Announcing the appointment of Gabby Schmajuk, MD, MS as Chief of Rheumatology at SF VA Health Care System

Dear Colleagues:

We are delighted to announce that Gabby Schmajuk, MD, MS has accepted the position of Chief of Rheumatology at the San Francisco VA Health Care System. Dr. Schmajuk is Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSF and a member of the SFVAHCS Rheumatology section.  

Gabby emigrated from Argentina to the United States as a child. She received her undergraduate degree at Harvard University and her MD from the University of Pennsylvania. After completing her internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, she moved west to Stanford, where she completed her rheumatology fellowship and earned a master’s degree in epidemiology. In 2011, she joined the UCSF faculty, devoting her first year to further training in the VA Quality Scholars Program.   

Gabby is an outstanding clinical investigator with a strong portfolio of published scholarship, most of it focused on patient safety and quality of care in rheumatology. She has examined variations in access to rheumatologic care, developed rheumatoid arthritis quality measures (many used nationally), and is currently building tools to collect patient reported outcomes within the electronic health record. She has over 75 original articles through work that has been funded by the Agency for Research and Healthcare Quality, the VHA HSR&D, and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). She has provided extraordinary research mentorship to over 20 students, residents and fellows. Gabby is a wonderful clinician and superb educator who received the Ira Goldstein Excellence in Rheumatology Teaching Award in 2014. She has also provided extensive service to her field nationally, participating in several key ACR committees and leading the data analytic center for the ACR’s national patient registry. 

We are grateful to the members of the search committee, chaired by Dr. David Wofsy, Professor of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology at UCSF. David will be retiring in June 2020 after providing exemplary service for 40 years on the UCSF faculty and 15 years as associate dean for admissions; this role was only one of myriad ways he has served the department and the rheumatology community. We also thank the previous VA rheumatology division chief, Dr. David Daikh, for his many years of service.  

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Gabby Schmajuk for her new role as division chief. 

Sincerely,

Kenneth R. McQuaid, MD
Chief of Medicine, San Francisco VA Health Care System
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Marvin H. Sleisenger Endowed Chair
Vice-Chair, UCSF Department of Medicine

Robert M. Wachter, MD
Professor and Chair, UCSF Department of Medicine
Lynne and Marc Benioff Endowed Chair in Hospital Medicine
Holly Smith Distinguished Professor in Science and Medicine