Assistant Professor of Medicine, UCSF

Stephen Bent, MD, is Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCSF. He received his MD from Vanderbilt University. His primary research interest is the evaluation of alternative therapies, with a focus on the safety and efficacy of herbal remedies.

He is currently funded by a career development award from the National Institutes of Health to study methods for the early identification of adverse reactions to herbs. Dr. Bent served as the project director for one of the first large scale randomized controlled trials of herbal therapies to be funded by the NIH ("Efficacy of Saw Palmetto Extract in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia") and was also the principal investigator of a randomized controlled trial of a Chinese herbal remedy used to treat fatigue in the elderly ("A Randomized Controlled Trial of Longevity Treasure in Chinese Adults").

Dr. Bent is an expert in evidence-based medicine and ambulatory care, has co-authored textbooks in both areas, and regularly teaches this material to medical students and residents.
Publications.