Contacts for Journalists

Each member of our press team oversees a number of specialties, serving as the first point of contact for reporters seeking experts and for faculty and staff seeking public relations advice. To check the status of a hospital patient, or for areas outside of these specialties, please call our main media line at 858-249-0456.

Beat List

Jackie Carr 

Jackie Carr

Assistant Executive Director of Communications and Media Relations
jcarr@ucsd.edu
858-249-0420

Beat Areas

  • Crisis communications / issues management

Schools/Institutes/Centers:
Jacobs Medical Center, UC San Diego Health, Health Sciences, School of Medicine

Scott LaFee 

Scott LaFee

Director of Media Relations
slafee@ucsd.edu
858-249-0431

Beat Areas

  • Alzheimer’s disease
  • Autism
  • Clinical trials
  • Neurosciences
  • Ophthalmology
  • Anesthesiology/pain management
  • Psychiatry
  • Sleep

Schools/Institutes/Centers:
ACTRI, Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Shiley Eye Institute, Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics, Autism Center of Excellence, Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study, Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research

Heather Buschman 

Heather Buschman, PhD

Senior Public Information Officer
hbuschman@ucsd.edu
858-249-0417

Beat Areas

  • Bioinformatics / data science
  • Cellular and molecular medicine (research)
  • Drug discovery
  • Microbiome
  • Nanomedicine
  • Orthopedic surgery and sports medicine
  • Pathology
  • Pharmacy and pharmacology
  • Stem cells
  • Genetics

Schools/Institutes/Centers:
Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Center for Microbiome Innovation, Institute for Genomic Medicine, Institute for Engineering in Medicine, CARTA, Center for Drug Discovery Innovation, Center for Network Medicine, Center for Network Medicine, Sanford Consortium, Sanford Clinical Stem Cell Center

Yadira Galindo 

Yadira Galindo

Public Information Officer
ygalindo@ucsd.edu
858-249-0423

Beat Areas

  • Bone marrow transplantation
  • Cancer
  • Dermatology
  • Diabetes and endocrinology
  • Hematology
  • Metabolic diseases
  • Neurology (cancer)
  • Radiation oncology
  • Surgery (cancer)
  • Urology
  • Nutrition
  • HIV/AIDS

Schools/Institutes/Centers:
Moores Cancer Center, Center for Translational Imaging and Precision Medicine, HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center, Antiviral Research Center, Center for AIDS Research, HIV Institute

Michelle Brubaker 

Michelle Brubaker

Senior Public Information Officer
mmbrubaker@ucsd.edu
858-249-0416

Beat Areas

  • Eating disorders
  • Addiction
  • Obesity/weight management and loss
  • Family medicine and public health
  • Gastroenterology
  • Neonatology
  • Obstetrics and gynecology
  • Pediatrics
  • Primary care/Express and Urgent care
  • Pulmonary and critical care medicine
  • Infertility/reproductive medicine
  • Aging
  • Senior medicine/health care
  • Transplant (except cardiac)

Schools/Institutes/Centers:
Rady Children’s Hospital, Stein Institute for Aging, Mother-Milk-Infant CORE, Center for Healthy Aging

Debra Kamin

Debra Kamin

Public Information Officer
dkamin@ucsd.edu
858-249-0428

Beat Areas

  • Allergy, immunology and rheumatology
  • Emergency medicine
  • Global public health
  • Hepatology
  • Infectious diseases
  • Nephrology
  • Neurology (stroke)
  • Radiology
  • Surgery
  • Cardiovascular and heart surgery (includes transplant and endovascular surgery)
  • Trauma and burn care
  • Volunteer Services

Schools/Institutes/Centers:
Sulpizio Cardiovascular Institute, Center for Community Health, Center for Better Beginnings

General Contact Info

During Business Hours:

  • Phone: 858-249-0456
  • Pager: 619-290-2688

Evenings/Weekends:

    • Pager: 619-290-2688.

   
Fax: 858-249-0453
healthscicomm@ucsd.edu

UC San Diego Health
Marketing and Communications
200 West Arbor Drive # 8907
San Diego, CA 92103-8907

Printable maps of UC San Diego Campus and Medical Centers: ucsd.edu/maps

Requests for Patient Conditions

In accordance with UC San Diego Health policies and procedures, we can neither confirm nor deny reports about potential patients. Patient conditions will not be given unless specifically requested by a patient.