Elizabeth Dzeng, MD, MPH, PhD

Associate Professor

Dr. Dzeng is a sociologist and hospitalist physician conducting research at the nexus of sociology, medical ethics, palliative care, health equity, anti-racism, and human-centered design. She is an Associate Professor "In Residence" at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the Division of Hospital Medicine and Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sociology program, Affiliated Faculty in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. She spends her time between San Francisco and London where she is a Senior Research Fellow at the Cicely Saunders Institute at King's College London. She is also a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, a Visiting Research Fellow at Kings College London’s Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, and a Visiting Assistant Professor in General Internal Medicine at UCLA.

Her research program focuses on using sociological and human centered design methods to understand how institutional cultures and policies influence clinical practice patterns and how to change institutional culture to improve the quality of care. She conducts large-scale comparative ethnographic interview studies in the United States and the United Kingdom to understand the influence of institutional cultures and policies on clinicians’ ethical frameworks, communication practices, and clinical practice patterns around end-of-life care. A particular area of interest is around the influence of neoliberalism and specifically the culture and ethical implications of neoliberalism on an institution's ethical priorities around end-of-life care.

Her other major research focus is around using community-based participatory research methods to understand how structural racism across the life course influences the provision of quality end-of-life care in older Black adults. This project is in part funded by a NIA/NIH Beeson award and a Sojourns Scholars Leadership Award. In addition, she is working on several projects to improve equity and promote anti-racist care around hospitalist care at UCSF. One project, funded by UCSF's Caring Wisely award, is a new health advocate program to help support and advocate for African American and patients with limited English proficiency. A second project is a partnership with GLIDE, to expand their program, "Healers at the Gates" to create culture change around anti-racism and equity in UCSF's Division of Hospital Medicine.

Among her national leadership roles, Dr. Dzeng is on the Society of General Internal Medicine's (SGIM) Governing Council Executive Committee as an At-large Member, an Associate Editor for the Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM), and a member of the Executive Committee of the Research Centers Cooperative Network (RCCN), a national coordinating center of the National Institutes on Aging (NIA) center programs. She is also a past Chair of the SGIM Ethics Committee. A central focus of her local and national leadership efforts have been focused on anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion. This includes involvement as a member of the Task Force for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility for the Clinician-Scientists Transdisciplinary Aging Research (Clin-STAR) Coordinating Center, a national NIA platform for early career researchers in aging research; member of UCSF’s Taskforce on Anti-Racism and Equity in Research; a member of the Equity Committee of the Sojourns Scholars Leadership Program community; and a member of the UCSF Academic Senate's Equal Opportunity Committee.

Dr. Dzeng completed her PhD in Medical Sociology and an MPhil in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge at King’s College as a Gates Cambridge Scholar where she wrote her doctoral thesis on the influence of institutional cultures and policies on physicians’ ethical beliefs and how that impacted the way they communicate in end of life decision-making conversations. She was also a General Internal Medicine post-doctoral clinical research fellow and palliative care research fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. As an undergraduate and engineering graduate student at Stanford, she participated in the first class of Stanford's Biodesign Innovation program where she used design thinking to co-invented and patented a device to non-invasively cool the heart through the esophagus to prevent myocardial damage during a myocardial infarction (US Patent 7,758,623; 2010). In August, 2019 this patent was licensed to Attune Medical.

Outside of academic medicine, Dr. Dzeng is a competitive masters and club rower and has competed in races such as the Head of the Charles and won at the British Master Regatta. She is happiest when traveling the world, especially hiking and exploring the world's natural wonders.
Education
Fellowship, 2015 - General Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
PhD, 2015 - Medical Sociology, University of Cambridge
Residency, 2011 - Internal Medicine, Columbia New York Presbyterian Hospital
MD, 2009 - , Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
MPhil, 2008 - Development Studies, University of Cambridge
MPH, 2007 - Health and Human Rights/Humanitarian Aid, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
BS, 2003 - Biological Sciences and History, Stanford University
MS, 2003 - Chemical Engineering, Stanford University
Honors and Awards
  • Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging (K76), National Institute on Aging (NIA/NIH), 2022-2027
  • Sojourns Scholars Leadership Award, Cambia Health Foundation, 2022-2024
  • Alzheimer's Disease Research Award, California Department of Public Health, 2019-2024
  • NIH Loan Repayment Program Renewal Award, National Institute on Aging (NIA/NIH), 2019-2021
  • KL-2 Scholar, UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), 2017-2020
  • NIH Loan Repayment Program Award, National Institute of Health, 2017-2019
  • Junior Investigator Career Development Award, National Palliative Care Research Center (NPCRC), 2017-2019
  • Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, Global Brain Health Institute, UCSF, 2017-2018
  • Andrew Markus Scholarship, Ethox Centre for Bioethics and Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, 2016
  • Research Scholar Award, American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), 2015-2016
  • Research Core Development Scholar, UCSF Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, 2015-2016
  • Ho-Chiang Palliative Care Research Fellowship, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 2014-2015
  • Founders Grant Award, Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM), 2014-2015
  • Gates Cambridge Scholarship, University of Cambridge, 2011-2015
  • Gates Cambridge Scholarship, University of Cambridge, 2007-2008
  • Delta Omega Public Health Honors Society Inductee, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2007
  • Watt Hansell Scholarship, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2006-2007
Websites
  • Working at the intersection of sociology, end-of-life care, and ethics to foster humanistic and ethical care in the culture and practice of medicine
Publications
  1. Andersen SK, Yang Y, Kross EK, Haas B, Geagea A, May TL, Hart J, Bagshaw SM, Dzeng E, Fischhoff B, White DB. Achieving Goals of Care Decisions in Chronic Critical Illness: A Multi-Institutional Qualitative Study. Chest. 2024. PMID: 38365177


  2. Emily J. Shearer, Jacob A. Blythe, Sarah E. Wieten, Elizabeth W. Dzeng, Miriam P. Cotler, Karin B. Porter-Williamson, Joshua B. Kayser, Stephanie M. Harman, David C. Magnus, Jason N. Batten. Physician Perspectives on Challenges in Understanding Patient Preferences for Emergency Intubation: A Qualitative Assessment of Hospital Code Status Orders. CHEST Critical Care. 2024. PMID:


  3. Hudson BF, Dzeng E, Burnett A, Yeung M, Shulman C. Palliative care, homelessness, and restricted or uncertain immigration status. Palliative care and social practice. 2023. PMID: 38144973


  4. Dzeng E, Batten JN, Dohan D, Blythe J, Ritchie CS, Curtis JR. Hospital Culture and Intensity of End-of-Life Care at 3 Academic Medical Centers. JAMA internal medicine. 2023. PMID: 37399038


  5. Rosa WE, Hadler RA, Dzeng E, Sullivan DR, Epstein AS, Nelson JE. Legacy and communication in palliative and end-of-life care: Honoring Dr. J. Randall Curtis. Palliative & supportive care. 2023. PMID: 37070419


  6. Batten JN, Dzeng E, Finder S, Blythe JA, Nurok M. When Critically Ill Patients with Decision Making Capacity and No Further Therapeutic Options Request Indefinite Life Support. The American journal of bioethics : AJOB. 2023. PMID: 37220368


  7. Batten JN, Blythe JA, Wieten SE, Dzeng E, Kruse KE, Cotler MP, Porter-Williamson K, Kayser JB, Harman SM, Magnus D. "No Escalation of Treatment" Designations: A Multi-institutional Exploratory Qualitative Study. Chest. 2022. PMID: 36007596


  8. Eniasivam A, Pereira L, Dzeng E. A Call for Restorative and Transformative Justice Approaches to Anti-Racism in Medicine. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA). 2022. PMID: 35484366


  9. Griffin Collins, Hannah Beaman, Alvin Ho, Michelle Hermiston, Harvey Cohen, Elizabeth Dzeng. Anatomy of a Consult: How a Multidisciplinary Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Team Considers Specialty Palliative Care Consultation (GP722). Journal of pain and symptom management. 2022. PMID:


  10. Elizabeth Dzeng, Jason Batten, Daniel Dohan, J Randall Curtis. How Does Hospital Culture Influence the Intensity of End-of-Life Care? (CO201D). Journal of pain and symptom management. 2022. PMID:


  11. Dzeng E, Merel SE, Kross EK. J. Randall Curtis's Legacy and Scientific Contributions to Palliative Care in Critical Care. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA). 2022. PMID: 35595372


  12. Amy Sun, Katherine Sleeman, Amy Rosenwohl-Mack, Daniel Dohan, Elizabeth Dzeng. Strategies to Promote Goal-Concordant End-of-Life Care in Older Adults with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias: Perspectives of United Kingdom Clinicians and Caregivers (GP761). Journal of pain and symptom management. 2022. PMID:


  13. Lingsheng Li, Amy Rosenwohl-Mack, Elizabeth Dzeng. “She Always Knew I Would Call”: The Role of Family Liaisons in Serious Illness Communications During the COVID-19 Pandemic (GP719). Journal of pain and symptom management. 2022. PMID:


  14. Tobias Haeusermann, Heather Romero-Kornblum, Elizabeth Dzeng. Of care, cure and the in-between: COVID-19 treatment in a New York City intensive care unit. International Journal of Care and Caring. 2022. PMID:


  15. Dzeng E, Bein T, Curtis JR. The role of policy and law in shaping the ethics and quality of end-of-life care in intensive care. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA). 2022. PMID: 35064785


  16. Collins GS, Beaman H, Ho AM, Hermiston ML, Cohen HJ, Dzeng EW. Perceptions of specialty palliative care and its role in pediatric stem cell transplant: A multidisciplinary qualitative study. 2015 Year Book of Pediatrics. Ed. Cabana MD. (Elsevier; Philadelphia, PA). 2021. PMID: 34705322


  17. Blythe JA, Kentish-Barnes N, Debue AS, Dohan D, Azoulay E, Covinsky K, Matthews T, Curtis JR, Dzeng E. An Interprofessional Process for the Limitation of Life-Sustaining Treatments in France. Journal of pain and symptom management. 2021. PMID: 34157398


  18. Karches K, DeCamp M, George M, Prochaska M, Saunders M, Thorsteinsdottir B, Dzeng E. Spheres of Influence and Strategic Advocacy for Equity in Medicine. Journal of general internal medicine. 2021. PMID: 34013471


  19. Rosenwohl-Mack S, Dohan D, Matthews T, Batten JN, Dzeng E. How individual ethical frameworks shape physician trainees' experiences providing end-of-life care: a qualitative study. 2021. PMID: 33593875


  20. Dzeng E, Morrison RS. We Need a Paradigm Shift Around End-of-Life Decision Making. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2020. PMID: 33170951


  21. Ahlbach C, King T, Dzeng E. The COVID-19 Pandemic and Ethical Challenges Posed by Neoliberal Healthcare. Journal of general internal medicine. 2020. PMID: 33111238


  22. Rosenwohl-Mack S, Dohan D, Matthews T, Batten JN, Dzeng E. Understanding Experiences of Moral Distress in End-of-Life Care Among US and UK Physician Trainees: a Comparative Qualitative Study. Journal of general internal medicine. 2020. PMID: 33111237


  23. Batten JN, Blythe JA, Wieten S, Cotler MP, Kayser JB, Porter-Williamson K, Harman S, Dzeng E, Magnus D. Variation in the design of Do Not Resuscitate orders and other code status options: a multi-institutional qualitative study. BMJ quality & safety. 2020. PMID: 33082165


  24. Elizabeth Dzeng, J. Randall Curtis, Thea Matthews, Jason Batten, Christine Ritchie, Daniel Dohan. The Influence of Neoliberalism on Burdensome Life Sustaining Treatments Near the End of Life (RP313). Journal of pain and symptom management. 2020. PMID:


  25. DeCamp M, DeSalvo K, Dzeng E. Ethics and Spheres of Influence in Addressing Social Determinants of Health. Journal of general internal medicine. 2020. PMID: 32572766


  26. Byhoff E, Kangovi S, Berkowitz SA, DeCamp M, Dzeng E, Earnest M, Gonzalez CM, Hartigan S, Karani R, Memari M, Roy B, Schwartz MD, Volerman A, DeSalvo K. A Society of General Internal Medicine Position Statement on the Internists' Role in Social Determinants of Health. Journal of general internal medicine. 2020. PMID: 32519320


  27. Perni S, Pollack LR, Gonzalez WC, Dzeng E, Baldwin MR. Moral distress and burnout in caring for older adults during medical school training. 2020. PMID: 32293416


  28. Dzeng E, Wachter RM. Ethics in Conflict: Moral Distress as a Root Cause of Burnout. Journal of general internal medicine. 2019. PMID: 31667744


  29. Batten JN, Blythe JA, Wieten SE, Dzeng EW. No Escalation of Treatment: Moving Beyond the Withholding/Withdrawing Debate. 2019. PMID: 31543041


  30. Elizabeth Dzeng, Nancy Kentish-Barnes, J Randall Curtis, Anne-Sophie Debue. A Codified Process for Multidisciplinary Team Consensus Around the Termination of Life Sustaining Treatments (LST) in France: An Interview Study (S822). Journal of pain and symptom management. 2019. PMID:


  31. Jason Batten, Gregory Taylor, Jacob Blythe, Karin Porter-Williamson, Elizabeth Dzeng, Miriam Cotler, Joshua Kayser, Stephanie Harman, David Magnus. 395. Critical care medicine. 2019. PMID:


  32. Dzeng E, Pantilat SZ. Reply to: Social Causes of Rational Suicide in Older Adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2018. PMID: 30506678


  33. Craig A, Dzeng E. Response to "Added Points of Concern About Caring for Dying Patients". AMA journal of ethics. 2018. PMID: 30499442


  34. Dzeng E, Pantilat SZ. Reply to Rational Suicide in Older Adults: Not by Default an Ageist Concept. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2018. PMID: 30084189


  35. Craig A, Dzeng E. How Should Physicians Care for Dying Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis? AMA journal of ethics. 2018. PMID: 30118418


  36. Dzeng E, Booth J. Facts and Fetishes: When the Miracles of Medicine Fail Us. 2018. PMID: 29697349


  37. Dzeng E, Pantilat SZ. Social Causes of Rational Suicide in Older Adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2018. PMID: 29500826


  38. DeCamp M, Pomerantz D, Cotts K, Dzeng E, Farber N, Lehmann L, Reynolds PP, Sulmasy LS, Tilburt J. Ethical Issues in the Design and Implementation of Population Health Programs. Journal of general internal medicine. 2017. PMID: 29256088


  39. Dzeng E, Dohan D, Curtis JR, Smith TJ, Colaianni A, Ritchie CS. Homing in on the Social: System-Level Influences on Overly Aggressive Treatments at the End of Life. Journal of pain and symptom management. 2017. PMID: 28865869


  40. L. Forbes, L. Petrillo, E. Dzeng, K.L. Harrison, B. Scribner, B. Koenig. RESPONDING TO THE END-OF-LIFE OPTION ACT IN CALIFORNIA. 2017. PMID:


  41. Petrillo LA, Dzeng E, Harrison KL, Forbes L, Scribner B, Koenig BA. How California Prepared for Implementation of Physician-Assisted Death: A Primer. American journal of public health. 2017. PMID: 28426307


  42. Harrison KL, Dzeng E, Ritchie CS, Shanafelt TD, Kamal AH, Bull JH, Tilburt JC, Swetz KM. Addressing Palliative Care Clinician Burnout in Organizations: A Workforce Necessity, an Ethical Imperative. Journal of pain and symptom management. 2017. PMID: 28196784


  43. Laura Petrillo, Eric Widera, Elizabeth Dzeng, Krista Harrison, Lindsay Forbes, Barbara Koenig, Ben Scribner. How Should Palliative Care Be Involved in the Response to Physician Assisted Dying in California? Intimately: Perspectives from a Statewide Conference (S795). Journal of pain and symptom management. 2017. PMID:


  44. Singer AE, Goebel JR, Kim YS, Dy SM, Ahluwalia SC, Clifford M, Dzeng E, O'Hanlon CE, Motala A, Walling AM, Goldberg J, Meeker D, Ochotorena C, Shanman R, Cui M, Lorenz KA. Populations and Interventions for Palliative and End-of-Life Care: A Systematic Review. Journal of palliative medicine. 2016. PMID: 27533892


  45. Dzeng E. Moral Distress Amongst Physician Trainees Regarding Futile Treatments. Journal of general internal medicine. 2016. PMID: 26951284


  46. Petrillo LA, Dzeng E, Smith AK. California's End of Life Option Act: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead. Journal of general internal medicine. 2016. PMID: 27114358


  47. Dzeng E, Colaianni A, Roland M, Levine D, Kelly MP, Barclay S, Smith TJ. Moral Distress Amongst American Physician Trainees Regarding Futile Treatments at the End of Life: A Qualitative Study. Journal of general internal medicine. 2015. PMID: 26391029


  48. Dzeng E, Colaianni A, Roland M, Chander G, Smith TJ, Kelly MP, Barclay S, Levine D. Influence of institutional culture and policies on do-not-resuscitate decision making at the end of life. JAMA internal medicine. 2015. PMID: 25845020


  49. Ghosh A, Dzeng E, Cheng MJ. Interaction of palliative care and primary care. Clinics in geriatric medicine. 2015. PMID: 25920056


  50. Elizabeth Dzeng, Sydney Dy, Thomas Smith. Physicians’ Understanding of Patient Autonomy and Choice in Discussions Surrounding the Do-Not-Resuscitate Order (FR415-B). Journal of pain and symptom management. 2015. PMID:


  51. Xu T, Goldstein E, Dzeng E, Dy S, Nicholas LH. Public Attitudes on the Future Sustainability of Medicare 2015. PMID:


  52. Dzeng E, Smith TJ. Rationing healthcare: who's responsible? 2013. PMID: 23530399


  53. Siegler A, Roberts L, Balch E, Bargues E, Bhalla A, Bills C, Dzeng E, Epelboym Y, Foster T, Fulton L, Gallagher M, Gastolomendo JD, Giorgi G, Habtehans S, Kim J, McGee B, McMahan A, Riese S, Santamaria-Schwartz R, Walsh F, Wahlstrom J, Wedeles J. Media coverage of violent deaths in iraQ: an opportunistic capture-recapture assessment. 2008. PMID: 18935953


  54. Thompson A, Silverman B, Dzeng L, Treisman G. Psychotropic medications and HIV. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. 2006. PMID: 16586391


  55. Lin CT, Chang TC, Chao A, Dzeng E, Soong YK, Hung CF, Lai CH. Enhancement of DNA vaccine potency through linkage of antigen gene to ER chaperone molecules, ER-60, tapasin, and calnexin. 2005. PMID: 15918000