award for her exemplary service to the university and community.

Dr. Sudore's educational journey at UCSF includes:

• M.D. from the UCSF School of Medicine (1999)
• Residency at the UCSF School of Medicine (2002)
• Geriatrics Clinical Fellowship at the UCSF School of Medicine (2003)
• Advance Training in Clinical Research at the UCSF School of Medicine (2004)
• Certificate in Implementation Science from CTSI, UCSF (2013)

Dr. Sudore's research program focuses on improving advance care planning (ACP) and medical decision making for culturally and ethnically diverse older adults. Her work addresses critical healthcare disparities by designing patient-centered tools including an easy-to-read advance directive available in multiple languages and the interactive PREPARE for Your Care website (www.PREPAREforYourCare.org). She has published groundbreaking research demonstrating how limited literacy affects mortality in elderly patients and has developed interventions to improve informed consent processes for patients with literacy challenges. Her work has called for a shift in ACP from DNR/DNI checklists to preparing patients and their loved ones for medical decision making.

Her recent scholarly output demonstrates a consistent focus on improving communication, decision-making, and care planning for vulnerable populations. Dr. Sudore's research spans multiple domains including geriatrics, palliative care, health literacy, and health equity, with particular attention to racial, ethnic, and language disparities in healthcare. Her work often involves developing and testing interventions to prepare patients and their families for complex medical decisions, with numerous publications examining virtual versus in-person palliative care, social isolation in chronic disease, and strategies to improve serious illness communication.

Dr. Sudore's significant contributions to medicine have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards:

• UCSF Founders Day Award (2025)
• Academic Senate Distinction In Mentoring Award, UCSF (2024)
• Excellence in Scientific Research in Palliative Care, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Care (2020)
• Induction into the American Society for Clinical Investigation, ASCI (2016)
• Outstanding Scientific Achievement for Clinical Investigation, American Geriatrics Society (2015)
• Junior Investigator of the Year, Society of General Internal Medicine (2012)
• Physician Faculty Scholar, RWJ (2009-2012)
• Junior Investigator of the Year, American Geriatrics Society (2009)

Throughout her career, Dr. Sudore has demonstrated exceptional commitment to mentoring the next generation of researchers and clinicians. Her work with the PREPARE for Your Care program has secured significant funding to develop and test innovative approaches to advance care planning. She has led numerous clinical trials and implementation studies that have transformed how healthcare systems approach patient-centered decision making for vulnerable older adults, with particular focus on improving care for racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse populations.

Dr. Sudore directs the Innovation and Implementation Center in Aging & Palliative Care (I-CAP), which focuses on translating research findings into practical tools and interventions that can be implemented across healthcare systems. Her Vulnerable Populations Aging Research Core supports research on aging among diverse and underserved populations, addressing critical gaps in our understanding of how to improve care for these communities. From 2002 to 2023, she provided primary care to vulnerable older Veterans in the Geriatrics clinic at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and continues to attend on the inpatient Palliative Care Service there.