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

  • 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
  • August 1, 1983 - June 30, 2003 - TRAINING IN BRAIN TUMOR BIOLOGY AND THERAPY , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: T32CA009291
  • April 1, 1979 - September 30, 2000 - CLINICAL THERAPY FOR MALIGNANT BRAIN TUMORS , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P01CA013525
  • April 8, 1994 - December 31, 1997 - THERAPIES OF PRIMARY CNS MALIGNANCIES , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01CA062428
  • July 1, 1988 - June 30, 1993 - DRUG RESISTANCE AND DNA REPAIR IN BRAIN TUMORS , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: K08NS001253

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. 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
  2. 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 Feb 14; 1-9.  View on PubMed
  3. 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
  4. 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 Jan 06.  View on PubMed
  5. 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
  6. 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; 1-7.  View on PubMed
  7. 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
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. 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. 2024 Nov 19.  View on PubMed
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. Dada A, Umbach G, Majumdar A, Kaur J, Oten S, Berger MS, Brang D, Hervey-Jumper SL. Somatosensory Mapping Using a Novel Sensory Discrimination Task: Technical Note. Oper Neurosurg (Hagerstown). 2024 Sep 09.  View on PubMed
  17. Karschnia P, Gerritsen JKW, Teske N, Cahill DP, Jakola AS, van den Bent M, Weller M, Schnell O, Vik-Mo EO, Thon N, Vincent AJPE, Kim MM, Reifenberger G, Chang SM, Hervey-Jumper SL, Berger MS, Tonn JC. The oncological role of resection in newly diagnosed diffuse adult-type glioma defined by the WHO 2021 classification: a Review by the RANO resect group. Lancet Oncol. 2024 Sep; 25(9):e404-e419.  View on PubMed
  18. Ekert JO, Goyal A, Young JS, Hervey-Jumper SL, Berger MS. Interventional neurorehabilitation for glioma patients: A systematic review. Neurooncol Pract. 2024 Dec; 11(6):679-690.  View on PubMed
  19. Marino S, Menna G, Bilgin L, Mattogno PP, Gaudino S, Quaranta D, Caraglia N, Olivi A, Berger MS, Doglietto F, Della Pepa GM. "False friends" in Language Subcortical Mapping: A Systematic Literature Review. World Neurosurg. 2024 Oct; 190:350-361.e20.  View on PubMed
  20. Menna G, Marinno S, Valeri F, Mahadevan S, Mattogno PP, Gaudino S, Olivi A, Doglietto F, Berger MS, Della Pepa GM. Diffusion tensor imaging in detecting gliomas sub-regions of infiltration, local and remote recurrences: a systematic review. Neurosurg Rev. 2024 Jul 02; 47(1):301.  View on PubMed

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