Victoria Tang, MD, MAS

Associate Professor

Dr. Tang is a clinician-researcher who is a national leader in improving the lives of older adults in the surgical setting. Dr. Tang received her MD from University of Texas-Southwestern in 2005. She completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in geriatrics at UT-Southwestern. Dr. Tang joined the UCSF faculty in June 2016, and she is a geriatrician at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

Dr. Tang is an internationally known expert in geriatric surgical care and research. Dr. Tang’s expertise has helped develop geriatric-specific guidelines across multiple disciplines, such as with the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the American College of Surgeons. Her expertise has also helped develop the first geriatric surgical verification program in the nation. Dr. Tang’s research has been featured in high-impact journals, including JAMA-Internal Medicine, JAMA-Surgery, and Annals of Surgery and in the public media, including the New York Times and USA Today.

Dr. Tang’s research has garnered local and national support through generous grant funding. Most recently, Dr. Tang received the prestigious aging leadership award, NIH/NIA K76 Beeson Award, which identifies leaders in aging research. Dr. Tang’s overall objective of her current research is to understand the psychosocial experience of older surgical patients and caregivers and to develop and pilot test a psychosocial intervention to improve depressive symptoms, coping skills, and social support in older surgical patients. The central hypothesis of this project is that with a greater understanding of the psychosocial experience and interventions designed to mitigate the effects of psychosocial vulnerability, post-operative outcomes, such as physical function and quality of life, will improve.

Dr. Tang is committed to building supportive communities that promote continuing self-development and leadership in trainees and junior faculty. Dr. Tang is the Director of Career Development for Wellness within the Division of Geriatrics. With her research and mentoring expertise, she has built and leads a community of junior researchers within the geriatrics division (Early Division of Geriatrics Investigators -- EDGI). EDGI supports junior aging researchers with peer-mentoring, leadership development, and representation within the larger research community. Dr. Tang is also the Program Director of the VA Quality Scholars Program, dedicated to developing future healthcare leaders within the VA system.
Publications

  1. Zhao AY, Parel PM, Maust DT, Sala-Rabanal M, Grucza RA, Park TW, Pennington BRT, Nunley RM, Avidan MS, Tang VL, Lenze EJ, Gu A, Xu KY. Pre- and Postoperative Prescription of Opioids and Benzodiazepines in the US. Journal of the American College of Surgeons 2025. PMID: 40951955


  2. Veldhuizen S, Yohannes S, Tang V, Selby P, Zawertailo L. How soon should alternative smoking cessation treatments be offered after incomplete response to nicotine replacement therapy? Drug and alcohol dependence 2025. PMID: 40815911


  3. Weiss Y, Zarour S, Neuman MD, Politi MC, Tang VL, Gisselbaek M, Berger-Estilita J, Saxena S. Shared decision-making for older adults in the peri-operative setting: A narrative review. European journal of anaesthesiology 2025. PMID: 40551447


  4. Keny C, Maheta B, Lorenz K, Russell MM, Leutwyler H, Wagner LM, Tang V, Park L. Immersive Virtual Reality for Postoperative Pain Among Older Adults: A Scoping Review. Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches 2025. PMID: 40557346


  5. Nikolova YS, Ruocco AC, Felsky D, Lange S, Prevot TD, Vieira E, Voineskos D, Wardell JD, Blumberger DM, Clifford K, Naik Dharavath R, Gerretsen P, Hassan AN, Hope IM, Irwin SH, Jennings SK, Le Foll B, Melamed O, Orson J, Pangarov P, Quigley L, Russell C, Shield K, Sloan ME, Smoke A, Tang V, Valdes Cabrera D, Wang W, Wells S, Wickramatunga R, Sibille E, Quilty LC. Cognitive Dysfunction in the Addictions (CDiA): protocol for a neuron-to-neighbourhood collaborative research program. Frontiers in psychiatry 2025. PMID: 40462873


  6. Myers G, Friedman A, Yu L, Pourmandi N, Kerpet C, Ito MA, Saba R, Tang V, Ozel AB, Bergin IL, Johnson CN, Ku CJ, Wang Y, Balbin-Cuesta G, Lim KC, Lin Z, Drysdale C, McGee B, Kurita R, Nakamura Y, Liu X, Siemieniak D, Singh SA, Lyssiotis CA, Maillard I, Weisman LS, Engel JD, Khoriaty R. A genome-wide screen identifies genes required for erythroid differentiation. Nature communications 2025. PMID: 40221460


  7. Kolovos A, Qassim A, Hassall MM, Marshall HN, Schmidt J, Nguyen TT, He W, Mullany S, Hollitt GL, Berry EC, Tang V, Zhou T, Lake S, Mills R, Landers J, Casson RJ, Galanopoulos A, Graham SL, Schulz A, Healey PR, Mitchell P, Goldberg I, Grigg J, Ruddle J, Mackey DA, Burdon KP, Hewitt AW, Seviiri M, Gharahkhani P, Souzeau E, Siggs OM, MacGregor S, Craig JE. A Multitrait Open-Angle Glaucoma Polygenic Risk Score Stratifies Risk of Glaucoma Diagnosis and Severity in Eyes with Pseudoexfoliation. Ophthalmology 2025. PMID: 40010646


  8. Sieber F, McIsaac DI, Deiner S, Azefor T, Berger M, Hughes C, Leung JM, Maldon J, McSwain JR, Neuman MD, Russell MM, Tang V, Whitlock E, Whittington R, Marbella AM, Agarkar M, Ramirez S, Dyer A, Friel Blanck J, Uhl S, Grant MD, Domino KB. 2025 American Society of Anesthesiologists Practice Advisory for Perioperative Care of Older Adults Scheduled for Inpatient Surgery. Anesthesiology 2025. PMID: 39655991


  9. Ellis Dillon, Christina Keny, Lingsheng Li, Veronica Yank, Alexis Colley, Malini Ramaiyer, Victoria Tang. “I’M HAVING THE WORST TIME”: CAREGIVER EXPERIENCES WHEN OLDER ADULTS UNDERGO MAJOR ELECTIVE SURGERY. Innovation in Aging 2024. PMID:


  10. Nikolova YS, Ruocco AC, Felsky D, Lange S, Prevot TD, Vieira E, Voineskos D, Wardell JD, Blumberger DM, Clifford K, Dharavath RN, Gerretsen P, Hassan AN, Jennings SK, Le Foll B, Melamed O, Orson J, Pangarov P, Quigley L, Russell C, Shield K, Sloan ME, Smoke A, Tang V, Cabrera DV, Wang W, Wells S, Wickramatunga R, Sibille E, Quilty LC, CDiA Program Study Group. Cognitive Dysfunction in the Addictions (CDiA): A Neuron to Neighbourhood Collaborative Research Program on Executive Dysfunction and Functional Outcomes in Outpatients Seeking Treatment for Addiction. medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences 2024. PMID: 39252904


  11. Colley A, Dillon E, Yank V, Keny C, Finlayson E, Dutt M, Tang V. Clinician Perspectives on How Family Support and Psychological Distress Influence Older Adults' Recovery After Major Surgery. Journal of general internal medicine 2024. PMID: 38886320


  12. Colley A, Valderrama A, Tang V, Pierce L, Sudore RL, Wick EC. Health Care Navigators for Perioperative Advance Care Planning. JAMA network open 2024. PMID: 38888926


  13. Kata A, Dillon EC, Christina Keny RN, Yank V, Covinsky KE, Raue PJ, Sandhu HK, Tang VL. "There's So Much That They're Enduring": Experiences of Older Adults Undergoing Major Elective Surgery. Annals of surgery 2024. PMID: 38591223


  14. Cenzer I, Inouye SK, Raue PJ, Keny C, Cooper Z, Tang VL. Trajectories of Postoperative Depressive Symptoms in Older Patients Undergoing Major Surgery. JAMA network open 2024. PMID: 38294817


  15. Keny C, Dillon EC, Russell MM, Colley A, Yank V, Tang V. "It's Incapacitated me in so Many Ways": Older Adults' Lived Experience with Postoperative Symptoms at Home Following Major Elective Surgery. Annals of surgery 2023. PMID: 38050761


  16. Tang VL, Cenzer I, Keny C, John Boscardin W, Covinsky K, Finlayson E, Kotwal A. Social Strain is associated with Functional Decline in Older Adults after Surgery. Journal of general internal medicine 2023. PMID: 37946019


  17. Hussain A, Gopalakrishnan A, Scott H, Seby C, Tang V, Ostrin L, Chakraborty R. Associations between systemic melatonin and human myopia: A systematic review. Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) 2023. PMID: 37568264


  18. Ma M, Peters XD, Zhang LM, Hornor M, Christensen K, Coleman J, Finlayson E, Flood KL, Katlic M, Lagoo-Deenadayalan S, Robinson TN, Rosenthal RA, Tang VL, Ko CY, Russell MM. Multi-Site Implementation of an American College of Surgeons Geriatric Surgery Quality Improvement Initiative. Journal of the American College of Surgeons 2023. PMID: 37185633


  19. Alexis Colley, Charlie Dharmasukrit, Veronica Yank, Ellis Dillon, Victoria Tang. “That Piece Seems to Be Missing:” Interviews with Clinicians Reveal Psychosocial Assessment and Care Are Lacking for Older Adults Undergoing Surgery. Journal of the American College of Surgeons 2023. PMID:


  20. Kim HK, Banik S, Husain MI, Tang V, Levitan R, Daskalakis ZJ, Kloiber S. Systematic review of structured care pathways in major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. BMC psychiatry 2023. PMID: 36732746


  21. Charlie Dharmasukrit, Myrick Clements Shinall, Sun Young Jeon, John Boscardin, Victoria L Tang. Postoperative Functional Health Status in Older Adults Undergoing Minor Surgery: An Observational Study. Journal of the American College of Surgeons 2022. PMID:


  22. Victoria Tang, Emily Virginia Ann Finlayson, John Boscardin, Ashwin Kotwal. Social Strain Is Associated with Functional Health in Older Adults after Major Surgery. Journal of the American College of Surgeons 2022. PMID:


  23. Christina Keny, Victoria Tang, Alexis Colley, Veronica Yank. The Lived Experience of Geriatric Surgical Patients Who Describe Challenging Postoperative Symptoms and the Perceived Impact on Recovery: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis. Journal of the American College of Surgeons 2022. PMID:


  24. Gipson J, Tang V, Seah J, Kavnoudias H, Zia A, Lee R, Mitra B, Clements W. Diagnostic accuracy of a commercially available deep-learning algorithm in supine chest radiographs following trauma. The British journal of radiology 2022. PMID: 35271382


  25. Shinall MC, Beskow LM, Karlekar M, Martin SF, Robbins SG, Tang VL. Psychosocial Stress Prior to Major Oncologic Operations: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Palliative Care Provider Documentation. Annals of surgery 2021. PMID: 33843799


  26. Dharmasukrit C, Ramaiyer M, Dillon EC, Russell MM, Dutt M, Colley A, Tang VL. Public Opinions About Surgery in Older Adults: A Thematic Analysis. "Are Telehealth Visits Feasible for Vulnerable Patients?" 2021. PMID: 35129499


  27. Victoria Tang, Sun Young Jeon, Emily Virginia Ann Finlayson, John Boscardin, kenneth E. covinsky. Long-Term Functional Decline in Older Adults That Survived 6 Months after Major Surgery. Journal of the American College of Surgeons 2020. PMID:


  28. Tang VL, Cenzer I, McCulloch CE, Finlayson E, Cooper Z, Silvestrini M, Ngo S, Schmitt EM, Inouye SK. Preoperative Depressive Symptoms Associated with Poor Functional Recovery after Surgery. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2020. PMID: 32898280


  29. McMahan RD, Barnes DE, Ritchie CS, Jin C, Shi Y, David D, Walker EJ, Tang VL, Sudore RL. Anxious, Depressed, and Planning for the Future: Advance Care Planning in Diverse Older Adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2020. PMID: 32783199


  30. Kata A, Cenzer I, Sudore RL, Covinsky KE, Tang VL. Advance Care Planning Prior to Death in Older Adults with Hip Fracture. Journal of general internal medicine 2020. PMID: 32367390


  31. Tang VL, Jing B, Boscardin J, Ngo S, Silvestrini M, Finlayson E, Covinsky KE. Association of Functional, Cognitive, and Psychological Measures With 1-Year Mortality in Patients Undergoing Major Surgery. JAMA surgery 2020. PMID: 32159753


  32. Tang V, Finlayson E, Covinsky K. Including the Family in Perioperative Care of Older Adults-A Call for HELP. JAMA internal medicine 2019. PMID: 31633747


  33. Kata A, Dutt M, Sudore RL, Finlayson E, Broering JM, Tang VL. What Matters? The Valued Life Activities of Older Adults Undergoing Elective Surgery. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2019. PMID: 31400227


  34. Kaplan JA, Tang V, Finlayson E. How Did We Get Here? A Broader View of the Postoperative Period. Anesthesiology clinics 2019. PMID: 31337475


  35. Tang VL, Dillon EC, Yang Y, Tai-Seale M, Boscardin J, Kata A, Sudore RL. Advance Care Planning in Older Adults With Multiple Chronic Conditions Undergoing High-Risk Surgery. JAMA surgery 2018. PMID: 30516794


  36. Hornor MA, Tang VL, Berian J, Robinson TN, Coleman J, Katlic MR, Rosenthal RA, Christensen K, Baker T, Finlayson E, Lagoo-Deenadaayalan SA, Ko CY, Russell MM. Optimizing the Feasibility and Scalability of a Geriatric Surgery Quality Improvement Initiative. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2019. PMID: 30747992


  37. Tang V, Zhao S, Boscardin J, Sudore R, Covinsky K, Walter LC, Esserman L, Mukhtar R, Finlayson E. Functional Status and Survival After Breast Cancer Surgery in Nursing Home Residents. JAMA surgery 2018. PMID: 30167636


  38. Kata A, Sudore R, Finlayson E, Broering JM, Ngo S, Tang VL. Increasing Advance Care Planning Using a Surgical Optimization Program for Older Adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2018. PMID: 30289968


  39. Wong ML, Shi Y, Fung KZ, Ngo S, Elicker BM, Brown JK, Hiatt RA, Tang VL, Walter LC. Age, comorbidity, life expectancy, and pulmonary nodule follow-up in older veterans. PloS one 2018. PMID: 30044854


  40. Petrillo LA, McMahan RD, Tang V, Dohan D, Sudore RL. Older Adult and Surrogate Perspectives on Serious, Difficult, and Important Medical Decisions. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2018. PMID: 29972594


  41. Berian JR, Baker TL, Rosenthal RA, Coleman J, Finlayson E, Katlic MR, Lagoo-Deenadayalan SA, Tang VL, Robinson TN, Ko CY, Russell MM. Application of the RAND-UCLA Appropriateness Methodology to a Large Multidisciplinary Stakeholder Group Evaluating the Validity and Feasibility of Patient-Centered Standards in Geriatric Surgery. Health services research 2018. PMID: 29569262


  42. Berian JR, Rosenthal RA, Baker TL, Coleman J, Finlayson E, Katlic MR, Lagoo-Deenadayalan SA, Tang VL, Robinson TN, Ko CY, Russell MM. Hospital Standards to Promote Optimal Surgical Care of the Older Adult: A Report From the Coalition for Quality in Geriatric Surgery. Annals of surgery 2018. PMID: 28277408


  43. V.L. Tang, R. Sudore, K.E. Covinsky, C.S. Ritchie, S. Zhao, E. Finlayson. OUTCOMES AFTER BREAST CANCER SURGERY IN NURSING HOME RESIDENTS: A NATIONAL STUDY. Innovation in Aging 2017. PMID:


  44. Victoria Tang, Shoujun Zhao, W. John Boscardin, Christine Ritchie, Emily Finlayson. Outcomes after Breast Cancer Surgery in Nursing Home Residents: A National Study. Journal of the American College of Surgeons 2016. PMID:


  45. Tang VL, Sudore R, Cenzer IS, Boscardin WJ, Smith A, Ritchie C, Wallhagen M, Finlayson E, Petrillo L, Covinsky K. Rates of Recovery to Pre-Fracture Function in Older Persons with Hip Fracture: an Observational Study. Volume 32 of Issue 2. Journal of general internal medicine 2016. PMID: 27605004


  46. Tang VL, Covinsky K. Frailty and Surgical Decision Making. Annals of internal medicine 2016. PMID: 27548427


  47. Cenzer IS, Tang V, Boscardin WJ, Smith AK, Ritchie C, Wallhagen MI, Espaldon R, Covinsky KE. One-Year Mortality After Hip Fracture: Development and Validation of a Prognostic Index. Volume 64 of Issue 9. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2016. PMID: 27295578


  48. Brinson Z, Tang VL, Finlayson E. Postoperative Functional Outcomes in Older Adults. Current surgery reports 2016. PMID: 28344894


  49. Tang VL, Shi Y, Fung K, Tan J, Espaldon R, Sudore R, Wong ML, Walter LC. Clinician Factors Associated With Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening in Older Veterans With Limited Life Expectancy. Volume 176 of Issue 5. JAMA internal medicine 2016. PMID: 27042937


  50. Tang V, Boscardin WJ, Stijacic-Cenzer I, Lee SJ. Time to benefit for colorectal cancer screening: survival meta-analysis of flexible sigmoidoscopy trials. BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 2015. PMID: 25881903


  51. Shi Y, Fung KZ, Freedland SJ, Hoffman RM, Tang VL, Walter LC. Statin medications are associated with a lower probability of having an abnormal screening prostate-specific antigen result. Urology 2014. PMID: 25443902


  52. Tang VL, Halm EA, Fine MJ, Johnson CS, Anzueto A, Mortensen EM. Predictors of rehospitalization after admission for pneumonia in the veterans affairs healthcare system. Journal of hospital medicine 2014. PMID: 24648401


  53. Tang VL, French CJ, Cipher DJ, Rastogi P. Trends in hospice referral and length of stay at a veterans hospital over the past decade. The American journal of hospice & palliative care 2012. PMID: 22822158