Research Summary

I am an imaging scientist and breast cancer researcher with broad experience in the area of biomedical research. Work in my laboratory focuses on the development of MRI techniques for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment response assessment. My laboratory works closely with a multi-disciplinary team of radiologists, surgeons, oncologists, basic science researchers and advocates to optimize MRI methods for the clinical management of breast cancer patients. The overall goal of our interdisciplinary research program is to develop imaging-based biomarkers that can be used in combination with clinical and molecular information to individualize treatment strategies.

I lead as Principal Investigator, the multi-center ACRIN trials 6657 and 6698, evaluating dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) and diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI respectively, for assessing treatment response as part of the ISPY-1 and ISPY-2 neoadjuvant breast cancer trials. Under an NCI Academic-Industrial Partnership (AIP) grant with commercial partner Hologic, Inc., (R01 CA132870), my laboratory developed and deployed a software platform for real-time measurement of breast tumor response using DCE-MRI, for use in clinical trials. The Hologic software received FDA IDE approval in 2010 and is now incorporated in the response-adaptive patient randomization engine of ISPY-2. Under prior funding from the NCI Quantitative Imaging Network (QIN) (U01 CA151235), my laboratory led efforts to improve the integration of quantitative imaging (QI) in breast cancer clinical trials through the development of standards and quality control processes and improved diffusion-weighted MRI approaches for tumor response measurement.

As an applied scientist involved in the early development of breast MRI, I believe I bring a unique perspective and appreciation of the factors that drive and shape the development of new breast imaging technologies. I have served on and chaired numerous grant review panels in both the areas of medical imaging and breast cancer research.

I am an active educator and faculty member at UCSF and in the UCSF/UC Berkeley Bioengineering Graduate Program and I teach formally in the UCSF Master’s in Biomedical Imaging degree program. I have been involved in the training and research supervision of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty for over 20 years.

Research Funding

  • April 25, 2008 - June 30, 2021 - Real-time In Vivo MRI Biomarkers for Breast Cancer Pre-Operative Treatment Trials , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA132870
  • September 26, 2011 - August 31, 2016 - Quantitative Imaging for Assessing Breast Cancer Response to Treatment , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01CA151235
  • August 23, 2006 - July 31, 2013 - MRI For Staging DCIS and Assessing Response to Treatment , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA116182
  • June 1, 1993 - May 31, 2013 - NMR Imaging and Spectroscopy , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P41RR008079
  • January 15, 1997 - February 28, 2012 - Anatomic and Biologic Staging of Breast Disease with MRI , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA069587
  • September 26, 2001 - December 31, 2008 - Mechanism-Based Evaluations of ErbB-Targeted Agents , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U54CA090788

Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), B.S., 1979, Chemical Engineering
Stanford University, Ph.D., 1985, Applied Physics

Honors & Awards

  • 2010
    Komen Scholar, Komen for the Cure
  • 2013
    Distinguished Lectureship Award, Sigma Xi
  • 2013
    Distinguished Investigator Award, Academy of Radiology Research
  • 2017
    Fellow, International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

Selected Publications

  1. Van Hassel J, Dimitroff K, Yau C, Mukhtar R, Boughey JC, Ladores V, Howard-McNatt MM, Jaskowiak N, Perlmutter J, DeMichele A, Yee D, Hylton N, Symmans WF, Veer LV, Rugo H, Esserman LJ, Shatsky R, Isaacs C, Kuerer H, Wallace AM, Prionas N, Tseng J, Reyna CR, Taunk N, Kesmodel S, Lee MC, Fox J, Piltin MA, Tchou J, Arciero CA, Postlewait LM, Sauder C, Rao R Impact of Time to Surgery Post Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on Breast Cancer Outcomes: A Retrospective Study of Patients Enrolled in the I-SPY 2 Clinical Trial.  View on PubMed
  2. Mukhtar RA, Dimitroff K, Yau C, Chien AJ, Connolly EP, Howard-McNatt M, Rao R, Ladores V, Golshan M, Sauder CA, Ahmed K, Lancaster R, Fox J, Gutnik L, Lee MC, Tchou J, Prionas N, Arciero CA, Reyna C, Kuerer H, Switalla K, Taunk N, Tuttle TM, Moran MS, Postlewait LM, Perlmutter J, DeMichele A, Yee D, Hylton N, Symmans WF, Rugo HS, Shatsky R, Isaacs C, Esserman LJ, Van't Veer L, Boughey JC Impact of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on Surgical Outcomes and Conversion to Node-Negativity in Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer: Analysis of Molecularly High-Risk Tumors by Histologic Subtype on the I-SPY2 Clinical Trial.  View on PubMed
  3. Kaur M, Dimitroff K, Boughey JC, Esserman LJ, Yau C, Tchou J, Quirarte A, Lee MC, Howard-McNatt MM, Switalla K, Kuerer H, Sauder C, Postlewait LM, Arciero C, Rao R, Wallace A, Reyna C, Ahmed K, Gutnik L, Taunk N, Perlmutter J, DeMichele A, Yee D, Hylton NM, Symmans WF, Rugo HS, Shatsky RA, Isaacs C, Rudra S, Pohlmann P, Ewing C, Wong J, Alvarado M, Jaskowiak N, Prionas N, Golshan M, Piltin MA, Olopade OI, Mukhtar RA Disparities in the Surgical Management of the Axilla by Self-Identified Race in the Multicenter Neoadjuvant I-SPY2 Trial.  View on PubMed
  4. Leon-Ferre RA, Dimitroff K, Yau C, Giridhar KV, Mukhtar R, Hirst G, Hylton N, Perlmutter J, DeMichele A, Yee D, van 't Veer L, Rugo H, Symmans WF, Goetz MP, Esserman L, Boughey JC Combined prognostic impact of initial clinical stage and residual cancer burden after neoadjuvant systemic therapy in triple-negative and HER2-positive breast cancer: an analysis of the I-SPY2 randomized clinical trial.  View on PubMed
  5. Wolf DM, Yau C, Campbell M, Glas A, Barcaru A, Mittempergher L, Kuilman M, Brown-Swigart L, Hirst G, Basu A, Magbanua M, Sayaman R, Huppert L, Delson A, I-SPY2 Investigators, Symmans WF, Borowsky A, Pohlmann P, Rugo H, Clark A, Yee D, DeMichele A, Perlmutter J, Petricoin EF, Chien J, Stringer-Reasor E, Shatsky R, Liu M, Han H, Soliman H, Isaacs C, Nanda R, Hylton N, Pusztai L, Esserman L, van 't Veer L. Immune Subtyping Identifies Patients With Hormone Receptor-Positive Early-Stage Breast Cancer Who Respond to Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy (IO): Results From Five IO Arms of the I-SPY2 Trial. JCO Precis Oncol. 2025 Jun; 9:e2400776.  View on PubMed
  6. Winchester DJ, Singh L, Edge SB, Allison KH, Barlow WE, Bossuyt V, Chavez-MacGregor M, Conant EF, Connolly JL, De Los Santos JF, Hayes DF, Hylton NM, Mittendorf EA, Plichta JK, Provenzano E, Salerno KE, Sharma P, Symmans WF, Weaver D, Hortobagyi GN, Member of the Ninth Edition AJCC Neoadjuvant Breast Expert Panel Novel Postneoadjuvant Prognostic Breast Cancer Staging System.  View on PubMed
  7. Ramalingam K, Woody R, Glencer A, Schwartz CJ, Mori H, Wong J, Hirst G, Rosenbluth J, Onishi N, Gibbs J, Hylton N, Borowsky AD, Campbell M, Esserman LJ. Intratumoral Injection of mRNA-2752 and Pembrolizumab for High-Risk Ductal Carcinoma In Situ: A Phase 1 Nonrandomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Oncol. 2025 Mar 01; 11(3):288-292.  View on PubMed
  8. Li W, Onishi N, Gibbs JE, Wilmes LJ, Le NN, Metanat P, Price ER, Joe BN, Kornak J, Yau C, Wolf DM, Magbanua MJM, LeStage B, van 't Veer LJ, DeMichele AM, Esserman LJ, Hylton NM. MRI-Based Model for Personalizing Neoadjuvant Treatment in Breast Cancer. Tomography. 2025 Feb 27; 11(3).  View on PubMed
  9. Rugo HS, Campbell M, Yau C, Jo Chien A, Wallace AM, Isaacs C, Boughey JC, Han HS, Buxton M, Clennell JL, Asare SM, Steeg K, Wilson A, Singhrao R, Matthews JB, Perlmutter J, Fraser Symmans W, Hylton NM, DeMichele AM, Yee D, Van't Veer LJ, Berry DA, Esserman LJ. Pexidartinib and standard neoadjuvant therapy in the adaptively randomized I-SPY2 trial for early breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2025 Feb; 209(3):487-492.  View on PubMed
  10. Li W, Le NN, Nadkarni R, Onishi N, Wilmes LJ, Gibbs JE, Price ER, Joe BN, Mukhtar RA, Gennatas ED, Kornak J, Magbanua MJM, Van't Veer LJ, LeStage B, Esserman LJ, Hylton NM. Tumor Morphology for Prediction of Poor Responses Early in Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer: A Multicenter Retrospective Study. Tomography. 2024 Nov 20; 10(11):1832-1845.  View on PubMed
  11. Campbell MJ, Wolf DM, Yau C, Brown-Swigart L, Wulfkuhle J, Gallagher IR, Zhu Z, Bolen J, Vandenberg S, Hoyt C, Mori H, Borowsky A, Sit L, Perlmutter J, Asare SM, I-SPY2 Investigators, Nanda R, Liu MC, Yee D, DeMichele AM, Hylton NM, Pusztai L, Berry DA, Hirst GL, Petricoin EF, Veer LV, Esserman L. Multi-platform biomarkers of response to an immune checkpoint inhibitor in the neoadjuvant I-SPY 2 trial for early-stage breast cancer. Cell Rep Med. 2024 Nov 19; 5(11):101799.  View on PubMed
  12. Huppert LA, Wolf D, Yau C, Brown-Swigart L, Hirst GL, Isaacs C, Pusztai L, Pohlmann PR, DeMichele A, Shatsky R, Yee D, Thomas A, Nanda R, Perlmutter J, Heditsian D, Hylton N, Symmans F, Van't Veer LJ, Esserman L, Rugo HS. Pathologic complete response (pCR) rates for patients with HR+/HER2- high-risk, early-stage breast cancer (EBC) by clinical and molecular features in the phase II I-SPY2 clinical trial. Ann Oncol. 2025 Feb; 36(2):172-184.  View on PubMed
  13. Khoury K, Meisel JL, Yau C, Rugo HS, Nanda R, Davidian M, Tsiatis B, Chien AJ, Wallace AM, Arora M, Rozenblit M, Hershman DL, Zimmer A, Clark AS, Beckwith H, Elias AD, Stringer-Reasor E, Boughey JC, Nangia C, Vaklavas C, Omene C, Albain KS, Kalinsky KM, Isaacs C, Tseng J, Roussos Torres ET, Thomas B, Thomas A, Sanford A, Balassanian R, Ewing C, Yeung K, Sauder C, Sanft T, Pusztai L, Trivedi MS, Outhaythip A, Li W, Onishi N, Asare AL, Beineke P, Norwood P, Brown-Swigart L, Hirst GL, Matthews JB, Moore B, Fraser Symmans W, Price E, Beedle C, Perlmutter J, Pohlmann P, Shatsky RA, DeMichele A, Yee D, van 't Veer LJ, Hylton NM, Esserman LJ. Datopotamab-deruxtecan in early-stage breast cancer: the sequential multiple assignment randomized I-SPY2.2 phase 2 trial. Nat Med. 2024 Dec; 30(12):3728-3736.  View on PubMed
  14. Shatsky RA, Trivedi MS, Yau C, Nanda R, Rugo HS, Davidian M, Tsiatis B, Wallace AM, Chien AJ, Stringer-Reasor E, Boughey JC, Omene C, Rozenblit M, Kalinsky K, Elias AD, Vaklavas C, Beckwith H, Williams N, Arora M, Nangia C, Roussos Torres ET, Thomas B, Albain KS, Clark AS, Falkson C, Hershman DL, Isaacs C, Thomas A, Tseng J, Sanford A, Yeung K, Boles S, Chen YY, Huppert L, Jahan N, Parker C, Giridhar K, Howard FM, Blackwood MM, Sanft T, Li W, Onishi N, Asare AL, Beineke P, Norwood P, Brown-Swigart L, Hirst GL, Matthews JB, Moore B, Symmans WF, Price E, Heditsian D, LeStage B, Perlmutter J, Pohlmann P, DeMichele A, Yee D, van 't Veer LJ, Hylton NM, Esserman LJ. Datopotamab-deruxtecan plus durvalumab in early-stage breast cancer: the sequential multiple assignment randomized I-SPY2.2 phase 2 trial. Nat Med. 2024 Dec; 30(12):3737-3747.  View on PubMed
  15. Greenwood HI, Maldonado Rodas CK, Freimanis RI, Glencer AC, Miller PN, Mukhtar RA, Brabham C, Yau C, Rosenbluth JM, Hirst GL, Campbell MJ, Borowsky A, Hylton N, Esserman LJ, Basu A. Magnetic resonance imaging insights from active surveillance of women with ductal carcinoma in situ. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2024 Aug 04; 10(1):71.  View on PubMed
  16. Magbanua MJM, Ahmed Z, Sayaman RW, Brown Swigart L, Hirst GL, Yau C, Wolf DM, Li W, Delson AL, Perlmutter J, Pohlmann P, Symmans WF, Yee D, Hylton NM, Esserman LJ, DeMichele AM, Rugo HS, van 't Veer LJ. Cell-free DNA Concentration as a Biomarker of Response and Recurrence in HER2-Negative Breast Cancer Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 Jun 03; 30(11):2444-2451.  View on PubMed
  17. Diwanji D, Onishi N, Hathi DK, Lawhn-Heath C, Kornak J, Li W, Guo R, Molina-Vega J, Seo Y, Flavell RR, Heditsian D, Brain S, Esserman LJ, Joe BN, Hylton NM, Jones EF, Ray KM. 18F-FDG Dedicated Breast PET Complementary to Breast MRI for Evaluating Early Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy. Radiol Imaging Cancer. 2024 03; 6(2):e230082.  View on PubMed
  18. Albain KS, Yau C, Petricoin EF, Wolf DM, Lang JE, Chien AJ, Haddad T, Forero-Torres A, Wallace AM, Kaplan H, Pusztai L, Euhus D, Nanda R, Elias AD, Clark AS, Godellas C, Boughey JC, Isaacs C, Tripathy D, Lu J, Yung RL, Gallagher RI, Wulfkuhle JD, Brown-Swigart L, Krings G, Chen YY, Potter DA, Stringer-Reasor E, Blair S, Asare SM, Wilson A, Hirst GL, Singhrao R, Buxton M, Clennell JL, Sanil A, Berry S, Asare AL, Matthews JB, DeMichele AM, Hylton NM, Melisko M, Perlmutter J, Rugo HS, Symmans WF, Van't Veer LJ, Yee D, Berry DA, Esserman LJ. Neoadjuvant Trebananib plus Paclitaxel-based Chemotherapy for Stage II/III Breast Cancer in the Adaptively Randomized I-SPY2 Trial-Efficacy and Biomarker Discovery. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 02 16; 30(4):729-740.  View on PubMed
  19. Li W, Partridge SC, Newitt DC, Steingrimsson J, Marques HS, Bolan PJ, Hirano M, Bearce BA, Kalpathy-Cramer J, Boss MA, Teng X, Zhang J, Cai J, Kontos D, Cohen EA, Mankowski WC, Liu M, Ha R, Pellicer-Valero OJ, Maier-Hein K, Rabinovici-Cohen S, Tlusty T, Ozery-Flato M, Parekh VS, Jacobs MA, Yan R, Sung K, Kazerouni AS, DiCarlo JC, Yankeelov TE, Chenevert TL, Hylton NM. Breast Multiparametric MRI for Prediction of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Response in Breast Cancer: The BMMR2 Challenge. Radiol Imaging Cancer. 2024 01; 6(1):e230033.  View on PubMed
  20. Gallagher RI, Wulfkuhle J, Wolf DM, Brown-Swigart L, Yau C, O'Grady N, Basu A, Lu R, Campbell MJ, Magbanua MJ, Coppé JP, I-SPY 2 Investigators, Asare SM, Sit L, Matthews JB, Perlmutter J, Hylton N, Liu MC, Symmans WF, Rugo HS, Isaacs C, DeMichele AM, Yee D, Pohlmann PR, Hirst GL, Esserman LJ, van 't Veer LJ, Petricoin EF. Protein signaling and drug target activation signatures to guide therapy prioritization: Therapeutic resistance and sensitivity in the I-SPY 2 Trial. Cell Rep Med. 2023 12 19; 4(12):101312.  View on PubMed

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