Katie Murphy Spotlight
June 29, 2023
Katie Murphy, communication director for the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at UCSF, will be retiring at the end of June 2023. Katie first joined the university in 1993. That summer, she and her husband had returned from four months in Europe to their apartment in Inner Sunset, just about a block away from the Parnassus campus. As she tells it. “I needed a job because, after Europe, I was out of money. I thought, well, I could go downtown, or there’s UCSF right outside my kitchen window.” Katie was first an editorial assistant in the peer review process at the American Journal of Human Genetics; when the journal moved to Seattle shortly thereafter, she joined radiology to work with the Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs.
As CME coordinator Katie organized visiting fellowships, a program that invited outside doctors to attend classes taught by UCSF faculty. In those days, MRI was a newer technology and many general radiologists traveled to UCSF to add new skills to their established practice of general radiology. For a time, physicians would routinely fly in from other states and countries, often sponsored by MRI manufacturers. Katie recalls that once, it was a surprise when the presenting doctor’s 80-year-old mother accompanied him to training!
A constant flow of change and the ability to wear many hats, often simultaneously, have been the hallmarks of Katie’s tenure at UCSF. When Katie first started in the department, administrators didn’t use email. When she needed to send an urgent note to faculty or clinicians, she used memo paper in a specific “Don’t Ignore Me” blue to convey important messages that could be seen among the doctors’ piles of mail. The reading rooms still relied on chemical film, developed by Kodak, filling the areas with a characteristic smell. As Katie’s experience and responsibilities expanded, she compiled and edited Images magazine, as well as organized Grand Rounds and named lectures. When the work on the visiting fellowships declined with the rise of HIPPA-related concerns, Katie’s role expanded to include communications, organizing scientific events, department newsletters, and oversight of the department website and social media. Since 2001, Katie has been the administrator for the Margulis Society alumni board, providing staff leadership for their philanthropic support of residency and fellow training at UCSF through an annual giving campaign and biannual galas. Katie has organized many Margulis Society lectures and trainee career conferences over the years, all in the service of fostering faculty and trainee relationships with an ever-expanding network of alumni.
Through all of these changes and expansions, Katie has been known and appreciated as an enthusiastic partner to faculty and staff, a steady and gracious presence with an archival knowledge of department personalities and history, and an invaluable resource in navigating the complexities of UCSF. In 2013, Katie received the Chancellor's Award for exceptional university service and in 2016 she received the department's Cathy Garzio Award for outstanding staff employee. Katie said, “I will miss the problem-solving aspect of this job. There are always new problems in this busy department, but I feel like people use teamwork to solve problems with a very egalitarian and inclusive approach.”
Across her three decades of service, Katie has made more connections than she can list with people for whom she still holds a great closeness. She describes the bittersweet nature of departing from UCSF, “I’m going to miss the social connections I have here. Everyone in the department is somebody I gain knowledge from intellectually. I feel stimulated here. I appreciate being surrounded by so many smart people and learning all the time.” Early in her career, Katie became acquainted with Susan Wall, MD, and has always held appreciation for how kind she was and how willing to reach out to help someone early in their career here. Cathy Garzio was a great mentor and leader to many people, including Katie, while Hideyo Minagi, MD, has been a close faculty buddy for many years. After all this time, he keeps in touch, sending her an email here and there. Katie values her relationship with Soonmee Cha, MD, and says she has learned from Cha’s approach in advocating for the residents and supporting a culture of teamwork. She works closely with Christine Glastonbury, MBBS, someone with whom Katie has always felt a connection. She served on the seminar committee with David Saloner, PhD, and appreciates how well they worked as a team.
Katie extends special thanks to the department communications team. Longtime team members, Cindy Cheng and Hanh Ryan, and more recent additions Rita Gaber and Steaven Campbell have worked with her and become good friends. In this last year Katie has been a great mentor and guide for two new team members, Francis Horan and Victoria Odson. Katie is also grateful to Melinda Parangan-Chu, director of education & administration, for her friendship and wise advice over many years in the department.
Now stepping beyond UCSF, Katie is considering reinvention. She plans to expand her skills in Japanese woodblock printing and landscape painting, and she looks forward to enjoying her time to exercise and travel in every direction. She has already planned trips to visit friends in Mendocino and Washington, DC. As we congratulate Katie on her retirement, and wish her an enjoyable and exciting next chapter, Katie shares a fond farewell: “I want to say thank you to the department for a great career, for supporting me, for the friendship and for the connections. I feel like this department is more than it seems; it is a root system that connects us all, not just through the intellect but through the heart. I love the people here and the work that we have done.”
