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

  • December 1, 2005 - July 31, 2024 - Noninvasive Metabolic Signatures to Improve Management of Molecular Subtypes of Glioma , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P01CA118816
  • September 20, 2002 - August 31, 2023 - Brain Tumor SPORE Grant , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P50CA097257
  • August 5, 1999 - May 31, 2023 - Cancer Center Support Grant , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P30CA082103
  • April 1, 1979 - February 28, 2007 - PROGRAMS FOR TREATMENT OF MALIGNANT BRAIN TUMORS , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, 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. Saijo A, Ogino H, Butowski NA, Tedesco MR, Gibson D, Watchmaker PB, Okada K, Wang AS, Shai A, Salazar AM, Molinaro AM, Rabbitt JE, Shahin M, Perry A, Clarke JL, Taylor JW, Daras M, Oberheim Bush NA, Hervey-Jumper SL, Phillips JJ, Chang SM, Hilf N, Mayer-Mokler A, Keler T, Berger MS, Okada H. A combinatory vaccine with IMA950 plus varlilumab promotes effector memory T-cell differentiation in the peripheral blood of patients with low-grade gliomas. Neuro Oncol. 2023 Sep 27.  View on PubMed
  2. Karschnia P, Dono A, Young JS, Juenger ST, Teske N, Häni L, Sciortino T, Mau CY, Bruno F, Nunez L, Morshed RA, Haddad AF, Weller M, van den Bent M, Beck J, Hervey-Jumper S, Molinaro AM, Tandon N, Rudà R, Vogelbaum MA, Bello L, Schnell O, Grau SJ, Chang SM, Berger MS, Esquenazi Y, Tonn JC. Prognostic evaluation of re-resection for recurrent glioblastoma using the novel RANO classification for extent of resection: A report of the RANO resect group. Neuro Oncol. 2023 Sep 05; 25(9):1672-1685.  View on PubMed
  3. Karschnia P, Dietrich J, Bruno F, Dono A, Juenger ST, Teske N, Young JS, Sciortino T, Häni L, van den Bent M, Weller M, Vogelbaum MA, Morshed RA, Haddad AF, Molinaro AM, Tandon N, Beck J, Schnell O, Bello L, Hervey-Jumper S, Thon N, Grau SJ, Esquenazi Y, Rudà R, Chang SM, Berger MS, Cahill DP, Tonn JC. Surgical management and outcome of newly diagnosed glioblastoma without contrast enhancement ('low grade appearance') - a report of the RANO resect group. Neuro Oncol. 2023 Sep 04.  View on PubMed
  4. Schupp PG, Shelton SJ, Brody DJ, Eliscu R, Johnson BE, Mazor T, Kelley KW, Potts MB, McDermott MW, Huang EJ, Lim DA, Pieper RO, Berger MS, Costello JF, Phillips JJ, Oldham MC. Deconstructing Intratumoral Heterogeneity through Multiomic and Multiscale Analysis of Serial Sections. bioRxiv. 2023 Oct 18.  View on PubMed
  5. Cummins DD, Garcia JH, Nguyen MP, Saggi S, Chung JE, Goldschmidt E, Berger MS, Theodosopoulos PV, Chang EF, Daras M, Hervey-Jumper SL, Aghi MK, Morshed RA. Association of CDKN2A alterations with increased postoperative seizure risk after resection of brain metastases. Neurosurg Focus. 2023 08; 55(2):E14.  View on PubMed
  6. Uggerly ASV, Cummins DD, Nguyen MP, Saggi S, Goldschmidt E, Chang EF, McDermott MW, Berger MS, Theodosopoulos PV, Hervey-Jumper SL, Daras M, Aghi MK, Morshed RA. Genomic alterations associated with rapid progression of brain metastases. Neurosurg Focus. 2023 08; 55(2):E15.  View on PubMed
  7. Morshed RA, Cummins DD, Nguyen MP, Saggi S, Vasudevan HN, Braunstein SE, Goldschmidt E, Chang EF, McDermott MW, Berger MS, Theodosopoulos PV, Daras M, Hervey-Jumper SL, Aghi MK. Genomic alterations associated with postoperative nodular leptomeningeal disease after resection of brain metastases. J Neurosurg. 2023 Jul 28; 1-10.  View on PubMed
  8. Young JS, Morshed RA, Hervey-Jumper SL, Berger MS. The Surgical Management of Diffuse Gliomas: Current State of Neurosurgical Management and Future Directions. Neuro Oncol. 2023 Jul 27.  View on PubMed
  9. Singh K, Hotchkiss KM, Parney IF, De Groot J, Sahebjam S, Sanai N, Platten M, Galanis E, Lim M, Wen PY, Minniti G, Colman H, Cloughesy TF, Mehta MP, Geurts M, Arrillaga-Romany I, Desjardins A, Tanner K, Short S, Arons D, Duke E, Wick W, Bagley SJ, Ashley DM, Kumthekar P, Verhaak R, Chalmers AJ, Patel AP, Watts C, Fecci PE, Batchelor TT, Weller M, Vogelbaum MA, Preusser M, Berger MS, Khasraw M. Correcting the drug development paradigm for glioblastoma requires serial tissue sampling. Nat Med. 2023 Jul 24.  View on PubMed
  10. Varela K, Arman HD, Berger MS, Sponsel VM, Lin CA, Yoshimoto FK. Inhibition of Cysteine Proteases via Thiol-Michael Addition Explains the Anti-SARS-CoV-2 and Bioactive Properties of Arteannuin B. J Nat Prod. 2023 07 28; 86(7):1654-1666.  View on PubMed
  11. Williams EA, Ravindranathan A, Gupta R, Stevers NO, Suwala AK, Hong C, Kim S, Yuan JB, Wu J, Barreto J, Lucas CG, Chan E, Pekmezci M, LeBoit PE, Mully T, Perry A, Bollen A, Van Ziffle J, Devine WP, Reddy AT, Gupta N, Basnet KM, Macaulay RJB, Malafronte P, Lee H, Yong WH, Williams KJ, Juratli TA, Mata DA, Huang RSP, Hiemenz MC, Pavlick DC, Frampton GM, Janovitz T, Ross JS, Chang SM, Berger MS, Jacques L, Song JS, Costello JF, Solomon DA. Novel SOX10 indel mutations drive schwannomas through impaired transactivation of myelination gene programs. Neuro Oncol. 2023 Dec 08; 25(12):2221-2236.  View on PubMed
  12. Chalif EJ, Young JS, Villa GR, Aghi MK, Lenzi J, Berger MS. High-volume facilities are not always low risk: comparing risk-standardized mortality rates versus facility volume as quality measures in surgical neuro-oncology. J Neurosurg. 2023 Jun 30; 1-8.  View on PubMed
  13. Young JS, Al-Adli NN, Muster R, Chandra A, Morshed RA, Pereira MP, Chalif EJ, Hervey-Jumper SL, Theodosopoulos PV, McDermott MW, Berger MS, Aghi MK. Does waiting for surgery matter? How time from diagnostic MRI to resection affects outcomes in newly diagnosed glioblastoma. J Neurosurg. 2023 Jun 23; 1-14.  View on PubMed
  14. Ali MB, Gu IY, Berger MS, Jakola AS. A novel federated deep learning scheme for glioma and its subtype classification. Front Neurosci. 2023; 17:1181703.  View on PubMed
  15. Karschnia P, Young JS, Dono A, Häni L, Sciortino T, Bruno F, Juenger ST, Teske N, Morshed RA, Haddad AF, Zhang Y, Stoecklein S, Weller M, Vogelbaum MA, Beck J, Tandon N, Hervey-Jumper S, Molinaro AM, Rudà R, Bello L, Schnell O, Esquenazi Y, Ruge MI, Grau SJ, Berger MS, Chang SM, van den Bent M, Tonn JC. Prognostic validation of a new classification system for extent of resection in glioblastoma: A report of the RANO resect group. Neuro Oncol. 2023 05 04; 25(5):940-954.  View on PubMed
  16. Al-Adli NN, Young JS, Sibih YE, Berger MS. Technical Aspects of Motor and Language Mapping in Glioma Patients. Cancers (Basel). 2023 Apr 06; 15(7).  View on PubMed
  17. Elia A, Young JS, Simboli GA, Roux A, Moiraghi A, Trancart B, Al-Adli N, Aboubakr O, Bedioui A, Leclerc A, Planet M, Parraga E, Benevello C, Oppenheim C, Chretien F, Dezamis E, Berger MS, Zanello M, Pallud J. A Preoperative Scoring System to Predict Function-Based Resection Limitation Due to Insufficient Participation During Awake Surgery. Neurosurgery. 2023 09 01; 93(3):678-690.  View on PubMed
  18. Hollon TC, Golfinos JG, Orringer DA, Berger M, Hervey-Jumper SL, Muraszko KM, Freudiger C, Heth J, Sagher O, Jiang C, Chowdury A, Moin MN, Kondepudi A, Aabedi AA, Adapa AR, Al-Holou W, Wadiura L, Widhalm G, Neuschmelting V, Reinecke D, Camelo-Piragua S. 102 AI-Based Molecular Classification of Diffuse Gliomas using Rapid, Label-Free Optical Imaging. Neurosurgery. 2023 04 01; 69(Suppl 1):22-23.  View on PubMed
  19. Hollon T, Jiang C, Chowdury A, Nasir-Moin M, Kondepudi A, Aabedi A, Adapa A, Al-Holou W, Heth J, Sagher O, Lowenstein P, Castro M, Wadiura LI, Widhalm G, Neuschmelting V, Reinecke D, von Spreckelsen N, Berger MS, Hervey-Jumper SL, Golfinos JG, Snuderl M, Camelo-Piragua S, Freudiger C, Lee H, Orringer DA. Artificial-intelligence-based molecular classification of diffuse gliomas using rapid, label-free optical imaging. Nat Med. 2023 04; 29(4):828-832.  View on PubMed
  20. Young JS, Al-Adli N, Scotford K, Cha S, Berger MS. Pseudoprogression versus true progression in glioblastoma: what neurosurgeons need to know. J Neurosurg. 2023 09 01; 139(3):748-759.  View on PubMed

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