Research Summary

Mitchel S. Berger M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.N.S. is the Berthold and Belle N. Guggenhime Professor of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Director of UCSF’s Brain Tumor Center. He is currently one of three members of the President’s Cancer Panel, appointed by President Biden to develop the scope of the National Cancer Program.

Dr. Berger is a pioneer of intraoperative brain mapping — a technique used to avoid functional areas of the brain during surgical resection of a tumor. His work has enabled surgeons to perform more extensive resection of tumor with less chance of producing sensorimotor or language deficit.

Dr. Berger is a leader of translational research and is the principal investigator of the UCSF Brain Tumor Research Center’s Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in neuro-oncology, funded by the National Cancer Institute. He has held this role for the 20 consecutive years that the SPORE has been funded at UCSF.

During his distinguished career, Dr. Berger has served as President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), President of the Society of Neuro-Oncology, and President of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery. He has also been a director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery; a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons; a member of the National Football League’s Head, Neck and Spine Committee; and a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel for the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative. He has received the Cushing Award for Technical Excellence and Innovation in Neurosurgery from the AANS and is a past recipient of the Winn Prize – the highest honor awarded by the Society of Neurological Surgeons for scientific excellence in neurological surgery.

Research Funding

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

  • 2024: Cushing Award for Technical Excellence and Innovation in Neurosurgery, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
  • 2023: Cloward Award, Western Neurological Society
  • 2022: Member, President's Cancer Panel
  • 2021: Rosenblum Distinguished Service Award, AANS/CNS Join Section on Tumors
  • 2018: Fedor Krause Medal, German Neurosurgical Society
  • 2017: Honorary Doctorate Degree of the Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly
  • 2017: Byron Cone Pevehouse Distinguished Service Award, California Association of Neurological Surgeons
  • 2016: Member, Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel
  • 2016: Charles B. Wilson Award, AANS/CNS Joint Section on Tumors
  • 2015: President, American Academy of Neurological Surgery
  • 2012: President, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
  • 2011: President Elect, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
  • 2010: Vice President, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
  • 2010-2013: Secretary, American Academy of Neurological Surgery
  • 2009: Winn Prize, Society of Neurological Surgeons 2009: Elected Member, UCSF Institute of Molecular Medicine
  • 2007-2010: Director, American Board of Neurological Surgery

Selected Publications

  1. Rammeloo E, Young JS, Schouten JW, Bos EM, Hervey-Jumper SL, Jungk C, Krieg SM, Smith T, Rincon-Torroella J, Bettegowda C, Maruyama T, Wagner A, Schucht P, Broekman MLD, De Vleeschouwer S, Nahed BV, Berger MS, Vincent AJPE, Gerritsen JKW Preoperative assessment of tumor eloquence and resectability: an international survey.  View on PubMed
  2. Chen JS, Young JS, Berger MS. Current and Future Applications of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid in Neurosurgical Oncology. Cancers (Basel). 2025 Apr 15; 17(8).  View on PubMed
  3. Menna G, Riva D, Marino S, Garber J, Gerritsen JKW, Mattogno PP, Young JS, Olivi A, Doglietto F, Berger MS, Della Pepa GM Simulation tools in neuro-oncological surgery: a scoping review of perioperative and training applications.  View on PubMed
  4. Young JS, Cho NW, Lucas CG, Najem H, Mirchia K, Chen WC, Seo K, Zakimi N, Daggubati V, Casey-Clyde T, Nguyen MP, Chen A, Phillips JJ, Ozawa T, Aghi MK, Taylor JW, DeRisi JL, Bhaduri A, Berger MS, Heimberger AB, Butowski N, Spitzer MH, Raleigh DR. IL-6 underlies microenvironment immunosuppression and resistance to therapy in glioblastoma. bioRxiv. 2025 Mar 14.  View on PubMed
  5. Lin K, Zou C, Hubbard A, Sengelmann S, Goudy L, Wang IC, Sharma R, Pak J, Foster K, Ozawa T, de Groot JF, Phillips J, Vasudevan HN, Raleigh DR, Marson A, Murthy N, Gilbert LA, Berger MS, Liu SJ. Multiplexed epigenetic memory editing using CRISPRoff sensitizes glioblastoma to chemotherapy. Neuro Oncol. 2025 Feb 25.  View on PubMed
  6. Shukla PD, Nguyen MP, Lui A, Catalan T, Young JS, Berger MS, Theodosopoulos PV, Hervey-Jumper SL, Huppert LA, Aghi MK, Vasudevan HN, Morshed RA. Association of lower tumor mutation burden with rapid local progression in patients with brain metastases. J Neurosurg. 2025 Jun 01; 142(6):1701-1709.  View on PubMed
  7. Rodriguez Almaraz E, Guerra GA, Al-Adli NN, Young JS, Dada A, Quintana D, Taylor JW, Oberheim Bush NA, Clarke JL, Butowski NA, de Groot J, Pekmezci M, Perry A, Bollen AW, Scheffler AW, Glidden DV, Phillips JJ, Costello JF, Chang EF, Hervey-Jumper S, Berger MS, Francis SS, Chang SM, Solomon DA. Longitudinal profiling of IDH-mutant astrocytomas reveals acquired RAS-MAPK pathway mutations associated with inferior survival. Neurooncol Adv. 2025 Jan-Dec; 7(1):vdaf024.  View on PubMed
  8. Majewska P, Holden Helland R, Ferles A, Pedersen A, Kommers I, Ardon H, Barkhof F, Bello L, Berger MS, Dunås T, Conti Nibali M, Furtner J, Hervey-Jumper SL, Idema AJS, Kiesel B, Nandoe Tewarie R, Mandonnet E, Müller DMJ, Robe PA, Rossi M, Sciortino T, Aalders T, Wagemakers M, Widhalm G, Zwinderman AH, De Witt Hamer PC, Eijgelaar RS, Sagberg LM, Jakola AS, Thurin E, Reinertsen I, Bouget D, Solheim O. Prognostic value of manual versus automatic methods for assessing extents of resection and residual tumor volume in glioblastoma. J Neurosurg. 2025 Jan 17; 1-9.  View on PubMed
  9. Lucas CG, Al-Adli NN, Young JS, Gupta R, Morshed RA, Wu J, Ravindranathan A, Shai A, Oberheim Bush NA, Taylor JW, de Groot J, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Pekmezci M, Perry A, Bollen AW, Theodosopoulos PV, Aghi MK, Chang EF, Hervey-Jumper SL, Raleigh DR, Molinaro AM, Costello JF, Diaz AA, Clarke JL, Butowski NA, Phillips JJ, Chang SM, Berger MS, Solomon DA. Longitudinal multimodal profiling of IDH-wildtype glioblastoma reveals the molecular evolution and cellular phenotypes underlying prognostically different treatment responses. Neuro Oncol. 2025 Jan 12; 27(1):89-105.  View on PubMed
  10. Narsinh KH, Kumar K, Bankiewicz K, Martin AJ, Berger M, Clarke J, Taylor J, Bush NAO, Molinaro AM, Aghi M, Butowski N. A phase I study of convection-enhanced delivery (CED) of liposomal-irinotecan using real-time magnetic resonance imaging in patients with recurrent high-grade glioma. J Neurooncol. 2025 Mar; 172(1):219-227.  View on PubMed
  11. Horbinski C, Solomon DA, Lukas RV, Packer RJ, Brastianos P, Wen PY, Snuderl M, Berger MS, Chang S, Fouladi M, Phillips JJ, Nabors B, Brat DJ, Huse JT, Aldape K, Sarkaria JN, Holdhoff M, Burns TC, Peters KB, Mellinghoff IK, Arons D, Galanis E. Molecular Testing for the World Health Organization Classification of Central Nervous System Tumors: A Review. JAMA Oncol. 2024 Dec 26.  View on PubMed
  12. Westphal M, Levin VA, Berger MS, Pieper R, Nishikawa R, Bjerkvig R, Ashley DM, Bigner D, Sampson JH, Ichimura K, Rutka JT. Advances in neuro-oncology: contributions of the Asilomar Conference on brain tumor research and therapy. J Neurosurg. 2024 Dec 20; 142(3):892-898.  View on PubMed
  13. Gerritsen JKW, Karschnia P, Young JS, van den Bent MJ, Chang SM, Smith TR, Nahed BV, Rincon-Torroella J, Bettegowda C, Sanai N, Krieg SM, Maruyama T, Schucht P, Broekman MLD, Tonn JC, Wen PY, De Vleeschouwer S, Vincent AJPE, Hervey-Jumper S, Berger MS, Mekary RA, Molinaro AM. Practical and statistical aspects of subgroup analyses in surgical neuro-oncology: A comprehensive review from the PIONEER Consortium. Neuro Oncol. 2024 Dec 07.  View on PubMed
  14. Olow A, Mueller S, Yang X, Hashizume R, Meyerowitz J, Weiss W, Resnick AC, Waanders AJ, Stalpers LJA, Berger MS, Gupta N, James CD, Petritsch CK, Haas-Kogan DA. Editor's Note: BRAF Status in Personalizing Treatment Approaches for Pediatric Gliomas. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 Dec 02; 30(23):5494.  View on PubMed
  15. Vooijs M, Robertson FC, Blitz SE, Jungk C, Krieg SM, Schucht P, De Vleeschouwer S, Vincent AJPE, Berger MS, Nahed BV, Broekman MLD, Gerritsen JKW. Level I and II deficits-A clinical survey on international practice of awake craniotomy and definitions of postoperative "major" and "minor" deficits. Neurooncol Adv. 2024 Jan-Dec; 6(1):vdae206.  View on PubMed
  16. Körner LI, Reichert D, Andreana M, Unterhuber A, Erkkilae MT, Makolli J, Kiesel B, Mischkulnig M, Rötzer-Pejrimovsky T, Wöhrer A, Berger MS, Leitgeb R, Widhalm G. Analysis of the Porphyrin Peak Shift and Fluorescence Lifetime in Gliomas with Different Tumor Grades, Intratumoral Regions, and Visible Fluorescence Status. Diagnostics (Basel). 2024 Nov 25; 14(23).  View on PubMed
  17. van Opijnen MP, Sadigh Y, Dijkstra ME, Young JS, Krieg SM, Ille S, Sanai N, Rincon-Torroella J, Maruyama T, Schucht P, Smith TR, Nahed BV, Broekman MLD, De Vleeschouwer S, Berger MS, Vincent AJPE, Gerritsen JKW. The impact of intraoperative mapping during re-resection in recurrent gliomas: a systematic review. J Neurooncol. 2025 Feb; 171(3):485-493.  View on PubMed
  18. Karschnia P, Young JS, Youssef GC, Dono A, Häni L, Sciortino T, Bruno F, Juenger ST, Teske N, Dietrich J, Weller M, Vogelbaum MA, van den Bent M, Beck J, Thon N, Gerritsen JKW, Hervey-Jumper S, Cahill DP, Chang SM, Rudà R, Bello L, Schnell O, Esquenazi Y, Ruge MI, Grau SJ, Huang RY, Wen PY, Berger MS, Molinaro AM, Tonn JC, RANO resect group. Development and validation of a clinical risk model for postoperative outcome in newly diagnosed glioblastoma: a report of the RANO resect group. Neuro Oncol. 2024 Nov 04.  View on PubMed
  19. Liu SJ, Zou C, Pak J, Morse A, Pang D, Casey-Clyde T, Borah AA, Wu D, Seo K, O'Loughlin T, Lim DA, Ozawa T, Berger MS, Kamber RA, Weiss WA, Raleigh DR, Gilbert LA. In vivo perturb-seq of cancer and microenvironment cells dissects oncologic drivers and radiotherapy responses in glioblastoma. Genome Biol. 2024 Oct 07; 25(1):256.  View on PubMed
  20. Hotchkiss KM, Karschnia P, Schreck KC, Geurts M, Cloughesy TF, Huse J, Duke ES, Lathia J, Ashley DM, Nduom EK, Long G, Singh K, Chalmers A, Ahluwalia MS, Heimberger A, Bagley S, Todo T, Verhaak R, Kelly PD, Hervey-Jumper S, de Groot J, Patel A, Fecci P, Parney I, Wykes V, Watts C, Burns TC, Sanai N, Preusser M, Tonn JC, Drummond KJ, Platten M, Das S, Tanner K, Vogelbaum MA, Weller M, Whittle JR, Berger MS, Khasraw M. A brave new framework for glioma drug development. Lancet Oncol. 2024 Oct; 25(10):e512-e519.  View on PubMed

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