Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Dr. Kotwal is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. He completed undergraduate training in Anthropology at Northwestern University, and his medical and biostatistics training at University of Chicago. He went on to complete his Internal Medicine residency at Harvard University’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and an integrated clinical fellowship in Geriatrics and Palliative Care at UCSF.
Dr. Kotwal co-leads the Social Connections and Aging lab at UCSF which focuses on the health effects of loneliness and social isolation among older adults, and how interventions which enhance social connection can improve quality of life and health care access. The lab also serves as a hub for the Northern California Coalition for Social Connection which facilitates collaboration among community organizations addressing loneliness and social isolation. His work is deeply grounded in his clinical practice at the San Francisco VA Medical Center where he attends on the geriatrics and palliative care services. Recent research has investigated experiences of loneliness and social isolation among older adults with cognitive impairment and serious illness, as well as the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on social well-being. Dr. Kotwal uses a variety of research approaches to achieve his goals, including advanced epidemiologic methods for national survey and health services research, and community-engaged research and implementation sciences to evaluate community-based interventions.
Dr. Kotwal is funded by the National Institute on Aging through a K23 Career Development Award. He is a research scholar in the UCSF Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center and has received funding from the National Palliative Care Research Center, Hellman Family Fund, Metta Foundation, and California Department of Public Health. He is a Co-Investigator on the NIA-funded National Social life Health and Aging Project and serves on the scientific leadership council for the Foundation for Social Connection. He is Associate Director of the UCSF Division of Geriatrics NIH-funded T32 Aging Research Fellowship and has a strong interest in mentorship. In addition, he is a core faculty member of UCSF S.O.L.V.E. Tech, a cross-UC campus initiative dedicated to partnering with digital health companies to advance equity for older adults in all phases of the technology development process.