Harold R. Collard

Harold R. Collard, MD, MS, is the vice chancellor for Research at UCSF. In this role, Collard oversees and stewards UCSF’s research mission.

Collard is professor of Medicine and Health Policy in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine. A board-certified pulmonologist, he joined UCSF’s faculty in 2005 and served for 12 years as director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program. Collard is an internationally recognized leader in the care and research of patients with interstitial lung disease. He has over 200 peer-reviewed research publications and was awarded the 2019 Gold Medal in Interstitial Lung Disease from the European Respiratory Society for his research leadership in the field. Collard also received the 2020 American Thoracic Society Clinical Problems Assembly Mentorship Award in recognition of his central role in developing the next generation of interstitial lung disease research leaders.

Deeply committed to advancing UCSF’s research mission, Collard previously served as associate vice chancellor of Clinical Research and director of UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute. In this role, he helped to position the University as a leader in the NIH’s national consortium of clinical research institutions and developed programs to support the needs of its clinical trialists and biospecimen-based researchers. During this time, Collard also helped lead the UCSF research community through the early phases of the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, advocating strongly for their needs.

Collard believes the next decade will be a critical period for UCSF’s research community and views the vice chancellor for Research as a crucial champion and steward of the University’s research mission. His priorities for UCSF include ensuring, enabling, and positioning its research community for success across the spectrum of disciplines and departments; making UCSF a partner of choice for clinical trials; ensuring curiosity-driven science remains a foundational component of research activities; and growing relationships with community partners and policymakers to prioritize and promote health research. Collard also is strongly committed to UCSF PRIDE Values and building a community of trust and opportunity for all.

Collard received his AB cum laude in Biochemical Sciences and Molecular Biology from Harvard College, and his MD from Duke University. He completed internship, residency, and chief residency in Internal Medicine at UCSF and completed a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado. As part of his research training, Collard earned a Certificate in Clinical Science from the University of Colorado and an MS in Health Law and Policy from the UC Hastings College of the Law and UCSF.