ACEP Award for Outstanding Contribution to Research

Congratulations to Lewis S. Nelson, MD, MBA who received the 2023 ACEP Award for Outstanding Contribution in Research!

Robert M. Rodriguez, MD, is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and the Vice Chair of Research at the UCSF Department of Emergency Medicine. After the University of Notre Dame and Harvard Medical School, he completed a combined Emergency Medicine/Internal Medicine residency at UCLA and a Critical Care Medicine fellowship at Stanford.

Dr. Rodriguez has served as Principal Investigator on multiple RO1 and U grants, leading national teams examining issues in trauma, public health, and critical care. Recognizing the pivotal role that emergency departments play as the “safety net of the safety net,” much of Dr. Rodriguez’ research centers on emergency health care access for underserved populations. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed original research articles in high impact journals, including 40 articles in Annals of Emergency Medicine and Academic Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Rodriguez considers his services as a research mentor to be his most important contribution to research. With a "Sí, se puede" attitude and a particular focus on under-represented in medicine trainees, he has mentored over 210 students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty over the past 25 years. He is proud that 54 of his research mentees have garnered research funding, all of his undergraduate mentees have continued to medical school or other health professional training programs, and many of his advisees have continued onto careers in academic medicine. He has received multiple mentoring awards, including the UCSF CTSI Mentor of the Year, the Unidos US Xcellence in Leadership Award, and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award, given to a UCSF faculty who best exemplifies the late leader’s commitment to diversity.

Dr. Rodriguez served as an advisor to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the only emergency physician on the Biden/Harris COVID-19 Transition Advisory team. He co-authored the book Lessons from the Covid War: An Investigative Report.