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

Honors & Awards

  • 1997-Present
    Joint Section on Tumors Advisory Council, American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons
  • 1997-1999
    Vice-President, Congress of Neurological Surgeons; President, Society for Neuro-Oncology
  • 2002-Present
    America’s Top Doctors, peer-nominated referral index from Castle Connolly
  • 2006
    Tumor Section, 2006 Ronald L. Bittner Lecturer; 2006 Farber Award Winner
  • 2007–Present
    Board of Directors of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons
  • 2007–Present
    Member of the American Board of Neurological Surgeons
  • 2010
    Vice-President, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
  • 2011
    President Elect, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
  • 2012
    President, American Association of Neurological Surgeons

Selected Publications

  1. Young JS, Gogos AJ, Aabedi AA, Morshed RA, Pereira MP, Lashof-Regas S, Mansoori Z, Luks T, Hervey-Jumper SL, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Berger MS. Resection of supplementary motor area gliomas: revisiting supplementary motor syndrome and the role of the frontal aslant tract. J Neurosurg. 2021 Oct 01; 1-7.  View on PubMed
  2. Wu J, Gupta R, Barreto J, Doo P, Joseph NM, Lee JC, Perry A, Chang SM, Berger MS, Solomon DA. Tumor DNA requirements for accurate epigenetic-based classification of CNS neoplasia. Neuro Oncol. 2021 10 01; 23(10):1798-1800.  View on PubMed
  3. Peruzzi P, Valdes PQ, Aghi MK, Berger M, Chiocca EA, Golby AJ. The Evolving Role of Neurosurgical Intervention for Central Nervous System Tumors. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 2021 Sep 23.  View on PubMed
  4. Khalafallah AM, Rakovec M, Bettegowda C, Jackson CM, Gallia GL, Weingart JD, Lim M, Esquenazi Y, Zacharia BE, Goldschmidt E, Ziu M, Ivan ME, Venteicher AS, Nduom EK, Mamelak AN, Chu RM, Yu JS, Sheehan JP, Nahed BV, Carter BS, Berger MS, Sawaya R, Mukherjee D. A Crowdsourced Consensus on Supratotal Resection Versus Gross Total Resection for Anatomically Distinct Primary Glioblastoma. Neurosurgery. 2021 Sep 15; 89(4):712-719.  View on PubMed
  5. Lucas CG, Mueller S, Reddy A, Taylor JW, Oberheim Bush NA, Clarke JL, Chang SM, Gupta N, Berger MS, Perry A, Phillips JJ, Solomon DA. Diffuse hemispheric glioma, H3 G34-mutant: Genomic landscape of a new tumor entity and prospects for targeted therapy. Neuro Oncol. 2021 Sep 14.  View on PubMed
  6. Ius T, Ng S, Young JS, Tomasino B, Polano M, Ben-Israel D, Kelly JJP, Skrap M, Duffau H, Berger MS. The benefit of early surgery on overall survival in incidental low grade glioma patients: a multicenter study. Neuro Oncol. 2021 Sep 08.  View on PubMed
  7. Lu J, Zhao Z, Zhang J, Wu B, Zhu Y, Chang EF, Wu J, Duffau H, Berger MS. Functional maps of direct electrical stimulation-induced speech arrest and anomia: a multicentre retrospective study. Brain. 2021 Sep 04; 144(8):2541-2553.  View on PubMed
  8. De Witt Hamer PC, Klein M, Hervey-Jumper SL, Wefel JS, Berger MS. In Reply: Functional Outcomes and Health-Related Quality of Life Following Glioma Surgery. Neurosurgery. 2021 08 16; 89(3):E189.  View on PubMed
  9. Kiesel B, Freund J, Reichert D, Wadiura L, Erkkilae MT, Woehrer A, Hervey-Jumper S, Berger MS, Widhalm G. 5-ALA in Suspected Low-Grade Gliomas: Current Role, Limitations, and New Approaches. Front Oncol. 2021; 11:699301.  View on PubMed
  10. Ammanuel SG, Almeida NC, Kurteff G, Kakaizada S, Molinaro AM, Berger MS, Chang EF, Hervey-Jumper SL. Correlation of natural language assessment results with health-related quality of life in adult glioma patients. J Neurosurg. 2021 Jul 30; 1-7.  View on PubMed
  11. Gupta R, Lucas CG, Wu J, Barreto J, Shah K, Simon IB, Casavilca-Zambrano S, Brathwaite C, Zhou H, Caccamo D, Gilani A, Kleinschmidt-DeMasters BK, Lee JC, Perry A, Clarke JL, Chang SM, Berger MS, Solomon DA. Low-grade glioneuronal tumors with FGFR2 fusion resolve into a single epigenetic group corresponding to 'Polymorphous low-grade neuroepithelial tumor of the young'. Acta Neuropathol. 2021 09; 142(3):595-599.  View on PubMed
  12. Haddad AF, Young JS, Amara D, Berger MS, Raleigh DR, Aghi MK, Butowski NA. Mouse models of glioblastoma for the evaluation of novel therapeutic strategies. Neurooncol Adv. 2021 Jan-Dec; 3(1):vdab100.  View on PubMed
  13. Morshed RA, Young JS, Lee AT, Berger MS, Hervey-Jumper SL. Clinical Pearls and Methods for Intraoperative Awake Language Mapping. Neurosurgery. 2021 07 15; 89(2):143-153.  View on PubMed
  14. Müller DMJ, Robe PA, Ardon H, Barkhof F, Bello L, Berger MS, Bouwknegt W, Van den Brink WA, Conti Nibali M, Eijgelaar RS, Furtner J, Han SJ, Hervey-Jumper SL, Idema AJS, Kiesel B, Kloet A, Mandonnet E, De Munck JC, Rossi M, Sciortino T, Vandertop WP, Visser M, Wagemakers M, Widhalm G, Witte MG, Zwinderman AH, De Witt Hamer PC. On the cutting edge of glioblastoma surgery: where neurosurgeons agree and disagree on surgical decisions. J Neurosurg. 2021 Jul 09; 1-11.  View on PubMed
  15. Morshed RA, Young JS, Kroliczek AA, Berger MS, Brang D, Hervey-Jumper SL. A Neurosurgeon's Guide to Cognitive Dysfunction in Adult Glioma. Neurosurgery. 2021 06 15; 89(1):1-10.  View on PubMed
  16. Bush NAO, Young JS, Zhang Y, Dalle Ore CL, Molinaro AM, Taylor J, Clarke J, Prados M, Braunstein SE, Raleigh DR, Chang SM, Berger MS, Butowski NA. A single institution retrospective analysis on survival based on treatment paradigms for patients with anaplastic oligodendroglioma. J Neurooncol. 2021 Jul; 153(3):447-454.  View on PubMed
  17. Pekmezci M, Morshed RA, Chunduru P, Pandian B, Young J, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Tihan T, Sloan EA, Aghi MK, Molinaro AM, Berger MS, Hervey-Jumper SL. Detection of glioma infiltration at the tumor margin using quantitative stimulated Raman scattering histology. Sci Rep. 2021 06 09; 11(1):12162.  View on PubMed
  18. Kommers I, Bouget D, Pedersen A, Eijgelaar RS, Ardon H, Barkhof F, Bello L, Berger MS, Conti Nibali M, Furtner J, Fyllingen EH, Hervey-Jumper S, Idema AJS, Kiesel B, Kloet A, Mandonnet E, Müller DMJ, Robe PA, Rossi M, Sagberg LM, Sciortino T, van den Brink WA, Wagemakers M, Widhalm G, Witte MG, Zwinderman AH, Reinertsen I, Solheim O, De Witt Hamer PC. Glioblastoma Surgery Imaging-Reporting and Data System: Standardized Reporting of Tumor Volume, Location, and Resectability Based on Automated Segmentations. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Jun 08; 13(12).  View on PubMed
  19. Aabedi AA, Kakaizada S, Young JS, Ahn E, Weissman DH, Berger MS, Brang D, Hervey-Jumper SL. Balancing task sensitivity with reliability for multimodal language assessments. J Neurosurg. 2021 May 28; 1-8.  View on PubMed
  20. Hosmann A, Millesi M, Wadiura LI, Kiesel B, Mercea PA, Mischkulnig M, Borkovec M, Furtner J, Roetzer T, Wolfsberger S, Phillips JJ, Berghoff AS, Hervey-Jumper S, Berger MS, Widhalm G. 5-ALA Fluorescence Is a Powerful Prognostic Marker during Surgery of Low-Grade Gliomas (WHO Grade II)-Experience at Two Specialized Centers. Cancers (Basel). 2021 May 21; 13(11).  View on PubMed

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