Anjana Sharma, MD, MAS, Named Learning Hub Faculty Lead for UCSF CODEX
Meet the community engagement leader dedicated to enhancing quality and safety and reimagining healthcare delivery as a force for justice and healing.
We are thrilled to announce that Anjana Sharma, MD, MAS, has been named the inaugural Learning Hub faculty lead for the UCSF CODEX (Coordinating Center for Diagnostic Excellence). Anjana, an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, brings a wealth of experience in patient safety, quality improvement, patient engagement, medical education, and health equity.
In her new role, Anjana will oversee the Learning Hub, one of CODEX’s three key pillars, alongside the Engagement Hub and the Action Incubator. The Learning Hub aims to provide the diagnostic excellence community with the latest information on emerging developments in the field, including research findings, educational advancements, practice innovations, and policy changes. A central aspect of the Learning Hub's activities will be highlighting emerging trends in artificial intelligence to improve clinical diagnosis.
“AI is transforming diagnostic care at an unprecedented pace. I envision the Learning Hub as a trusted resource that cuts through the noise of misinformation and hype, providing clinicians, learners, patients, and policymakers with actionable, high-quality insights to drive improvements to patient outcomes.”
Anjana Sharma, MD, MAS
Learning Hub Faculty Lead, UCSF CODEX
Associate Professor, UCSF Department of Family and Community Medicine
In addition to promoting the Learning Hub as a critical resource for clinicians, educators, and patients navigating the evolving landscape of AI and diagnostic safety, Anjana will lead efforts to monitor emerging research and trends in diagnostic excellence. Alongside the Learning Hub team, she also will curate educational materials tailored to the diagnostic excellence community.
As a primary care physician and researcher, Anjana has spent numerous years studying patient safety in primary and ambulatory care, with a particular focus on how diverse patient populations experience diagnostic care. Her work has explored strategies to prevent diagnostic and medication errors, examined patient experiences through qualitative research—including a study of the viral hashtag #DoctorsAreDickheads—and developed interventions to improve patient engagement in medical care such as text messaging programs to enable patients to report safety concerns.
Her expertise includes building and maintaining representative and ethical patient advisory councils, conducting mixed-methods research, and leading community-engaged initiatives. Her work predominantly focuses on public healthcare networks, serving patients who have been structurally and historically marginalized. She also teaches evidence-based medicine and patient involvement in practice improvement to the UCSF Family and Community Medicine Residency Program at ZSFG.
Anjana was drawn to CODEX for its rigorous, evidence-based approach and commitment to health equity. She sees this role as an opportunity to bridge her work in patient safety research with practical, innovative solutions that will shape the future of diagnostic care. Anjana’s commitment to engaging patients and communities in healthcare improvement aligns seamlessly with CODEX’s mission to lead change in diagnostic quality, safety, and equity. Her leadership is poised to foster a more inclusive and effective diagnostic excellence community.
"We’re very pleased to have a researcher and educator of Anjana’s caliber to lead the Learning Hub," said Sumant Ranji, MD, director of UCSF CODEX. "Anjana brings a wealth of experience to CODEX through her perspectives as a diagnostic excellence expert and family physician who has deep experience in community engagement. She and our outstanding staff will work to bring the latest research and innovations to the diagnostic excellence community through this crucial role."
Anjana received her BA from Columbia University in ecology, evolution, and environmental biology before completing her MD from Harvard Medical School and residency at Tufts/Cambridge Health Alliance. She is a graduate of the Primary Care Research Fellowship and received her MAS in clinical research at UCSF. She also balances her professional commitments with family life, raising two small, active children and caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease. She is a Bay Area native, a fan of the Giants, 49ers, and Golden State Warriors, and plays a banjo (not well!) and watches RuPaul’s Drag Race in her spare time.
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Learn More About Anjana
View this video about Anjana’s commitment to family and community medicine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3FhEBj-RX4
Find Anjana’s publications here:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=liy_ZGQAAAAJ&hl=en
About UCSF CODEX (Coordinating Center for Diagnostic Excellence)
Every person deserves access to an accurate and timely diagnosis. At CODEX, we never stop working toward making that a reality. We serve as a national coordinating entity, engaging the diagnostic excellence community to promote novel findings, catalyze action, and advance the field. Our mission is to lead change in the field of diagnostic excellence by facilitating activities that result in measurable improvement in diagnostic quality, safety, and equity.
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