Research Summary

Matthew Bucknor, MD, MFA is a musculoskeletal radiologist and the Associate Chair for Wellbeing and Professional Climate in the UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. He also serves as Executive Sponsor of Differences Matter, a multi-year School of Medicine initiative designed to promote belonging at UCSF.

Dr. Bucknor completed his medical degree at Stanford School of Medicine and his four-year residency in Diagnostic Radiology at UCSF, followed by a clinical fellowship in Musculoskeletal Imaging and Intervention at Stanford Medical Center. After completing his fellowship, Dr. Bucknor joined the Musculoskeletal Imaging faculty at UCSF in 2014.

Dr. Bucknor’s main research interest is developing new musculoskeletal applications of MR-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (MRgHIFU) for treating bone and soft tissue lesions. He also pursues research of additional minimally invasive interventions, novel techniques for evaluating bone/soft tissue tumors and musculoskeletal injuries, as well as health equity in medicine, broadly.

In addition to his research interests, Dr. Bucknor has a strong interest in the medical humanities. He is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College and received a Contributor Award to attend the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. He serves on the executive board of the Pegasus Physician Writers at Stanford and the advisory board of the Bellevue Literary Press.

Education

  • Harvard College, BA, 2003, Biochemical Sciences
  • Stanford School of Medicine, MD, 2008, Medicine
  • Kaiser San Francisco Preliminary Medicine, Internship, 2009, Internal Medicine
  • UCSF Radiology Residency, 2013, Diagnostic Radiology
  • Stanford Musculoskeletal Imaging and Intervention, Fellowship, 2014, Musculoskeletal Imaging

Honors & Awards

  • Andrew J. Lockhart Memorial Prize, Focused Ultrasound Foundation, 2020
  • Chancellor Award for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership, UCSF, 2019
  • John A. Watson Faculty Scholar, UCSF, 2015
  • Trainee Research Prize, RSNA, 2013
  • Resident-in-Training Scholarship, Society of Interventional Radiology, 2011

Selected Publications

  1. Chhabra A, Alaia EF, Bucknor MD, Choi JA, Forster BB, Gyftopoulos S, Hayashi D, Isaac A, Matrawy K, McGill KC, Motamedi K, Prakash M, Serfaty A, Smith SE, Stevens KJ, Bredella MA. Global insights on diversity, equity, and inclusion-perspectives and experiences from musculoskeletal radiologists of the International Skeletal Society DEI Committee. Skeletal Radiol. 2025 Apr 12.  View on PubMed
  2. Expert Panel on Musculoskeletal Imaging, Chen KC, Ha AS, Bartolotta RJ, Avery R, Bucknor MD, Flug J, Geannette CS, Grushky AD, Hose M, Laur O, Raizman NM, Chang EY. ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Acute Elbow and Forearm Pain. J Am Coll Radiol. 2024 Nov; 21(11S):S355-S363.  View on PubMed
  3. Bhattacharjee R, Hammond E, Chotigar N, Akkaya Z, Jiang F, Bahroos E, Han M, Behr S, Bucknor MD, Souza RB, Pedoia V, Majumdar S. The relationships between patellofemoral bone remodeling, cartilage composition, and vertical loading rate: PET/MRI in isolated patellofemoral osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2024 Dec; 32(12):1591-1600.  View on PubMed
  4. McGill KC, Baal JD, Bucknor MD. Update on musculoskeletal applications of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound. Skeletal Radiol. 2024 Sep; 53(9):1869-1877.  View on PubMed
  5. Zhu Y, Deng K, Zhou J, Lai C, Ma Z, Zhang H, Pan J, Shen L, Bucknor MD, Ozhinsky E, Kim S, Chen G, Ye SH, Zhang Y, Liu D, Gao C, Xu Y, Wang H, Wagner WR. Shape-recovery of implanted shape-memory devices remotely triggered via image-guided ultrasound heating. Nat Commun. 2024 Feb 06; 15(1):1123.  View on PubMed
  6. Pien J, Ali TK, Schlozman S, Jamal A, Bucknor MD, Srinivasan M. Participation in a Physician Creative Writing Community: 15-Year Program Survey Outcomes at an Academic Medical Center. J Gen Intern Med. 2024 Apr; 39(5):815-817.  View on PubMed
  7. Düx DM, Baal JD, Bitton R, Chen J, Brunsing RL, Sheth VR, Rosenberg J, Kim K, Ozhinsky E, Avedian R, Ganjoo K, Bucknor M, Dobrotwir A, Ghanouni P. MR-guided focused ultrasound therapy of extra-abdominal desmoid tumors: a multicenter retrospective study of 105 patients. Eur Radiol. 2024 Feb; 34(2):1137-1145.  View on PubMed
  8. Magudia K, Goins S, Bucknor MD, Canon CL, Jagsi R, Arleo EK. Career Trajectory Factors Affecting Gender Diversity in Academic Radiology Department Chairs: Results of a Survey of SCARD Members. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2023 09; 221(3):391-395.  View on PubMed
  9. Bucknor MD, Narayan AK, Spalluto LB. A Framework for Developing Health Equity Initiatives in Radiology. J Am Coll Radiol. 2023 03; 20(3):385-392.  View on PubMed
  10. Bharadwaj UU, Varenika V, Carson W, Villanueva-Meyer J, Ammanuel S, Bucknor M, Robbins NM, Douglas V, Chin CT. Variant Sciatic Nerve Anatomy in Relation to the Piriformis Muscle on Magnetic Resonance Neurography: A Potential Etiology for Extraspinal Sciatica. Tomography. 2023 02 22; 9(2):475-484.  View on PubMed
  11. Expert Panel on Musculoskeletal Imaging, Thomas JM, Chang EY, Ha AS, Bartolotta RJ, Bucknor MD, Caracciolo JT, Chen KC, Flug J, Kumaravel M, Raizman NM, Ross AB, Silvis ML, Surasi DS, Beaman FD. ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Chronic Elbow Pain. J Am Coll Radiol. 2022 11; 19(11S):S256-S265.  View on PubMed
  12. Expert Panel on Musculoskeletal Imaging, Ha AS, Chang EY, Bartolotta RJ, Bucknor MD, Chen KC, Ellis HB, Flug J, Leschied JR, Ross AB, Sharma A, Thomas JM, Beaman FD. ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Osteonecrosis: 2022 Update. J Am Coll Radiol. 2022 11; 19(11S):S409-S416.  View on PubMed
  13. Neumann J, Zhang AL, Bucknor M, Majumdar S, Souza R, Joseph GB, Link TM. Acetabular cartilage delamination: performance of MRI using arthroscopy as the standard of reference. Acta Radiol. 2023 Mar; 64(3):1122-1129.  View on PubMed
  14. Calvillo AÁ, Kodaverdian LC, Garcia R, Lichtensztajn DY, Bucknor MD. Patient-level factors influencing adherence to follow-up imaging recommendations. Clin Imaging. 2022 Oct; 90:5-10.  View on PubMed
  15. Kwon DH, Paciorek A, Zhang L, Borno HT, Bucknor M, Small EJ, Aggarwal RR. Skeletal-related events after abiraterone or enzalutamide in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: A population-based study using the SEER-Medicare linked dataset. Urol Oncol. 2022 08; 40(8):379.e17-379.e24.  View on PubMed
  16. Chang CY, Garner HW, Ahlawat S, Amini B, Bucknor MD, Flug JA, Khodarahmi I, Mulligan ME, Peterson JJ, Riley GM, Samim M, Lozano-Calderon SA, Wu JS. Society of Skeletal Radiology- white paper. Guidelines for the diagnostic management of incidental solitary bone lesions on CT and MRI in adults: bone reporting and data system (Bone-RADS). Skeletal Radiol. 2022 Sep; 51(9):1743-1764.  View on PubMed
  17. Bucknor MD, Baal JD, McGill KC, Infosino A, Link TM. Musculoskeletal Applications of Magnetic Resonance-Guided Focused Ultrasound. Semin Musculoskelet Radiol. 2021 Dec; 25(6):725-734.  View on PubMed
  18. Baal JD, Chen WC, Baal U, Wagle S, Baal JH, Link TM, Bucknor MD. Efficacy and safety of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound for the treatment of painful bone metastases: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Skeletal Radiol. 2021 Dec; 50(12):2459-2469.  View on PubMed
  19. Astuto B, Flament I, Namiri NK, Shah R, Bharadwaj U, Link TM, Bucknor MD, Pedoia V, Majumdar S. Erratum: Automatic Deep Learning-assisted Detection and Grading of Abnormalities in Knee MRI Studies. Radiol Artif Intell. 2021 May; 3(3):e219001.  View on PubMed
  20. Bucknor MD, Hope TA. Reply: Disparities in PET Imaging of Prostate Cancer at a Tertiary Academic Medical Center. J Nucl Med. 2021 05 10; 62(5):748.  View on PubMed

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