Mark Jacobson papers
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of various materials collected and produced by Mark Jacobson, a clinician, educator, and researcher who specialized in HIV/AIDS, throughout his career from the mid-1980s to 2011. Included in this collection are research findings, conference materials, administrative materials, clinical care materials, academic calendar planners, electronic records in the form of floppy disks and CDs, Jacobson’s PalmPilot, medication packaging, 2 AZT capsules, photographs, and patient index cards. There are hundreds of patient index cards which are stored in a case within the larger carton. Each of the cards are assigned to an individual patient and details their symptoms, treatments, results, and often their death dates. The floppy disks, both 3.5-inch and 5.25-inch disks, make up the bulk of the collection, and all appear to be in good condition. Contained on these disks are research materials, study/trial results, data analysis, presentation materials, and more, all pertaining to Jacobson’s efforts to providing quality care to his patients with HIV/AIDS and AIDS-associated opportunistic infections. This collection provides insight into the front-line work that went into providing care for AIDS patients at a time full of uncertainty and the efforts of clinicians like Dr. Jacobson to investigate treatment options and share knowledge with other care providers.
Dates
- Creation: 1985-2011
Conditions Governing Access
The UCSF Archives and Special Collections policy places access restrictions on material with privacy issues for a specific time period from the date of creation. Access to records that contain personal and confidential information about an individual or individuals is restricted for 75 years from date of creation or until the death of the individual mentioned in the records, whichever is longer. Access to medical records is restricted for 100 years from the latest date of the materials in those files. Restrictions are noted at the series level. This collection will be reviewed for sensitive content upon request. Contact the UCSF Archivist for information on access to these files.
Conditions Governing Use
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of the University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing, and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Biographical / Historical
Dr. Mark Jacobson is a clinician, educator, and researcher who specialized in HIV/AIDS and its complications after joining the UCSF faculty in 1986 and led observational studies and multicenter, interventional trials focusing on AIDS-associated opportunistic infections. His subsequent research was translational, investigating protective immunity against chronic viral infections, in particular cytomegalovirus (CMV), HIV, and human papillomavirus (HPV). He taught medicine residents and medical students and provided clinical care in the Ward 86 HIV clinic at San Francisco General Hospital until March, 2020, when he moved to the Division of Occupational, Environmental, and Climate Medicine division to help create a system for managing COVID-19 health issues for the 6,000 health care personnel working at SF General and affiliated SF Department of Public Health facilities. This effort included development of an Occupational Health Service COVID-19 Hotline, Hotline staff standard work guidance for testing/off-return to work decisions/vaccination, management of COVID-19 vaccine adverse events, and a quality improvement program. His leadership of the QI effort have resulted in 5 medical journal publications to date. Dr. Jacobson is also the author of Sensing Light, a novel published in 2016 about the unfolding of the AIDS epidemic in 1980s San Francisco from the perspective of front-line, treating physicians. Dr. Jacobson retired in May 2024 but continues to volunteer with the UCSF Divisions of Occupational/Environmental/Climate Medicine as a policy consultant and mentor for junior faculty and with the Division of HIV/Infectious Diseases as a consultant for opportunistic infection management. He also volunteers as a community educator about climate change.
Extent
1.67 Linear Feet (1 Carton, 1 Box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Dr. Mark Jacobson is a clinician, educator, and researcher who specialized in HIV/AIDS and its complications after joining the UCSF faculty in 1986, where he led observational studies and multicenter, interventional trials focusing on AIDS-associated opportunistic infections. He worked as a clinician at San Francisco General Hospital where he provided care to HIV/AIDS patients, and much of this work is documented in this collection throughout his career from the mid-1980s to 2011. Included in this collection are research findings, conference materials, administrative materials, clinical care materials, academic calendar planners, electronic records in the form of floppy disks and CDs, Jacobson’s PalmPilot, medication packaging, 2 AZT capsules, photographs, and patient index cards. This collection provides insight into the front-line work that went into providing care for AIDS patients at a time full of uncertainty and the efforts of clinicians like Dr. Jacobson to investigate treatment options and share knowledge with other care providers.
Arrangement
-
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was donated to the UCSF Archives and Special Collections by Mark Jacobson in 2017.
Accruals
No future additions are expected.
Separated Materials
Books from this collection were transferred to the AIDS history collection.
Processing Information
Processed by H. Herrick in 2026.
- Title
- Inventory of the Mark Jacobson Papers
- Author
- H. Herrick
- Date
- May 2026
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the UCSF Archives and Special Collections Repository
UCSF Kalmanovitz Library
530 Parnassus Avenue
San Francisco CA 94143-0840 USA
https://www.library.ucsf.edu/archives/ask-an-archivist/