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Contacts for Journalists

Media Statements: Coronavirus COVID-19
The safety and well-being of our patients and staff are our top priority.

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. For areas outside of these specialties, please call our main media line at 858-249-0456.

Beat List

Jackie Carr 

Jackie Carr

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

Beat Areas

  • Crisis Communications / Issues Management
  • Hospital Affiliations and Sponsorships
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Information Systems
  • Labor Relations
  • Regulatory Affairs

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

Scott LaFee 

Scott LaFee

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

Beat Areas

  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Anesthesiology / Pain Management
  • Autism
  • Clinical Trials
  • Neurosciences
  • Ophthalmology
  • Psychiatry (including cancer-related issues)
  • Sleep
  • Palliative care

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

Michelle Brubaker

Michelle Brubaker

Associate Director
mmbrubaker@health.ucsd.edu
858-249-0416

Beat Areas

  • Addiction
  • Gastroenterology
  • Gastrointestinal Cancers (Liver, Pancreatic, Colorectal, Stomach)
  • Geriatrics
  • Obstetrics and Gynecology (including Gynecologic Oncology)
  • Neonatology
  • Infertility / Reproductive Medicine
  • Pediatrics
  • Urology
  • Genitourinary Cancers (Prostate, Kidney, Bladder, Testicular)
  • Transplant (except Cardiac)

Schools/Institutes/Centers:
Stein Institute for Aging, Mother-Milk-Infant CORE, Center for Healthy Aging

Heather Buschman 

Heather Buschman, PhD

Assistant Director
hbuschman@health.ucsd.edu
858-249-0417

Beat Areas

  • Bioinformatics / Data Science
  • Cellular and Molecular Medicine (Research)
  • Drug Discovery
  • Genetics
  • Microbiome
  • Nanomedicine
  • Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine
  • Pathology (including any cancer-related issues)
  • Pharmacy and Pharmacology
  • Stem Cells

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

For information and media assistance regarding the subject areas below, please contact either Jackie Carr or Scott LaFee (above).

Beat Areas
  • Global Public Health
  • Family Medicine and Public Health
  • Volunteer Services
  • Primary / Express / Urgent Care
  • Cancer Experimental Therapeutics (clinical trials)
  • Diabetes and Endocrinology
  • Head & Neck Cancers
  • Central Nervous System cancers (neurology)
  • Ear, Nose & Throat (including cancers)
  • Breast cancers
  • HIV/AIDS (including related cancers)
  • Metabolic Diseases
  • Nutrition/Obesity/Weight Management/Eating Disorders
  • Radiation Oncology

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

Jeanna Vazquez

Jeanna Vazquez

Communications and Media Relations Manager
jbvazquez@health.ucsd.edu
858-249-0428

Beat Areas

  • Bone Marrow Transplantation
  • Hematology (including blood cancers)
  • Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology
  • Cardiovascular and Heart Surgery (includes Transplant and Endovascular)
  • Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Lung cancers
  • Hepatology
  • Nephrology
  • Neurology (Stroke)
  • Poison/Toxicology
  • Dermatology (related cancers, including cutaneous oncology)
  • Radiology
  • Surgery
  • Trauma and Burn
  • Nursing

Schools/Institutes/Centers:
California Poison Control System  - San Diego Division, Center for the Future of Surgery

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.