Following a successful debut series last year, the 2025 AVC Speaker Series opened with a full house as Campus Life Services, FAS, and friends waited eagerly to hear featured speaker, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong.
Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist, has become a UCSF celebrity, known for bringing humor to his informative town halls. He is frequently invited by media outlets to comment on health stories and share information on topics such as COVI9-19 and Mpox.
Chin-Hong opened the talk by sharing his origin stories, dating back to his childhood spent in a small village in the South of Trinidad, an island in the Caribbean, where he helped his parents in a community store. There, he witnessed life unfold for the many village residents and noticed how his parents became de facto social workers, helping neighbors in need solve problems and access resources.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong answers questions while in discussion with Senior Vice Chancellor, Finance and Administration, Erin S. Gore
Now, as a long-time resident and professor at UCSF, Chin-Hong’s work focuses on creating opportunities for others through programs such as UCSF’s San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (SJV PRIME), which trains medical students to work with underserved populations in the Central Valley.
For Chin-Hong, there is a strong overlap between social justice issues and health issues, and he has spoken out on topics such as the role of stigma as a barrier to care during the Monkeypox outbreak and the COVID health implications related to overcrowding in prisons.
“The problem with COVID in prisons is not just a problem in prisons. It's a problem for all of us…so it was really in our best interest, outside of the ethics, to really think about taking care of those vulnerable people,” Chin-Hong said.
But he says, we shouldn’t get discouraged by divisive issues, but practice ‘selective alarmism’ and ‘humble inquiry’ to find areas of commonality across political lines.
Most of all, he says, we must remember gratitude and kindness.
Associate Vice Chancellor Jon Giacomi and Director of Communications Sean Aloise welcome Dr. Peter Chin-Hong at the AVC Speaker Series
“Probably one of the best places to be is UCSF and California. I feel lucky in that regard to be surrounded by so many like-minded people in general than in other places, and perhaps at some point we can bridge the divide from a health perspective."
Following his presentation, he fielded questions on topics ranging from whooping cough and vaccines to his favorite karaoke song and whether he is team Elphaba or Glinda (he says, Elphaba).
Like his favorite Wicked character, Chin-Hong has made a career out of defying gravity- navigating multiple concurrent health crises with poise and wit. It’s a type of resilience, he says, that many of us at CLS possess as we strive to make life better here for all.