The UCSF Years: Richard K. Root and Merle A. Sande, 1985–1989
“The Beeson–Petersdorf Lineage on the Western Front”
When Richard K. (“Dick”) Root was recruited to UCSF in 1985, he became Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief. At that moment, Dr. Merle A. Sande was Vice Chairman of Medicine—and indeed, he had recruited Root to come west. Sande had been leading the medical service at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) throughout the height of the AIDS crisis (from 1982 onward), and his success there made him one of the most influential infectious disease figures in the country. He and Root were long-time friends and professional allies, deeply connected through the Beeson–Petersdorf lineage of academic medicine.
The Recruitment (1984–1985)
In late 1984, after the chairmanship at UCSF opened, Merle Sande urged the school to recruit his close friend Dick Root from Yale to lead the department. Sande recognized Root’s national stature: a Beeson-Petersdorf protégé, a Harrison’s editor, and a brilliant clinician-scientist with rare leadership balance (triple-threat qualities that UCSF valued). Sande’s goal was to bring in someone with both the intellectual rigor and humane leadership style that UCSF needed amid the pressures of the AIDS epidemic, fiscal strain, and academic expansion.
Their Working Relationship (1985–1989)
Once Root arrived as Chairman of Medicine, Sande continued as Vice Chairman and Chief of Medical Services at SFGH—meaning that Root was, technically, Sande’s departmental superior, but the two worked in an unusually close, collegial partnership.
Richard K. Root – Chairman of Medicine; Physician-in-Chief, UCSF (1985–1989)
Merle A. Sande – Vice Chairman of Medicine, UCSF; Chief, Medical Service, SFGH
Root’s primary focus was the oversight of the entire Department of Medicine, including academic leadership, faculty development, and clinical programs. Sande’s focus was the direct oversight of AIDS care, inpatient services, and clinical training at SFGH. Their relationship was one of professional equals in intellect and friendship; their dynamic was collaborative and personal. Sande was a lifelong friend and trusted ally—the local anchor who brought Root into the San Francisco system. Both shared the same ideals: the “triple-threat” physician model, humane care, teaching excellence, and academic rigor, grounded in the Beeson–Petersdorf lineage and deeply patient-oriented values.
Scientific Collaboration and Co-PI Grants
Their partnership extended beyond administration into research. According to UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann’s 2012 “Chancellor’s Last Lecture,” the Rockefeller Foundation approached UCSF with a grant to study heterosexual transmission of HIV in East Africa. Merle Sande and Dick Root were named Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs) on the project. Desmond-Hellmann recounted: “So the Rockefeller Foundation approached UCSF. Merle Sande and Dick Root were the Co-PIs of a project that Rockefeller funded. And at the time, they were deeply concerned about heterosexual transmission of HIV in East Africa… Rockefeller asked UCSF to study this.” (UCSF News, 2012)
The project sent UCSF physicians, including Susan and Nick Hellmann, to Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. At the time, scientists were still uncertain whether HIV spread primarily through heterosexual contact. The Rockefeller-funded UCSF study, led by Root and Sande, helped confirm that heterosexual transmission was indeed a major route—findings that influenced global HIV prevention and education strategies.
Beyond this project, Root and Sande co-edited the ten-volume series Contemporary Issues in Infectious Diseases throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. They collaborated on NIH and VA grants in sepsis, antimicrobial therapy, and opportunistic infection management, continuing the network of cross-institutional infectious-disease scholarship that connected Yale, UCSF, and the University of Washington.
Philosophical and Pedagogical Impact
Root and Sande were seen as two of the last true academic physicians of the Beeson–Petersdorf school. They emphasized humane care, mentorship, and the integration of research with bedside medicine. Their rounds at SFGH often became master classes in both science and empathy, reinforcing that clinical excellence required compassion as much as intellect.
Ward 86 and Ward 5B at SFGH stood as living examples of that philosophy. These wards were not only medical units but ethical spaces—demonstrating to residents and fellows that medicine could retain its soul even amid epidemic-scale suffering.
The Legacy of the UCSF Era
From 1985 to 1989, Root and Sande transformed UCSF’s Department of Medicine into a national model of academic leadership during crisis. Under their guidance, the department combined clinical innovation, global research, and compassion-driven care. Their efforts helped UCSF become one of the foremost centers of AIDS research and training in the world.
When Root left UCSF in 1991 to return to the University of Washington as Vice Chairman of Medicine and Chief of Medicine at Harborview, he left behind a department defined by collegiality and purpose. Sande continued to lead at SFGH before becoming Chair of Medicine at the University of Utah in the 1990s. Their friendship endured until Root’s death in 2006, and both are remembered as architects of the humane, research-driven academic medicine that defined their generation.
In retrospect, the Root–Sande partnership (1985–1989) represents the final flowering of the Beeson–Petersdorf tradition—the union of clinical science, moral conviction, and mentorship that bridged the postwar academic era with the age of global medicine.
Context: UCSF, 1985–1989
When Dr. Richard K. (“Dick”) Root was recruited to UCSF in 1985, he became Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief. At that moment, Dr. Merle A. Sande was Vice Chairman of Medicine — and indeed, he had recruited Root to come west.
Sande had been leading the medical service at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) throughout the height of the AIDS crisis (from 1982 onward), and his success there made him one of the most influential infectious disease figures in the country. He and Root were long-time friends and professional allies, deeply connected through the Beeson–Petersdorf lineage of academic medicine.
The Recruitment (1984–1985)
In late 1984, after the chairmanship at UCSF opened, Merle Sande urged the school to recruit his close friend Dick Root from Yale to lead the department. Sande recognized Root’s national stature: a Beeson-Petersdorf protégé, a Harrison’s editor, and a brilliant clinician-scientist with rare leadership balance (triple-threat qualities that UCSF valued).Sande’s goal was to bring in someone with both the intellectual rigor and humane leadership style that UCSF needed amid the pressures of the AIDS epidemic, fiscal strain, and academic expansion.
Their Working Relationship (1985–1989)
Once Root arrived as Chairman of Medicine, Sande continued as Vice Chairman and Chief of Medical Services at SFGH — meaning that Root was, technically, Sande’s departmental superior, but the two worked in an unusually close, collegial partnership.
Richard K. Root – Chairman of Medicine; Physician-in-Chief, UCSF (1985–1989)
Merle A. Sande – Vice Chairman of Medicine, UCSF; Chief, Medical Service, SFGH
Root’s primary focus was the oversight of the entire Department of Medicine, including academic leadership, faculty development, and clinical programs. Sande’s focus was the direct oversight of AIDS care, inpatient services, and clinical training at SFGH.
Their relationship was one of professional equals in intellect and friendship; their dynamic was collaborative and personal. Sande was a lifelong friend and trusted ally — the local anchor who brought Root into the San Francisco system. Both shared the same ideals: the “triple-threat” physician model, humane care, teaching excellence, and academic rigor, grounded in the Beeson–Petersdorf lineage and deeply patient-oriented values.
Their Broader Legacy
The Root–Sande partnership became a defining era for UCSF’s Department of Medicine — bridging clinical innovation, compassion, and academic leadership amid the AIDS crisis.Sande’s clinical programs at SFGH (Ward 86, Ward 5B) were the humanitarian front line of AIDS care; Root’s chairmanship provided departmental strength and national visibility. Together they institutionalized a humane, collegial ethos — one that mirrored the best of the Beeson–Petersdorf tradition transplanted to the West Coast.
Aftermath
When Root left UCSF in 1991 to return to the University of Washington as Vice Chair and Chief at Harborview, Sande remained in San Francisco and continued to lead at SFGH until moving to the University of Utah in the 1990s. Their friendship endured. They were mutual admirers, co-authors, and kindred spirits — both seen as the last generation of “true academic physicians” before corporatization overtook medicine.
Root and Sande - Rockefeller Grant Team
UCSF, Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, 2012, Chancellor's Last Lecture, 2012.
"So the Rockefeller Foundation approached UCSF. Merle Sande and Dick Root were the co-PIs of a project that Rockefeller funded. And at the time, they were deeply concerned about heterosexual transmission of HIV in East Africa. They weren't actually sure that it was true that there was heterosexual transmission. There were many stories, "Well, maybe it is actually related to sexual transmission and people are embarrassed to talk about their sexual behaviors, or maybe there's something else going on in Africa."
But Rockefeller wanted to understand it. And so Rockefeller asked UCSF to study this. And UCSF loaned my husband, also a physician and infectious disease doctor, and I to Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. So we sublet our flat, we sold our Honda Civics, and we literally packed up as big a suitcase as we could find and moved to Uganda."
https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/04/104155/transcript-chancellors-last-lecture-2012
Definition: Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI)
A Principal Investigator (PI) is the lead scientist responsible for the design, conduct, and reporting of a research project — usually an NIH or VA grant. When two or more investigators share that responsibility equally, they are listed as Co-PIs. Dr. Richard K. Root were jointly leading a funded research project — likely a major infectious-disease grant, clinical study, or multicenter collaboration.
UCSF formally recognized both as joint scientific leads on a funded project — possibly in sepsis pathophysiology or antimicrobial trials, early HIV/AIDS infection management protocols, or a VA/UCSF cooperative infectious-disease research program.
Context for Root & Sande (Early- to Mid-1980s)
During 1982–1985, both men were major figures in academic infectious disease research. Root was still at Yale (until his 1985 move to UCSF) and heavily NIH-funded. Sande was Chief of Medical Service at San Francisco General / UCSF, directing AIDS and infectious-disease programs. They were co-editors of Contemporary Issues in Infectious Diseases — Volumes 1–10 (1980s–early 1990s) — and collaborators on several NIH and pharmaceutical-industry-sponsored projects on antimicrobial therapy, sepsis, and emerging pathogens.
Why It Matters
For both men, a Co-PI relationship signals deep intellectual partnership (not just friendship), shared authorship and grant management, equal responsibility for major research directions, and institutional acknowledgment of both as senior leaders of the field.
In other words, they weren’t just colleagues — they were joint architects of research programs, much like co-chairs of an academic initiative.