Research Summary
Dr. Berger's main clinical interests are the treatment of brain tumors in adults and children and of epilepsy related to brain tumors. He has extensive expertise in intraoperative mapping of the brain to identify the sites of motor, sensory, and language function and thereby avoid their involvement or injury during surgery.
Dr. Berger is Director of the Neuro-Oncology Surgery Program. His current research interests involve identifying molecular markers in gliomas as correlates of tumor progression and prognosis. He also works in conjunction with Dr. Krys Bankiewicz to test small molecule inhibitors in brain tumors using convection enhanced delivery. Other collaborations include functional mapping localization of language pathways in the brain in conjunction with Dr. Robert Knight and the Cognitive Neuroscience Graduate Program at UC Berkeley. Dr. Berger is currently the Principal Investigator of UCSF's SPORE Brain Tumor Program. He is also the Principal Investigator of a Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation Institute award to study the origins and treatment of pediatric brain tumors. "
Research Funding
September 20, 2002 - August 31, 2023 - Brain Tumor SPORE Grant, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: P50CA097257
July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2013 - Noninvasive Metabolic Signatures to Improve Management of Molecular Subtypes of Glioma, Co-Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: P01CA118816
August 5, 1999 - September 29, 2012 - Cancer Center Support Grant, Co-Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: P30CA082103
April 1, 1979 - February 28, 2007 - PROGRAMS FOR TREATMENT OF MALIGNANT BRAIN TUMORS, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NINDS, Sponsor Award ID: P01NS042927
Education
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, A.B., 1975, Social Psychology
University of Miami, Miami, FL, M.D., 1979, Medicine
University of California, San Francisco, CA (UCSF), Dept. of Neurological Surgery, Brain Tumor Research Center (BTRC) Research Fellow 1983 - 1984 Neurosurgery
UCSF, BTRC, Neuro-Oncology Service, Clinical Fellow, 7/85 - 12/85, Neurosurgery
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellow, 1/86 - 6/86, Neurosurgery