Donald Abrams, MD

Experience

Dr. Donald Abrams provides integrative medicine consultations to people living with and beyond cancer at the Osher Center, with an emphasis on nutrition and cancer. In addition to his role at the Osher Center, he is also a general oncologist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. 

He was the president of the Society for Integrative Oncology in 2010 and has been a member of various education sub-committees of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He was chief of the Hematology-Oncology Division at Zuckerberg San Francisco General from 2003-2017. He co-edited the Oxford University Press textbook “Integrative Oncology” with Andrew Weil, MD. He was also named a “Top Cancer Doctor” in Newsweek’s 2015 Special Health Issue on Curing Cancer, in the category of Medical Oncology (details).

Prior to specializing in oncology, Dr. Abrams worked in the field of HIV. He has served as assistant director of the UCSF Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital and was chair of the Community Consortium, a professional association of more than 200 primary care providers treating Bay Area patients with HIV. He has conducted numerous clinical trials investigating complementary therapies in patients with HIV, including therapeutic touch, traditional Chinese medicine interventions, medical marijuana, medicinal mushrooms, and distant healing.

Education and Training

• Fellowship in Hematology-Oncology, UCSF Cancer Research Institute 
• Fellowship in Integrative Medicine, University of Arizona, Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine
• Internal Medicine Residency Training, Kaiser Foundation Hospital, San Francisco
• MD, Stanford University
• AB, Molecular Biology, Brown University 

Personal Statement and Approach

I believe people, especially those getting cancer treatments, really benefit from having both a conventional treatment plan as well as a whole-person approach. Good nutrition is an important part of the regimen, but other facets include nutritional supplements, physical activity, yoga, traditional Chinese medicine including acupuncture, and stress reduction with massage, guided imagery, biofeedback, and meditation.

Publications

View publications on UCSF Profiles

Resources

Dr. Abram's presentations on integrative cancer care:

• Dr. Abrams' four-part video series on Integrative Cancer Care
  • Part 1: An Introduction to Integrative Cancer Care
  • Part 2: The Role of Nutrition
  • Part 3: Rational Use of Natural Supplements
  • Part 4: Cannabis in Integrative Cancer Care
• Video: Dr. Abrams speaking on integrative cancer care to patients at UCSF (6/30/16)
• Video: Dr. Abrams at Symington Foundation Symposium: The Integration of An Oncologist (1/14/16)
• Video: Dr. Abrams speaking on integrative oncology to NorCal CarciNET (12/1/2012)

Dr. Abrams' presentations on healthy aging:

• Interview: Dr. Abrams on the topic of healthy aging (May 2012)
• Video: Dr. Abrams speaking on Healthy Aging at the San Francisco Public Library (2/12/15)