R. Jan Gurley

Physician-writer

Dr. Jan Gurley, a board-certified internist physician, is the only Harvard Medical School graduate, ever, to have been awarded the coveted Shoney’s Ten-Step Pin for documented excellence in waitressing. Her health/science background covers the vast territory from sub-cell systems, to human studies, to the captivating science of seeing patients one-on-one. Her training includes basic science research (graduating magna cum laude from Harvard), then a residency at UCSF in Internal Medicine, as well as a Robert Wood Johnson Fellowship (Stanford/UCSF Joint Program) in epidemiology, public health and public policy, followed by work as an administrator of large divisions of the San Francisco DPH where she currently sees patients in a clinic for the homeless. Doc Gurley’s health writing has appeared in Salon, The San Francisco Chronicle, and the Chronicle Sunday magazine, along with regular pieces in BlogHer, KevinMD and as one of SFGate's City Brights. Jezebel has called her "indispensible." Her research has appeared in academic publications including the New England Journal of Medicine. You can read more about her at www.docgurley.com.

Articles

Booby Traps: Pitfalls along the path of genetic testing and mastectomies

I had decided to get genetic testing, and I told everyone who cared that if it came back positive, I'd have both my breasts removed. I thought I was ready for that.

Tobacco Industry's Growing Power: Bad Acts, Lessons Learned, and New Tricks

At a recent public health conference in San Francisco, health advocates warned that the war on tobacco is far from over. Here's the latest from the front lines.

Coding for Health: Health 2.0's Global Code-a-thon

This year's Health 2.0′s Code-a-thon led to a Twitter app that may prevent suicide, a disaster triage smartphone app and tools for remotely reading medical tests. Read about the 2012 award winners from one of the competition's judges.

Unmentionables at Health 2.0: Is Your Bank Balance Making You Sick?

What are the "unmentionables" in healthcare and technology? A public health doctor weighs in from this week's Health 2.0 conference.

Needle Exchange Budget Cuts: A Blow to Public Health

<p>Time and time again, needle exchange programs for drug addicts have been shown to reduce the spread of diseases like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. So why is the federal government slashing their funding?</p>

The Farmville of Health?

<p>Can computer applications make people healthy (and companies profitable)?  The quest is on to develop a game-changer like Farmville.</p>

Prescription Bottle

Adverse Events: Did a Scrappy Little Start-Up Just Embarrass the FDA?

<p>A new start-up is mining the FDA's adverse event data for medications and finding potentially dangerous patterns that the regulatory agency hasn't addressed — but should.</p>

Health 2.0 Code-A-Thon: Some Amazing, Fresh Approaches to Health Problems

<p>Can you change healthcare in just 28 hours? Can a team of programmers save lives and change the world? Check out their worthy attempts from the Health 2.0 Code-a-thon.</p>

Spamming for Public Health

<p>Doc Gurley dives into spamming for a good cause: to improve public health. Here's what she learned.</p>

File photo

Does your city need a wet house for homeless alcoholics?

<p>The issue of homeless people drinking themselves to death on a sidewalk is one that unites and divides communities in unpredictable ways. Could a "wet house" be the answer in your city?</p>