Faculty Celebrations, UCSF Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, July 2022

Celebrations

July 2022

Dear Colleagues,

Our department has had an extraordinary year of growth, driven in part by the 17 faculty members who have or will soon join our ranks. In the following pages you will see brief bios of each of our new faculty, many of whom are beginning their careers with us. We look forward to their joining us and to helping cultivate their success as clinicians, educators, researchers and thought leaders.

For the nine faculty members who received academic promotions this year, we take great pride in their past and present achievements and honor their work, their contributions to our missions and to our community, and their dedication to excellence. Achieving the goals set for promotion in academic medicine is a significant accomplishment, and we are thrilled to celebrate these milestones.

Four faculty members received accolades for their contributions to mentoring, volunteer service, clinical excellence, and teaching, and one alumnus was recognized for exemplifying the department’s legacy in the greater radiology community. Each award winner demonstrates a sustained commitment to UCSF and acknowledging these faculty for their distinction is a great reminder of our purpose.

Three faculty members retired, and one emeritus faculty member has departed the reading room after 10 years on recall. While it’s impossible to adequately sum up more than a century of collective experience and expertise in a few words, let me say that we are profoundly grateful for your service. We know that scores of trainees whom you’ve mentored and guided are now reprising your wisdom in various settings around the world. Enjoy your retirement!

The culture, community and values of the UCSF Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging come together to create an environment where all faculty flourish and experience success at every career stage. The faculty profiled here stand out as individual stories of success within the greater narrative of a storied history of excellence. Please join me in celebrating their accomplishments.

Christopher Hess, MD, PhD Alexander R. Margulis Distinguished Professor, and Chair

Department Faculty by Section

Abdominal Imaging/ Ultrasound

Spencer Behr, MD

Hailey Choi, MD

Vickie Feldstein, MD

Ruth Goldstein, MD

Cheng William Hong, MD

Sina Houshmand, MD

Priyanka Jha, MD

Marc Kohli, MD

John Mongan, MD, PhD

Tara Morgan, MD

Liina Poder, MD

Dorothy Shum, MD

Mark Sugi, MD

Derek Sun, MD

Zhen Jane Wang, MD

Emma Webb, MD

Sean Woolen, MD

Benjamin Yeh, MD

Breast Imaging

Elissa Amans-Price, MD

Rita Freimanis, MD

Heather Greenwood, MD

Jessica Hayward, MD

Bonnie Joe, MD, PhD

Tatiana Kelil, MD

Amie Lee, MD

Kimberly Ray, MD

Edward Sickles, MD

Cardiac and

Pulmonary Imaging

Brett Elicker, MD

Kimberly Kallianos, MD

Yoo Jin Lee, MD

Jonathan Liu, MD

Jamie Schroeder, MD, DPhil

Jae Ho Sohn, MD, MS

Shravan Sridhar, MD

Maya Vella, MD

Imaging Scientists

Robert Bok, MD, PhD

Linda Chao, PhD

Michael Evans, PhD

Jeremy Gordon, PhD

Grant Gullberg, PhD

Michael Hoff, PhD

Nola Hylton, PhD

Galateia Kazakia, PhD

John Kurhanewicz, PhD

Peder Larson, PhD

Yan Li, PhD

Jing Liu, PhD

Janine Lupo Palladino, PhD

Sharmila Majumdar, PhD

Alastair Martin, PhD

Dimitrios Mitsouras, PhD

Melanie Morrison, PhD

Susanne Mueller, PhD

Srikantan Nagarajan, PhD

Susan Noworolski, PhD

Eugene Ozhinsky, PhD

Donna Peehl, PhD

Ashish Raj, PhD

Sabrina Ronen, PhD

David Saloner, PhD

Youngho Seo, PhD

Renuka Sriram, PhD

Duygu Tosun-Turgut, PhD

Olga Tymofiyeva, PhD

Henry Vanbrocklin, PhD

Dan Vigneron, PhD

Pavithra Viswanath, PhD

An Joseph Vu, PhD

Michael Weiner, MD

Yang Yang, PhD

Duan Xu, PhD

Interventional

Radiology

Jemianne Bautista, MD

Nicholas Fidelman, MD

Ryan Kohlbrenner, MD

K. Pallav Kolli, MD

Alexander Lam, MD

Gina Landinez, MD

Evan Lehrman, MD

R. Pete Lokken, MD

Jaehoon Shin, MD, PhD

Andrew Taylor, MD, PhD

Molecular Imaging and Therapeutics

Robert Flavell, MD, PhD

Miguel Hernandez Pampaloni, MD, PhD

Thomas Hope, MD

Roxanna Juarez, MD

Courtney Lawhn Heath, MD

Yingbing Wang, MD

Musculoskeletal

Radiology

Matt Bucknor, MD

Thomas Link, MD, PhD

Kevin McGill, MD, MPH

Daria Motamedi, MD

Rina Patel, MD

Lynne Steinbach, MD

Neurointerventional Radiology

Matthew Amans, MD

Daniel Cooke, MD

Steven Hetts, MD

Randall Higashida, MD

Kazim Narsinh, MD

Neuroradiology

Matt Barkovich, MD

Soonmee Cha, MD

Cynthia Chin, MD

William Dillon, MD

Elizabeth George, MBBS

Christine Glastonbury, MBBS

Orit Glenn, MD

Christopher Hess, MD, PhD

Yi Li, MD

Andreas Rauschecker, MD, PhD

Vinil Shah, MD

Leo Sugrue, MD, PhD

Javier Villanueva-Meyer, MD

David Wilson, MD, PhD

Xin Cynthia Wu, MD

Pediatric Radiology

Taylor Chung, MD

Pierre-Alain Cohen, MD

Kayla Cort, DO

Jesse Courtier, MD

BCH–San Francisco

Rachelle Durand, DO

Bamidele Kammen, MD

Raymond Sze, MD, MAMS

BCH–Oakland

Alexander Wai, MD

Matthew Zapala, MD

San Francisco VA

Zoe Doyle, MD

Eugene Huo, MD

Joseph Leach, MD

Pratik Mukherjee, MD, PhD

Rajiv Sawhney, MD

Preeti Sukerkar, MD, PhD

Stefanie Weinstein, MD

Zuckerberg San Francisco General

Ellen Chang, MD

Miles Conrad, MD, MPH

Shital Gandhi, MD

Brian Haas, MD

Vishal Kumar, MD

Terry Lynch, MD

Sujal Nanavati, MD

Jared Narvid, MD

Michael Ohliger, MD, PhD

Preethi Raghu, MD

Amrutha Ramachandran, MD

Alexander Rybkin, MD

Loretta Strachowski, MD

Jason Talbott, MD, PhD

Thienkhai Vu, MD, PhD

Mark Wilson, MD

Esther Yuh, MD, PhD

Welcome

NEW FACULTY

We are delighted to introduce our 17 new faculty members for 2022. Three imaging scientists have joined our research groups and 14 clinical faculty will deliver patient care in eight of our nine subspecialities. All of our faculty contribute to trainee education as well as new and ongoing initiatives that ensure our department’s reputation for innovation.

As each new faculty member joins our UCSF community, we extend a warm welcome and our best wishes for successful, fulfilling careers.

Sina Houshmand, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiology Abdominal Imaging / Ultrasound

Dr. Houshmand earned an MD at the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, followed by a postdoctoral research fellowship in radiology at the University of Pennsylvania. After an internal medicine internship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center Wakefield Campus in New York City, Dr. Houshmand completed a diagnostic radiology residency at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where he was awarded the Radiology Resident Distinguished Achievement Award for exemplifying consistent commitment to scholarship, accomplishment, service, and innovation. Dr. Houshmand completed his abdominal imaging and ultrasound fellowship at UCSF.

Dr. Houshmand’s recent research has included novel applications of PET for pediatric disorders, the use of18F-NaF and 18F-FDG as molecular probes to evaluate atherosclerosis, and the evolving role of molecular imaging with 18F-sodium fluoride PET as a biomarker for calcium metabolism.

Cheng William Hong, MD, MS

Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiology Abdominal Imaging / Ultrasound

Dr. Hong received an MD with special qualification in Biomedical Research from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, followed by an MS in biomedical investigation from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where he was in the Clinical Research Scholars Program. After an internal medicine internship year at St Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco, Dr. Hong completed a diagnostic radiology residency on the T32 Clinician-Scientist Track at UC San Diego, where he received the RSNA Roentgen Resident Research Award and the UCSD Robert Mattrey, MD Research Award which recognize outstanding research among graduating residents. Dr. Hong completed a body MRI fellowship at Stanford.

As a clinician, Dr. Hong focuses on advanced interpretation, protocoling, and troubleshooting in body MRI and PET/MRI, as well as performing MRI-guided procedures. Dr. Hong’s research focuses on noninvasive hepatic fat and iron quantification using MRI and ultrasound, and the clinical outcomes of LI-RADS.

Jonathan Liu, MD, MS

Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiology Cardiothoracic Imaging

Dr. Liu earned his MD at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California and an MS in electrical engineering at Stanford. After an internship in internal medicine at Santa Clara Medical Center, Dr. Liu completed residency at the Mallinckrodt Institute, Washington University followed by a thoracic radiology fellowship at Stanford.

Dr. Liu’s clinical and research interests include 3D printing applications in nuclear medicine and artificial intelligence applications in thoracic and cardiovascular radiology. Published work includes collaborative papers on stereotactic radiosurgery for treatment of brain metastasis, a paper on 3D printed prototypes for medical devices, and a paper on BirthAlert, a medical device for early preterm birth detection. During residency, Dr. Liu was instrumental in a collaborative project at Washington University to introduce radiology into the anatomy curriculum, providing more clinical experiences for medical students earlier in their training.

Jamie Lee Twist Schroeder, MD, DPhil

Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiology Cardiothoracic Imaging

Dr. Schroeder earned a master’s degree in bioengineering at Stanford and a DPhil at the University of Oxford. Dr. Schroeder received an MD at Johns Hopkins and completed an internal medicine internship at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. Her diagnostic radiology residency was at Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed by a fellowship in cardiac and pulmonary imaging at UCSF and a one-year clinical instructorship at Stanford University. Dr. Schroeder has twice competed in the Olympics as a rower.

Dr. Schroeder’s projects include developing an unsupervised machine learning pathway to analyze motion-corrected time-course data from myocardial perfusion MRI. Another project implemented novel pulse sequences and image processing pathways to acquire new forms of diagnostic and prognostic information in heart failure.

Dr. Schroeder was the sole recipient of the 2021 North American Society of Cardiac Imaging (NASCI) Rising Star Fellowship Award and a recipient of the RSNA’s Student Travel Award and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery’s Summer Research Scholarship.

Shravan Sridhar, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiology Cardiothoracic Imaging

Dr. Sridhar earned an MS in Biomedical Engineering summa cum laude at Arizona State University followed by an MD at University of Arizona College of Medicine where he was a Service Learning Scholar and Peer Tutor. Dr. Sridhar completed an integrated clinical internship and diagnostic radiology residency at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Dr. Sridhar completed a cardiac and pulmonary imaging fellowship in 2022 at UCSF. Dr. Sridhar has been recognized with the Resident Educator Award (2021), RSNA Roentgen resident/ fellow research award (2020) and RSNA certificate of merit (2019), among others.

Dr. Sridhar’s research includes examining the role of molecular biomarkers in brain metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer and multimodality imaging features of sternoclavicular joint infection and impact on operative management. Dr. Sridhar has served as a consulting editor for American Journal of Radiology (AJR).

Jemianne Bautista Jia, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiology

Interventional Radiology

Dr. Bautista earned her MD from UC Irvine, followed by an internal medicine internship and diagnostic radiology residency at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. During residency, Dr. Bautista elected early specialization in interventional radiology, additionally serving as chief resident and Wellness Chair. Dr. Bautista completed a fellowship in vascular and interventional radiology at University of California, San Diego.

As a clinician, Dr. Bautista brings expertise in fistulograms as well as more complex arterial and venous work such as trauma management, peripheral arterial disease interventions, and aortic endografts. Dr. Bautista’s research focuses on interventional oncology and women’s interventions, including targeted therapies for colorectal carcinoma and uterine fibroid embolization. Future research projects are expected to explore targeted palliative nerve therapies.

Jaehoon Shin, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor In Residence

Interventional Radiology

Dr. Shin earned his MD at Seoul National University, South Korea, followed by a PhD at Johns Hopkins University. He completed an internship at MedStar Harbor Hospital in Baltimore followed by a diagnostic radiology residency concurrently with early specialization in interventional radiology (ESIR) at UCSF. Dr. Shin completed an interventional radiology fellowship, also at UCSF.

Dr. Shin received the prestigious Samsung Scholarship for doctoral study, and was awarded Best Case in Neuroradiology at the 2019 American Institute for Radiologic Pathology. Dr. Shin is a collaborator on a Medical Research Award from the Robert J. & Helen C. Kleberg Foundation, and PI for a SIR Pilot Research Grant. Dr. Shin’s research addresses novel T cell-based imaging (synNotch-PET), which has the potential to detect early cancers and pre-cancerous lesions. Additional research projects include locoregional T cell therapy to enhance treatments for pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma and single-cell RNA sequencing to better understand venous insufficiency and druggable target biological processes.

Yingbing Wang, MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Radiology Molecular Imaging & Therapeutics

Dr. Wang earned an MD from Stanford University followed by an internal medicine internship at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Clara, CA. Dr. Wang completed a radiology residency and a mini-fellowship in nuclear radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Wang has been an assistant professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School, and holds directorships of NMMI education and radionuclide therapies, and serves as program director for the Nuclear Radiology Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Wang’s clinical interests and expertise span conventional single photon nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography, nuclear cardiology, and nuclear therapies. Dr. Wang’s scholarship encompasses retrospective data mining, improving the diagnostic interpretation of clinically approved nuclear radiotracers, and exploring novel PET radiotracers for diagnosis and therapy monitoring in oncologic applications. The longterm goals of this research are to validate imaging techniques – novel radiopharmaceuticals and AI methods – that can improve diagnostic accuracy, predict therapy response, and provide meaningful prognostic information. Recent projects include developing quantitative methods to augment conventional qualitative interpretation of PET images.

Ellen Chang, MD HS Clinical Assistant Professor Musculoskeletal Radiology Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital

Dr. Chang earned an MD from Washington University in St. Louis and an MS in biological chemistry from UCLA. During her general surgery internship at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Dr. Chang was named Intern of the Year. Dr. Chang completed a diagnostic radiology residency with a fourth year neuroradiology concentration at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center followed by a musculoskeletal fellowship at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology. Since 2020, Dr. Chang has been an assistant professor in the Musculoskeletal Division of the USC Department of Radiology.

Dr. Chang’s clinical practice focuses on musculoskeletal imaging across MRI, CT, radiography and ultrasound as well as procedures that include joint injections, biopsies, and spine interventions. Recent research has focused on image-guided spine interventions, acute ACL injury, and trainee education projects.

Kazim Narsinh, MD

Assistant Professor In Residence

Neurointerventional Radiology

Dr. Narsinh earned his MD at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, where he was a Howard Hughes Medical Research Fellow. He completed a surgical internship at Stanford and his radiology residency at UC San Diego where he was a T32 fellow. Dr. Narsinh completed an interventional radiology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, followed by neuroradiology and neurointerventional fellowships at UCSF. Dr. Narsinh has been awarded the NIH NINDS Brain Vascular Malformation Consortium Career Enhancement Award (2020), the UCSD Robert F. Mattrey Clinician-Scientist Award (2017) among others.

As a clinician and scientist, Dr. Narsinh brings considerable expertise in the growing precision medicine area of neuro-oncology. He has authored more than 60 articles on topics including single cell transcriptomics, cellular and molecular imaging, carcinogenesis, and vascular disease. His translational research aims to develop interventional approaches to neurologic disease and propel cerebrovascular disease diagnosis and management into the precision medicine era.

Xin Cynthia Wu, MD Associate Professor of Clinical Radiology Neuroradiology

Dr. Wu earned her MD at the University of Pennsylvania with a Certificate in Clinical Neuroscience. After an internship year at Allegheny GeneralWestern Pennsylvania Hospitals Medical Education Consortium, Dr. Wu completed a diagnostic radiology residency at NYU School of Medicine followed by a neuroradiology fellowship at UCSF, where she served as chief fellow. Dr. Wu has been an assistant professor of radiology and imaging sciences at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Dr. Wu’s clinical practice has included general neuroradiologic procedures and dedicated ENT imaging including complex head and neck studies and multidisciplinary oncology clinics. As a researcher, Dr. Wu focuses on application of advanced MR techniques to head and neck tumor imaging, improving imaging delineation of rare and unconventional head and neck cancer spread patterns, and characterizing head and neck postoperative findings that may mimic disease. Additional research interests include MRI imaging of brain tumors and tumor mimics as well as advanced MR imaging of mild traumatic brain injury.

Amrutha Ramachandran, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiology Neuroradiology and Emergency Room Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital

Dr. Ramachandran completed an MD at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal in Karnataka, India. After an internship at MetroWest Medical Center Framingham, MA, Dr. Ramachandran completed a radiology residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital and University of Miami where she served as chief resident, followed by a neuroradiology fellowship at UCSF. Since 2021, Dr. Ramachandran has been a neuroradiology clinical instructor at UCSF.

As a neuroradiologist, Dr. Ramachandran focuses on pediatric neuroimaging with an interest in fetal MRI, pediatric tumor imaging, and emergency department trauma imaging. Dr. Ramachandran contributes to radiology QA/QI, including optimizing imaging protocols and standardizing reporting templates. Dr. Ramachandran’s research interests are in musculoskeletal imaging and pediatric neuroimaging.

Kayla Cort, DO

HS Clinical Assistant Professor Pediatrics, Benioff Children’s Hospital-Oakland

Dr. Cort earned her DO at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, followed by an internship at the Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey. Dr. Cort completed a diagnostic radiology residency at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY and a pediatric radiology fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Cort was an assistant professor and director of pediatric ultrasound at UC Davis Medical Center.

As a clinician, Dr. Cort is focused on providing a quality experience for children undergoing a variety of imaging examinations. Dr. Cort has significant expertise in implementing high-quality pediatric protocols and expanding applications of contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Her research has explored the use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for the diagnosis of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) as an alternative to MRI.

Dr. Cort has served as president of the UC Davis chapter of Health4theWorld, an organization focused on promoting health and education in underserved communities, chapter vice-president of UC Davis RAD-AID International, and as an international consultant and trainee educator for RAD-AID’s Guyana Chapter.

Raymond Sze, MD, MAMS Professor of Clinical Radiology Radiologist in Chief, Pediatrics and Vice Chair, Radiology Benioff Children’s Hospital – Oakland

Dr. Sze earned his MD at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson, Piscataway, NJ, followed by a Masters of Associated Medical Sciences (MAMS) in biomedical visualization at University of Illinois in Chicago. After an intern year at University of Hawaii in Honolulu, Dr. Sze completed a diagnostic radiology residency at New England Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and a second radiology residency at Stanford followed by a fellowship in pediatric radiology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Sze has held faculty appointments at University of Washington, Seattle; George Washington School of Medicine in Washington, DC; and most recently at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where he serves as Associate Radiologist-in-Chief.

At CHOP, Dr. Sze has been instrumental in building labs and research programs in artificial intelligence and 3D printing. Dr. Sze has facilitated AI research lab projects that focus on pediatric imaging challenges such as automation of time-consuming tasks (leg length discrepancy) and screening imaging studies for evidence of child abuse (rib fractures on chest radiographs).

Michael Hoff, PhD Associate Professor of Clinical Radiology Director of Diagnostic Medical Physics Research

Dr. Hoff completed master’s and doctoral degrees in medical physics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. His dissertation research addressed inhomogeneity artifact correction in magnetic resonance imaging. Before coming to UCSF, he was an associate professor in the Diagnostic Physics Section, Department of Radiology, University of Washington in Seattle.

Dr. Hoff has extensive experience in American College of Radiology accreditation, quality control, safety oversight, technology evaluation, image quality and artifact troubleshooting, and protocol optimization. He is certified by the American Board of Magnetic Resonance Safety and the American Board of Radiology in Diagnostic Imaging.

As a scientist, Dr. Hoff’s primary research interest is to exploit complex MR data to glean highly accurate information on tissue physiology and function. His projects explore MRI distortion correction, MRI safety, T2 relaxation and myelin quantification, orbit screening via CT and tomosynthesis, CT dose reduction, 3D-printed spinal puncture simulations, and multiple deep learning projects.

Melanie Morrison, PhD Assistant Professor In Residence Research

Dr. Morrison holds a PhD in medical biophysics from the University of Toronto, and has completed postdoctoral research at Imperial College London and UCSF, where she was a UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow. While at University of Toronto, Dr. Morrison received the James Lepock Memorial Award and the Walker-Marshall Award, both for doctoral student academic excellence. Dr. Morrison has held honorary fellowships at Imperial College London and University of Edinburgh, and was the recipient of the Bruce Hasegawa, PhD Award for Early-Stage Scientist Research Excellence at UCSF.

Dr. Morrison’s research concentrates on advanced MRI methods to evaluate neurological movement and psychiatric disorders, including the surgical neuromodulation therapies used to treat severe conditions. Current collaborative projects include a multimodal 7T imaging study of Huntington’s disease; a multimodal imaging study of advanced Parkinson’s disease; a multi-center surgical gene-therapy trial for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease; and a functional imaging study of obsessive-compulsive disorder, specifically patients who are currently benefiting from deep brain stimulation.

Yang Yang, PhD Associate Professor In Residence Director, Mid-field MRI Research

Dr. Yang holds an MSE in biomedical engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University in Shaanxi, China, and a PhD in biomedical engineering from University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Dr. Yang’s dissertation: Wholeheart Coverage Quantitative First-pass Spiral Perfusion in Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Prior academic roles have been at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in the Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Institute and Department of Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology, and in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at University of Virginia.

Dr. Yang’s expertise is MR sequence development, non-Cartesian trajectory design and application, robust motion correction, and artificial intelligence. The overall goal of Dr. Yang’s research is to develop and evaluate novel pulse sequences and techniques to improve the clinical utility of MRI. Current research projects are focused on fast magnetic resonance imaging technique development and its translational/clinical applications. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Yang’s research on COVID-19 imaging and artificial intelligence resulted a technique for rapid diagnosis of COVID and a highly cited Nature Medicine AI paper.

Congratulations

FACULTY PROMOTIONS

We are honored to announce that nine faculty members – four new associate professors and five new full professors – have received academic promotions effective July 1, 2022. Our department and UCSF recognizes each promoted faculty member for their significant contributions to our mission: Advancing Health Worldwide. To do this well, each faculty member balances teaching, clinical practice, scientific inquiry and clinical translation, and service activities to create an outstanding portfolio of accomplishments. We are incredibly proud of each faculty member and their unique qualities as teachers and mentors; department and university leaders committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and physicians and imaging scientists known for their national or international stature in the field of radiology.

Ryan Kohlbrenner, MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Radiology Interventional Radiology

R. Pete Lokken, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Clinical Radiology Interventional Radiology

Javier Villanueva-Meyer, MD

Elissa Amans-Price, MD

Olga Tymofiyeva, PhD

Associate Adjunct Professor

Thienkhai Vu, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Clinical Radiology Neuroradiology

Professor of Clinical Radiology Breast Imaging

Research Group

HS Clinical Professor

Cardiac and Pulmonary Imaging, ZSFG

Thomas Hope, MD

Professor In Residence

Molecular Imaging & Therapeutics

Robert Bok, MD, PhD

Adjunct Professor

Body Imaging Research Group

Peder Larson, PhD

Professor In Residence

Director, Body Imaging Research Group

Recognition

FACULTY AWARDS

We congratulate four faculty members who received departmental awards at the June 2022 Commencement Ceremony. These awards honor faculty who demonstrate clinical excellence, outstanding mentorship, heartfelt teaching, and volunteer service.

In addition, the department honors an Outstanding Alumnus of our residency program.

Derek Sun, MD

Hideyo Minagi Outstanding Teacher

Named in honor of faculty member Hideyo Minagi, MD, this award recognizes an outstanding faculty teacher that most exemplifies the commitment, enthusiasm and dedication to teaching demonstrated by Dr. Hideyo Minagi over his long UCSF career.

Dr. Derek Sun, this year’s recipient of the Hideyo Minagi Outstanding Teacher Award, is recognized by trainees for his skill and knowledge as a radiologist and department leader. Jamie Holtz, MD, senior resident, presented the award to Dr. Sun:

“Derek has taught, mentored, and provided countless donuts and pastries to many UCSF residents and fellows.

But most importantly, he exemplifies the personal attributes of a truly remarkable teacher. He is amiable, enthusiastic, respectful, and kind, whether he is giving resident conference, showing interesting cases, teaching on the fly while reading out studies, or consulting on a challenging call case at 3 am (an experience which I have personally put him through).

His dedication to training the next generation of radiologists is evidenced by his position as one of our fellowship directors. As a now two-time recipient of this esteemed award, it is clear that his efforts and commitment to education are recognized and appreciated by all the residents he has influenced over the years.

Thank you, Derek for setting an example as a stellar educator. It has been an honor to learn from you.”

Dan Vigneron, PhD

Outstanding Faculty Mentor

Presented annually since 2015 to a faculty member who has provided extraordinary service to the department’s faculty through mentorship.

Dr. Vigneron received nominations from across the department, with colleagues noting his skills as an advisor, generosity with time and knowledge, and ability to foster the careers of junior colleagues. Nominators shared these comments:

“Dr. Vigneron has been a wonderful, supportive mentor to numerous graduate students, postdocs, and fellows over the past 20 +years at UCSF, the vast majority of whom have prospered in their scientific imaging careers…as faculty at UCSF and elsewhere or in industry positions.”

“Dan has been a great career mentor for me. His way of explaining the strategies of navigating through many challenges that we all face in our academic career was very inspirational, and literally speaking, I was trying to follow his footsteps to shape my own career.”

“Dan is key my academic success, and one of the main reasons I have spent and greatly enjoyed my entire career at UCSF. Dan has unlimited patience in providing astute and savvy counsel about all aspects of research and career development and is an unparalleled cheerleader for his mentees. Dan is very generous in sharing credit and highlighting the accomplishments of his mentees and colleagues.”

Howard Rowley, MD

Outstanding Alumnus

Presented to a graduate of the UCSF Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging residency program who has achieved a high level of professional accomplishment, who has provided outstanding service to the field of radiology through their leadership, and who has promoted the culture of our department through collaboration, professionalism and excellence.

Dr. Rowley completed his neurology and radiology residencies and a neuroradiology fellowship at UCSF. He is Chief of MRI for Neuroradiology at University of Wisconsin-Madison and pastpresident and Chair of the Foundation of the American Society of Neuroradiology, from which he received a gold medal in 2020. Known for his warm and witty style and ability to translate rigorous science into clinical practice and memorable presentations, Dr. Rowley is among neuroradiology’s foremost practitioners. Nominators noted that Howard is “a world-renowned educator, MRI guru, exemplary leader, investigator, teacher, and friend of the department. He is known and respected for his papers on stroke and dementia and advanced imaging techniques for neurological disease processes. Howard’s openness, knack for teaching, and earnest drive to do right by our patients are readily apparent to anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting him.”

Judong Pan, MD

Outstanding Volunteer Clinical Faculty

Presented for outstanding service to the UCSF Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging as a member of the Clinical Faculty.

Dr. Pan’s significant contributions as a volunteer clinical faculty member were cited by colleagues in the Musculoskeletal Imaging Section. Dr. Thomas Link, Section Chief, noted that “Judong is the second person to win this award twice. Dr. Pan has made tremendous contributions to our section and department. As a small section, it can be difficult to balance a busy clinical schedule and meet our academic goals. We have benefitted from Judong’s work with our residents and fellows, where he offers so many generous insights from his experience in private practice. He is always in good spirits and he is a joy to work with. We are grateful to have him on our team.”

His nominators observed that “Dr. Pan is an incredible teacher and excellent role model. I have learned a lot from him and he makes musculoskeletal radiology incredibly fun. All of the trainees are excited whenever we see Dr. Pan on the schedule!”

Spencer Behr, MD

Clinical Faculty Excellence Award

The Clinical Faculty Excellence Award was established in 2021 to honor and celebrate our faculty who are distinguished by their dedication to clinical radiology, their superb skills in diagnostic and/or interventional radiology, and the exceptional care they provide to our patients. This honor is awarded annually.

Dr. Behr received several nominations from within and outside the department for this award, all recognizing his expertise as a clinician and generosity as an educator. In presenting the award, Dr. Jane Wang, Abdominal Imaging and Ultrasound Section Chief, noted that “Spencer always goes above and beyond to ensure that we are providing excellent care. Not surprisingly, he is so highly regarded by our radiologists, always sharing interesting cases and his knowledge and insights so that we can all become better radiologists.”

Nominators noted that “Spencer has a genuine fascination with and energy for providing the very best care, by universally going the extra mile to understand clinical context of the cases he reads, consulting with myriad clinicians, and incorporating known medical knowledge, cutting edge clinical research, and considering modality-related features in his reads.”

Farewell

FACULTY RETIREMENT

Three radiologists retired during the 2021-22 academic and one emeritus faculty member is hanging up his white coat after a decade on recall. Altogether, we honor their many years of service to patients, our department, and the wider radiology community. We wish each of these faculty members an enjoyable and welldeserved retirement.

Peter Callen, MD

Professor Emeritus, Radiology, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproduction Sciences

Dr. Callen completed his training, from medical school through fellowship, at UCSF. While officially retired for a number of years, Dr. Callen has recently completed service as recall faculty in Ultrasound. His research has focused on discovering the sonographic signs that allow sonographers to detect abnormalities and avoid false positive diagnosis of abnormalities in obstetric, pediatric and adult patients. A specific area of interest has been in fetal dysmorphology and the detection of abnormalities involving the fetal neural axis, thorax, skeletal system, genitourinary tract, and gastrointestinal system, as well as abnormalities of the placenta and umbilical cord.

Dr. Callen received the Outstanding Alumni Award from our department in 2010, and has been a Fellow of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine since 1986, among other accolades. Dr. Callen has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, and 65 book chapters. He is well-known for his textbook, Ultrasonography in Obstetrics and Gynecology, considered the most extensively used book on this topic worldwide.

Christopher Dowd, MD

Professor Emeritus, Radiology, Neurological Surgery, Neurology, Anesthesia, and Preoperative Care Co-Director of Birthmarks and Vascular Anomalies Center

Dr. Dowd specializes in the diagnosis, management and treatment of cerebrovascular diseases and vascular birthmarks. Dr. Dowd earned his medical degree from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and completed his diagnostic radiology at UC San Diego, followed by a fellowship in neuroradiology and interventional neuroradiology at UCSF.

Dr. Dowd has served as the Primary Investigator and Co-Investigator of many IRB/CHR approved research projects on topics related to his clinical practice such as endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms, subarachnoid hemorrhage-induced vasospasm, cutaneous vascular birthmarks and similar conditions. He has published 178 articles, 300 scientific abstracts, and 58 book chapters.

A selection of notable awards over the years includes recognition as a US News and World Report Top Doctor in 2012, Clinical Teacher of the Year in 2001 in the UCSF Department of Dermatology, and notation as an Honorary Overseas Member and First Honored Guest Lecturer for the British Skull Base Society.

Ronald Cohen, MD

Clinical Professor, Radiology Medical Director, Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital-Oakland

Dr. Cohen has been a physician at Benioff Children’s Hospital-Oakland since 1984. He received his medical degree at UC Davis followed by a diagnostic radiology residency at Stanford University and a fellowship in pediatric radiology at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, OH.

His special interests include imaging of the digestive, urinary and reproductive systems, advanced applications of CT imaging, and imaging related to child abuse detection. Dr. Cohen has mentored to pediatric radiology fellows for 25 years, and has served for a number of years as a mentor to radiology residents from Travis Air Force Base. During his career, he has engaged in teaching opportunities in Russia, Vietnam, Guatemala, Panama, Israel, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Since 1990, Dr. Cohen has sponsored an annual visiting lectureship honoring Hooshang Taybi, MD.

Outside of the reading room, Dr. Cohen is an avid cyclist and adventure traveler.

Ronald Zagoria, MD

Professor Emeritus, Section Chief, Abdominal Imaging and Ultrasound Vice Chair, Clinical Operations

Dr. Zagoria earned his medical degree at the University of Maryland School of Medicine followed by a diagnostic radiology residency and a fellowship in abdominal imaging and interventional radiology at Wake Forest University and Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to joining UCSF in 2013, Zagoria served as chief of genitourinary imaging and intervention as well as executive vice chair for the radiology department at Wake Forest School of Medicine where he was on the faculty for 26 years.

In a storied career, a selection of notable awards includes a Gold Medal from the Society for Abdominal Radiology in 2022, a Lifetime Service Award for the American Board of Radiology in 2015, Felson Lecturer at the Cincinnati College of Medicine in 2000, and numerous awards for teaching excellence over the years. Castle Connolly and U.S. News & World Report, among other national organizations, have repeatedly recognized Dr. Zagoria as one of the best doctors in America and specifically as a top doctor for cancer and a top radiologist.

Dr. Zagoria’s clinical interests include urologic oncology, urolithiasis and infertility. He specializes in image-guided tumor ablation for kidney cancer. He has given more than 300 lectures and presentations, and has written more than 300 published pieces, including textbooks, book chapters, journal articles and medical abstracts.

Having enjoyed a varied and active career as a mentor and educator, clinician, and researcher. Dr. Zagoria notes that his greatest successes are having a wonderful partnership with his wife of 39 years, Kat Zagoria, and raising two wonderful children, David and Michael.

Academic Affairs Team

Connie Jang Medical Privileges and Project Coordinator

Christine Glastonbury, MBBS Vice Chair for Academic Affairs

Amy Pradhan, MS, MPH Director, Academic Affairs

Lorna Kwok Academic Coordinator

Susan Wall, MD Advisor to the Chair for Faculty Development

Jocelyn Pulido Academic Coordinator

Apple Palad Academic Coordinator