Mr. Bernal builds relationships between UCSF and local, state, and federal entities on issues affecting higher education, research, and health care. Before he came to UCSF, he was chief of staff in the San Francisco district office of U.S. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. His three decades of public service include a stint as president of the San Francisco Health Commission, where he oversaw one of the nation’s most effective and inclusive responses to COVID-19 and advanced the Getting to Zero initiative to reduce HIV-related health disparities among San Francisco’s vulnerable populations. Mr. Bernal earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Northeastern University and an executive certificate in public leadership from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
