Esteban G. Burchard, MD, MPH, delivered the 20th Annual Faculty Research Lecture in Clinical Science on November 2. The UCSF Academic Senate selected Burchard for the honor in recognition of his substantial contributions to our understanding of population differences in asthma and asthma treatment, as well as the interactions between genes and environment that drive health disparities.

Burchard’s internationally-recognized research focuses on genes, race, and the environment, and their combined contributions to the development of asthma, particularly in minority children. His lab employs a cross-disciplinary approach that generates both primary research findings and data for use by other researchers.

Burchard’s lecture, titled “My Wonderful Journey from the Hood to Academic Medicine,” was presented via Zoom. Before discussing his latest research, Burchard detailed the obstacles and challenges he and other minorities faced when pursuing careers in medicine. Burchard is of Mexican-American and mixed-race descent, a factor he said contributes to the direction of his research. Burchard described his difficult childhood growing up in the Mission District of San Francisco, the discipline he gained through wrestling in high school and college, and the critical part mentors and role models played in his personal development.