Our Leadership

President | Chief Executive Officer

Suresh Gunasekaran is president and chief executive officer (CEO) of UCSF Health, an internationally recognized health system that includes UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics, UCSF Benioff Children's Physicians and the UCSF Faculty Practice. UCSF Health includes approximately 18,000 staff and physicians, maintains 1,290 beds, admits 41,000 patients and has over 2.5 million outpatient visits yearly, and has annual revenue of more than $7 billion.

Gunasekaran also oversees UCSF Health's expanding network of affiliated health care organizations throughout Northern California. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks UCSF Medical Center among the country's top 10 hospitals and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals among the nation's best pediatric medical centers.

Gunasekaran leads the execution of UCSF Health's vision and the institution's next phase of growth, revitalization and innovation, including in the area of technology. He partners with UCSF's research and education enterprises and upholds the health system's PRIDE (Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity and Excellence) values, and commitment to advancing anti-racism and social justice.

Gunasekaran has more than 20 years experience in health care administration and information technology, with a focus on quality and safety, patient service, collaboration and operational excellence. He most recently was CEO of University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics and associate vice president for University of Iowa Health Care. He led the clinical enterprise of Iowa's only comprehensive academic medical center, a more than $2 billion operation with 11,000 employees. He previously served as chief information officer and then chief operations officer for the health system of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He began his career in health care as an administrative director in outpatient clinical operations at Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. He also worked as an analyst for both Gartner and IBM/Healthlink.

Gunasekaran earned a master of business administration degree, graduating with honors, from Southern Methodist University.

Executive Vice President | Chief Clinical Officer
Vice Dean, UCSF School of Medicine

Dr. Josh Adler is executive vice president and chief clinical officer at UCSF Health as well as vice dean for clinical affairs at the UCSF School of Medicine. As chief clinical officer, he oversees the coordination, clinical integration, and quality and safety of care across the health system. He is responsible for the faculty practices organization, the clinical cancer center and mental health services; leads the health system funds flow program; and oversees population health, medical staff affairs, risk management, clinical innovation and resource management. As vice dean, he works with clinical department chairs to ensure alignment of UCSF's clinical, research and education priorities and physician involvement in operational decision-making.

Adler is a practicing internist and professor of clinical medicine at UCSF. He previously served as chief medical officer at UCSF Medical Center and medical director of ambulatory care. He earned his medical degree at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and completed a residency at UCSF, followed by a chief resident year at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center. He held several positions in the VA system, including chief medical officer of the VA Sierra Pacific Network.

Chief Operating Officer | Senior Vice President

Sheila Antrum is senior vice president and chief operating officer at UCSF Health. She ensures that the operations of patient services across the health system align with UCSF Health's vision and strategic objectives. She oversees strategic implementation of UCSF Health's affiliations, finances, quality and safety for adult patient services across UCSF Health's locations and affiliates on the west side of the bay and has matrixed responsibilities for operations in children's and cancer services. Nursing, clinical services, facilities, supply chain, major construction projects, pharmaceutical, women's services and perioperative services report to her.

Antrum has been with the University of California for more than two decades. She recently served as chief nursing and patient care services officer for UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital San Francisco, and previously worked at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center and the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. She holds a bachelor's degree in nursing from Hampton University and a master's in health services administration from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Senior Vice President | President, Cancer Services
President, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

Alan Ashworth is senior vice president of clinical services and the president of cancer services at UCSF Health, as well as president of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is responsible for all cancer-related activities across UCSF, including research and clinical operations. Ashworth co-leads the Center for BRCA Research, which provides personalized care and planning for families with BRCA and other mutations and performs research into treatments and preventive strategies. He co-leads SF CAN, the first comprehensive cancer strategic plan for a major U.S. city, and the University of California (UC) Cancer Consortium, a research and advocacy alliance of the National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers across UC.

Ashworth is a translational biologist and laboratory researcher who focuses on understanding cancer genetics to improve treatment and care of patients. In 1995, he was part of the team that identified the BRCA2 breast cancer susceptibility gene. Ten years later, he discovered how to kill BRCA1- and BRCA2-related tumor cells by treating them with PARP inhibitors. Based on his work, four different PARP inhibitors have been approved by the FDA for the treatment of ovarian, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancer. Before joining UCSF, Ashworth served as chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and as director of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre in London.

President of Adult Services | Senior Vice President and President of Adult Services

Cynthia Barginere is president of adult services and senior vice president at UCSF Health. She is responsible for achieving the health system’s goals across all adult inpatient programs and key adult service lines. She oversees strategy, finances, quality, safety, work culture, and operations management of clinical adult services at UCSF Health’s Parnassus, Mission Bay and Mount Zion campuses.

Barginere has more than 20 years of experience working in leadership positions at academic and medical teaching facilities and developing partnerships with physician-leaders. Before joining UCSF, she served as chief operating officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in Boston, where she oversaw strategy, business development and operational execution. Prior to being at IHI, she was senior vice president and chief transformation officer for Rush University System for Health in Chicago, as well as senior vice president and chief operating officer for Rush Memorial Hospital. She is a registered nurse and a doctor of nursing practice, as well as a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Enterprise Chief Information Officer | Senior Vice President, Information Technology

Joe R. Bengfort is enterprise chief information officer for UCSF and senior vice president of information technology (IT) for UCSF Health. He is also an associate vice chancellor for UCSF. His responsibilities include IT strategy and operations for UCSF Health; and IT research, education and administrative systems; data and analytics; and infrastructure, customer support services and security for UCSF. He represents UCSF on IT initiatives at the University of California.

Before joining UCSF in 2011, Bengfort worked for 22 years at Perot Systems, where he held a broad range of senior leadership positions; his duties included managing client relationships and service delivery at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, Triad Hospitals and Stanford Health Care. He has a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering technology from Texas A&M University.

System Chief Medical Officer, UCSF Health

Dr. Lukejohn Day is UCSF Health's first system chief medical officer (CMO). He is responsible for ensuring that physician-leader roles align with UCSF Health's goals and for standardizing clinical policies and procedures across the health care system. He oversees the Office of Medical Affairs and Governance.

Previously, Day was a professor of medicine at UCSF and CMO at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. As a gastroenterologist, he has held concurrent positions with increasing responsibility at UCSF and Zuckerberg San Francisco General. He is interested in research and policy with a focus on innovation, quality improvement and patient safety.

Day earned his bachelor's degree from Yale University and his medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine. He is pursuing a master of business administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

A member of the Oglala Lakota Nation in South Dakota, Day has published extensively on colon cancer screening disparities for American Indians and Alaskan Natives and on strategies for increasing American Indian and Alaskan Native physician representation in health care, especially within gastroenterology.

Vice President | Chief of Staff

Elizabeth Engel is vice president of UCSF Health and chief of staff to the CEO. In partnership with the leadership team and the medical school, she drives strategic priorities for UCSF Health, collaboratively advancing major clinical, operational and strategic initiatives. She manages performance reporting, efforts to support national benchmarking and the budget for organization-wide investments.

Engel has more than 20 years of experience in health law, policy and strategy, spanning government, health systems, and other corporate and nonprofit organizations. She previously served as chief strategy officer and chief of staff at UC Health. She spent a number of years at Stanford Medicine as in-house counsel for its medical school and for its adult and children's health care systems. She has extensive experience in Washington, D.C., including in key health policy roles for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Obama-Biden transition team and U.S. senate majority leader. She also has done significant work in the digital health space, including as head of health policy for Google and as a consultant advising clients at the intersection of technology and health care. She earned a juris doctor degree at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

President, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals
Senior Vice President, Children's Services, UCSF Health

Dr. Nicholas Holmes is president of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals (BCH) and senior vice president of children's services for UCSF Health. He is responsible for BCH San Francisco and BCH Oakland, which together constitute one of the nation’s 10 largest providers of health care for children. He oversees strategic direction and operations for all pediatric clinical services across the health system, including UCSF-owned and -operated sites and affiliated programs, facilities and physicians.

Holmes served 15 years in the U.S. Navy, where he was head urologist and specialty adviser to the Navy's surgeon general, assisting in shaping naval health care policy and graduate medical education. Most recently, he was senior vice president and chief operating officer for Rady Children's Hospital – San Diego.

Holmes earned his medical degree at Georgetown University School of Medicine, where he discovered a passion for surgery and caring for pediatric patients. He completed a residency in radiology at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego and a fellowship in pediatric urology at UCSF. He completed a business of medicine certificate program at the Johns Hopkins University. He also earned a master of business administration degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Senior Vice President, Human Resources, UCSF Health

Corey Jackson is senior vice president, human resources, for UCSF Health and associate vice chancellor, human resources, UCSF. He oversees all human resources functions to support talent management across UCSF's academic, research, administrative and clinical departments. He is charged with strengthening UCSF's ability to attract, develop and retain the diverse talent necessary to be a leader in patient care and the world's preeminent health sciences innovator, and to make the organization the best place to work.

Jackson previously was executive vice president and chief talent officer at Parkland Health & Hospital Systems in Dallas, Texas. At Parkland, he evolved the human resources environment from a task-oriented, people management function to a talent management department dedicated to supporting the entire employee life cycle, from recruitment to retirement. Before his position at Parkland, he was vice president for compliance, diversity and ethics at George Mason University, director of diversity and inclusion at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and a legislative counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives. Jackson holds a juris doctor from the University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, Florida, and a bachelor of science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia.

Senior Vice President | Chief Strategy Officer

Timothy Y. Kan is senior vice president and chief strategy officer at UCSF Health, where he is responsible for leading and executing strategic planning. He collaborates with the UCSF School of Medicine and health system leaders, as well as UCSF Health's affiliates, to expand access to clinical services for patients in the Bay Area and beyond.

Kan joined UCSF Health in 2023. He has more than 20 years of experience as an executive and adviser leading growth, organizational change, and financial performance improvement for academic medical centers, regional health systems and other health care providers. Most recently, he was chief strategy officer at University of Iowa (UI) Health Care, chief operating officer at UI Health System and chief executive officer at UI Health Ventures. He earned a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering and his master of business administration degree at Northwestern University.

President, Faculty Practice Organization

Dr. Inga Lennes is president of the UCSF Faculty Practice Organization. She is responsible for directing and managing all of UCSF's faculty physician outpatient practices. With a focus on operations and performance, she oversees access; quality; financial performance; and patient, staff and faculty experience.

An accomplished executive physician-leader, Lennes has significant experience in managing ambulatory operations and implementing transformative operational change. Before joining UCSF, she held a variety of leadership positions at Massachusetts General Hospital, most recently as senior vice president of ambulatory care and patient experience for the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization.

As a practicing thoracic medical oncologist, Lennes specializes in lung and esophageal cancers and is an expert in lung screening and pulmonary nodule management. After earning her medical degree at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, she completed a residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a fellowship at Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center. She also has a bachelor's degree from Mount Holyoke College, a master of public health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a master of business administration degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Vice President for Real Estate, UCSF Health
Senior Associate Vice Chancellor, UCSF

Brian Newman is vice president for real estate at UCSF Health and a senior associate vice chancellor at UCSF. Newman oversees all campus real estate planning, space management and capital construction activities, as well as the UCSF Health Department of Design and Construction and UCSF Health Major Capital Projects. He and his team focus on delivering high-performing work spaces and patient care areas that are welcoming, easy to navigate and sensitive to UCSF's neighbors.

Newman previously was vice president of campus development at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), where he oversaw planning and development of OHSU's new campus on Portland's South Waterfront, with more than 2 million square feet of clinical, academic and research facilities. Before joining OHSU, he spent 15 years as a planning consultant and elected official working on land use and transportation projects in the Portland metro area. Newman has a master's degree in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley.

Chief Counsel, UCSF Health

Rachel Nosowsky is the first chief counsel for UCSF Health. As a member of the executive team, she is responsible for helping to shape UCSF Health’s strategy and policy, including by aligning business strategies with legal requirements and reducing legal risk. She steers the health system’s legal operations as well as that of the student health and counseling center on the UCSF campus.

Nosowsky has worked for more than two decades in public academic medicine. She has held leadership positions in numerous professional organizations, including the University HealthSystem Consortium (now Vizient), American Health Law Association, and California Lawyers Association’s Business Law Section Health Law Committee. She became the University of California’s deputy general counsel in 2012, overseeing legal services for the university’s health systems, health sciences faculty practice plans, health professions schools, and student health and counseling services. She also served as chief counsel to UC Health and worked with the Office of the President, UC Legal – Office of the General Counsel, and UC Health leaders systemwide to advance the shared clinical, teaching and research missions.

Nosowsky earned her bachelor’s degree from Carleton College and her law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law. Throughout her career, she has worked to advance and elevate the legal profession and to mentor other attorneys, including those who have been historically underrepresented or marginalized in the field.

Chief Nursing Executive │ Vice President, Patient Care Services

Maddy Pearson is chief nursing executive and vice president of patient care services at UCSF Health. She is also senior associate dean for clinical affairs at the UCSF School of Nursing. She is responsible for ensuring evidence-based, high-quality nursing practices and patient care across UCSF Health and its affiliates. She is the systemwide voice for nursing and interprofessional care at the most senior levels of UCSF Health and the University of California Office of the President. She partners with stakeholders to ensure a consistent, quality experience for patients and their families.

Before joining UCSF Health, Pearson was chief nursing officer and senior vice president of patient care services at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where she led strategic planning for quality, safety, patient care and operations. Her work history also includes serving as regional senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer at the Mount Sinai Health System's downtown campus in New York City.

Pearson earned her bachelor's degree from SUNY Plattsburgh, part of the State University of New York system; her doctor of nursing practice degree and master's degree in nursing from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey; and her master's degree in nursing administration from New York University. She earned nurse executive advanced certification from the American Nurses Association.

Vice President and Chief Information Officer

Mark Rauschuber is vice president and chief information officer (CIO) at UCSF Health. He is responsible for the design, development, release and maintenance of technology systems and services for the health care system. He also leads medical and nursing informatics services and oversees all aspects of UCSF Health's information systems strategy, optimization and management.

Rauschuber is experienced in helping scale information technology (IT) systems to keep pace with medical system growth. Before joining UCSF Health, he was associate vice president and health system CIO at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he developed and executed a strategic plan for IT.

Rauschuber has a bachelor's degree in management information systems from Southern Methodist University and a master of health administration degree from the University of Missouri.

President, Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics

Dr. Matthew State is senior vice president of UCSF Health, president of UCSF's Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics (LPPHC), and chair of the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. His responsibilities include expanding access to the highest quality mental health care, developing world-class programs in research and education, and integrating psychiatry into the university's neuroscience community. State also leads mental health services at Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He is the Oberndorf Family Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and a member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences.

State earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Stanford University and his PhD degree in human genetics from Yale University. He is board certified in child and adolescent psychiatry. Over the past two decades, State's laboratory has been a leader in the identification of genes underlying autism spectrum disorder and Tourette syndrome. He now collaborates extensively with colleagues at UCSF and other institutions to illuminate the neurobiology of these syndromes, leveraging his lab's genetic discoveries. State was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2013.

Senior Vice President | Chief Financial Officer, UCSF Health

Jim Wentz is senior vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) for UCSF Health. He oversees financial strategy and services for the health system and its affiliated physician networks, leading initiatives in financial reporting, capital management, decision support, government reimbursement and revenue cycle, as well as health information management services.

Wentz has more than 30 years of experience in health care finance, much of it in academic medical centers. His prior leadership experience includes CFO roles at LCMC Health and Ochsner Health in New Orleans, senior vice president of strategy and CFO of KentuckyOne Health (now CHI Saint Joseph Health), CFO of the University of Mississippi Medical Center and CFO of UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Wentz earned his bachelor’s degree in production management and a master of business administration degree, with an emphasis in finance, from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.