Emily Mrig, PhD

Dr. Emily Hammad Mrig is an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Francisco Department of Clinical Pharmacy and at the Center for Translational and Policy Research on Precision Medicine (TRANSPERS); she is also an associate faculty member at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC) and the Institute for Health Policy Studies (IHPS). Before joining the UCSF faculty, Emily completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Yale University School of Public Health. Emily is an interdisciplinary scholar with diverse training and experience in public health, health policy, and social science that she applies to investigate inequities in healthcare access, especially in precision medicine, cancer, and end-of-life care. She focuses on the broader institutional, community, and policy factors shaping health disparities and the possibility of health policy interventions to produce effective change.

Emily’s research engages qualitative and quantitative approaches, integrating multilevel perspectives on key health policy and insurance coverage issues to understand disparities and promote equitable access to health and healthcare. Current projects include an examination of patient-facing cost barriers to timely access to molecular diagnostics, including circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and targeted therapy, by integrating electronic health records (EHR) and geospatial data belonging to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Emily is also leading a study on access to exome and whole-genome sequencing for patients with undiagnosed and rare genetic diseases. These studies provide a knowledge base for addressing disparities in access to precision medicine and generating timely evidence to guide equitable implementation of novel precision medicine technologies.