Research Summary

Robert Bok, MD, PhD, is an Associate Adjunct Professor in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and the Hyperpolarized MRI Technology Resource Center at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Bok obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois in 1984, and he earned his MD in Medicine from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore in 1989. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in 1992, followed by a fellowship in Hematology-Oncology from UCSF in 1996.

At the UCSF Mission Bay Surbeck Laboratory, Dr. Bok provides physician coverage for research on MRI/MRSI scans performed on patients. Dr. Bok’s research activities focuses on the development of better molecular imaging methods for detecting and monitoring prostate cancer. His primary interest is on the use of pre-clinical animal models to improve recent advances in MRSI for prostate cancer. This includes hyperpolarized carbon-13 techniques, high-resolution magic angle spectroscopy, and the use of novel nanoparticles. Dr. Bok and his colleagues are also investigating the use of hyperpolarized 13C-pryuvate in a transgenic mouse model for prostate cancer known as Transgenic Adenocarcinoma of Mouse Prostate (TRAMP).

Dr. Bok is a current member of the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center, the CALGB, the Association of Northern California Oncologists, the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and the World Molecular Imaging Society. He has 60 published science articles and he has written 53 peer-reviewed articles and 90 abstracts.

Expertise:
Oncology

Specialty:
Prostate cancer, TRAMP, nanoparticles

Professional Interests:
Prostate cancer, urologic oncology, molecular imaging, hyperpolarized carbon-13 spectroscopy, high-resolution magic-angle spin spectroscopy, transgenic cancer models, extracellular proteases, metastases, molecular biomarkers

Education and Training:
• Medical School: The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore - Medicine
• Internship: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis - Internal Medicine
• Residency: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis - Internal Medicine
• Fellowship: University of California, San Francisco - Hematology-Oncology
• Doctor of Philosophy: University of Illinois, Urbana - Biochemistry
• Medical License, State of California
• ABIM, Board Certification in Internal Medicine
• ABIM, Board Certification in Medical Oncology
• ACLS Certification

Research Funding

  • July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2026 - Hyperpolarized C-13 MRI Techniques to Monitor Radiation Therapy Response in Prostate Cancer Patients , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA238379
  • April 11, 2019 - March 31, 2024 - Hyperpolarized C-13 MRI for Early Detection of Aggressive Prostate Cancer in Active Surveillance Patients , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01CA232320

Education

Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN, B.S., 1980, Biology and Chemistry
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL, Ph.D., 1984, Biochemistry
John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, M.D., 1989, Medicine
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Residency, 1992, Internal Medicine
University of California, San Francisco, Fellow, 1996, Hematology-Oncology

Honors & Awards

  • Executive Committee Member, UCSF Hyperpolarized MRI Technology Resource Center, 2011
  • Research Award, Prostate Cancer Foundation, 2006
  • Fellowship Award, University of Illinois, Urbana, 1980

Selected Publications

  1. Larson PE, Bernard JM, Bankson JA, Bøgh N, Bok RA, Chen AP, Cunningham CH, Gordon J, Hövener JB, Laustsen C, Mayer D, McLean MA, Schilling F, Slater J, Vanderheyden JL, von Morze C, Vigneron DB, Xu D, HP 13C MRI Consensus Group. Current Methods for Hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate MRI Human Studies. ArXiv. 2023 Nov 22.  View on PubMed
  2. Hu JY, Vaziri S, Bøgh N, Kim Y, Autry AW, Bok RA, Li Y, Laustsen C, Xu D, Larson PEZ, Chang S, Vigneron DB, Gordon JW. Investigating cerebral perfusion with high resolution hyperpolarized [1-13 C]pyruvate MRI. Magn Reson Med. 2023 12; 90(6):2233-2241.  View on PubMed
  3. Chung BT, Kim Y, Gordon JW, Chen HY, Autry AW, Lee PM, Hu JY, Tan CT, Suszczynski C, Chang SM, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Bok RA, Larson PEZ, Xu D, Li Y, Vigneron DB. Hyperpolarized [2-13C]pyruvate MR molecular imaging with whole brain coverage. Neuroimage. 2023 10 15; 280:120350.  View on PubMed
  4. Liu X, Tang S, Cui D, Bok RA, Chen HY, Gordon JW, Wang ZJ, Larson PEZ. A metabolite specific 3D stack-of-spirals bSSFP sequence for improved bicarbonate imaging in hyperpolarized [1-13C]Pyruvate MRI. J Magn Reson. 2023 08; 353:107518.  View on PubMed
  5. Agudelo JP, Upadhyay D, Zhang D, Zhao H, Nolley R, Sun J, Agarwal S, Bok RA, Vigneron DB, Brooks JD, Kurhanewicz J, Peehl DM, Sriram R. Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Metabolic Characterization of Patient-Derived Xenograft Models of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma. Metabolites. 2022 Nov 15; 12(11).  View on PubMed
  6. Chen HY, Bok RA, Cooperberg MR, Nguyen HG, Shinohara K, Westphalen AC, Wang ZJ, Ohliger MA, Gebrezgiabhier D, Carvajal L, Gordon JW, Larson PEZ, Aggarwal R, Kurhanewicz J, Vigneron DB. Improving multiparametric MR-transrectal ultrasound guided fusion prostate biopsies with hyperpolarized 13 C pyruvate metabolic imaging: A technical development study. Magn Reson Med. 2022 Dec; 88(6):2609-2620.  View on PubMed
  7. Hu JY, Kim Y, Autry AW, Frost MM, Bok RA, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Xu D, Li Y, Larson PEZ, Vigneron DB, Gordon JW. Kinetic analysis of multi-resolution hyperpolarized 13 C human brain MRI to study cerebral metabolism. Magn Reson Med. 2022 11; 88(5):2190-2197.  View on PubMed
  8. Liu X, Tang S, Mu C, Qin H, Cui D, Lai YC, Riselli AM, Delos Santos R, Carvajal L, Gebrezgiabhier D, Bok RA, Chen HY, Flavell RR, Gordon JW, Vigneron DB, Kurhanewicz J, Larson PEZ. Development of specialized magnetic resonance acquisition techniques for human hyperpolarized [13 C,15 N2 ]urea + [1-13 C]pyruvate simultaneous perfusion and metabolic imaging. Magn Reson Med. 2022 09; 88(3):1039-1054.  View on PubMed
  9. Lee PM, Chen HY, Gordon JW, Wang ZJ, Bok R, Hashoian R, Kim Y, Liu X, Nickles T, Cheung K, Alas FL, Daniel H, Larson PEZ, von Morze C, Vigneron DB, Ohliger MA. Whole-Abdomen Metabolic Imaging of Healthy Volunteers Using Hyperpolarized [1-13 C]pyruvate MRI. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2022 12; 56(6):1792-1806.  View on PubMed
  10. Bøgh N, Gordon JW, Hansen ESS, Bok RA, Blicher JU, Hu JY, Larson PEZ, Vigneron DB, Laustsen C. Initial Experience on Hyperpolarized [1-13C]Pyruvate MRI Multicenter Reproducibility-Are Multicenter Trials Feasible? Tomography. 2022 03 01; 8(2):585-595.  View on PubMed
  11. Robert A. Bok, Daniel B. Vigneron. Hyperpolarized 13C MRI Data Acquisition and Analysis in Prostate and Brain. . 2022 Feb 12; 1-5.  View on PubMed
  12. de Kouchkovsky I, Chen HY, Ohliger MA, Wang ZJ, Bok RA, Gordon JW, Larson PEZ, Frost M, Okamoto K, Cooperberg MR, Kurhanewicz J, Vigneron DB, Aggarwal R. Hyperpolarized 1-[13C]-Pyruvate Magnetic Resonance Imaging Detects an Early Metabolic Response to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy in Prostate Cancer. Eur Urol. 2022 02; 81(2):219-221.  View on PubMed
  13. Qin H, Tang S, Riselli AM, Bok RA, Delos Santos R, van Criekinge M, Gordon JW, Aggarwal R, Chen R, Goddard G, Zhang CT, Chen A, Reed G, Ruscitto DM, Slater J, Sriram R, Larson PEZ, Vigneron DB, Kurhanewicz J. Clinical translation of hyperpolarized 13 C pyruvate and urea MRI for simultaneous metabolic and perfusion imaging. Magn Reson Med. 2022 01; 87(1):138-149.  View on PubMed
  14. Lee PM, Chen HY, Gordon JW, Zhu Z, Larson PEZ, Dwork N, Van Criekinge M, Carvajal L, Ohliger MA, Wang ZJ, Xu D, Kurhanewicz J, Bok RA, Aggarwal R, Munster PN, Vigneron DB. Specialized computational methods for denoising, B1 correction, and kinetic modeling in hyperpolarized 13 C MR EPSI studies of liver tumors. Magn Reson Med. 2021 11; 86(5):2402-2411.  View on PubMed
  15. Bøgh N, Olin RB, Hansen ES, Gordon JW, Bech SK, Bertelsen LB, Sánchez-Heredia JD, Blicher JU, Østergaard L, Ardenkjær-Larsen JH, Bok RA, Vigneron DB, Laustsen C. Metabolic MRI with hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate separates benign oligemia from infarcting penumbra in porcine stroke. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2021 11; 41(11):2916-2927.  View on PubMed
  16. Sun J, Bok RA, DeLos Santos J, Upadhyay D, DeLos Santos R, Agarwal S, Van Criekinge M, Vigneron DB, Aggarwal R, Peehl DM, Kurhanewicz J, Sriram R. Resistance to Androgen Deprivation Leads to Altered Metabolism in Human and Murine Prostate Cancer Cell and Tumor Models. Metabolites. 2021 Feb 26; 11(3).  View on PubMed
  17. Gordon JW, Autry AW, Tang S, Graham JY, Bok RA, Zhu X, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Li Y, Ohilger MA, Abraham MR, Xu D, Vigneron DB, Larson PEZ. A variable resolution approach for improved acquisition of hyperpolarized 13 C metabolic MRI. Magn Reson Med. 2020 12; 84(6):2943-2952.  View on PubMed
  18. Autry AW, Gordon JW, Chen HY, LaFontaine M, Bok R, Van Criekinge M, Slater JB, Carvajal L, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Chang SM, Clarke JL, Lupo JM, Xu D, Larson PEZ, Vigneron DB, Li Y. Characterization of serial hyperpolarized 13C metabolic imaging in patients with glioma. Neuroimage Clin. 2020; 27:102323.  View on PubMed
  19. Mikrogeorgiou A, Chen Y, Lee BS, Bok R, Sheldon RA, Barkovich AJ, Xu D, Ferriero DM. A Metabolomics Study of Hypoxia Ischemia during Mouse Brain Development Using Hyperpolarized 13C. Dev Neurosci. 2020; 42(1):49-58.  View on PubMed
  20. Chen HY, Autry AW, Brender JR, Kishimoto S, Krishna MC, Vareth M, Bok RA, Reed GD, Carvajal L, Gordon JW, van Criekinge M, Korenchan DE, Chen AP, Xu D, Li Y, Chang SM, Kurhanewicz J, Larson PEZ, Vigneron DB. Tensor image enhancement and optimal multichannel receiver combination analyses for human hyperpolarized 13 C MRSI. Magn Reson Med. 2020 12; 84(6):3351-3365.  View on PubMed

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