Remembering Sheldon Greenfield, MD

With a heavy heart, the UC Irvine School of Medicine shares the news that Sheldon Greenfield, MD, Donald Bren Professor of medicine and co-executive director of UC Irvine's Health Policy Research Institute, passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025.

With a career spanning more than 50 years, Greenfield made significant contributions to primary care, as well as clinical and health policy research. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, attended medical school at the University of Cincinnati, and completed his residency at Boston City Hospital and Beth Israel Hospital of Boston.
 
Greenfield served as an Epidemic Intelligence Surveillance officer with the CDC, publishing an influential article on the detection and management of meningococcal meningitis in The New England Journal of Medicine. He also co-led the landmark “Medical Outcomes Study” with colleagues from the RAND Corp., examining healthcare delivery systems’ effects on patient interpersonal care, clinical and quality of life outcomes.

He served as a prominent faculty member at UCLA, Tufts University School of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health before coming to UC Irvine in 2003 with his wife and colleague, Sherrie Kaplan, PhD, MPH. Together, they established the Health Policy Research Institute within the School of Medicine, focusing on disparities in health and healthcare.

Greenfield was recognized as a fellow of the World Health Organization and participated in the first public health delegation to Cuba in 1974. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) in 1996 and received several lifetime achievement awards, including one from UC Irvine School of Medicine in 2023.

He is survived by his wife, four children and eight grandchildren.