Research Summary

Soonmee Cha, MD, is a Professor In Residence of Radiology and Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. She is the Diagnostic Radiology Residency Program Director, and she is Radiology's Vice-Chair of Education. Dr. Cha has focused on the importance of validating the usefulness of MRI as a tool for brain tumor diagnosis, monitoring and identifying therapy endpoints. She obtained her medical degree from Georgetown University, School of Medicine, Washington in 1991. She completed her Diagnostic Radiology residency from North Shore University Hospital, Cornell University Medical College in New York, followed by a fellowship in Neuroradiology from New York University Medical Center in 1998.

Dr. Cha is committed to a career dedicated to patient-oriented research in the field of brain tumor imaging. She believes that non-invasive imaging technology will make important contributions to the health of patients through improving the specificity and precision of diagnosis and treatment monitoring, which will have significant impact on therapeutic decisions.

The main focus of Dr. Cha’s research is to identify reliable surrogate markers of prognosis and therapeutic efficacy by quantitative MR imaging methods in patients with brain tumors. She believes that by using MR imaging techniques such perfusion MR imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging, and 3-dimensional proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging, detection of changes in tumor angiogenesis, cellularity, invasion, tumor hypoxia, and metabolic burden can be accurately measured and will provide more specific information about patient’s early response to therapy in the context of tumor growth.

Dr. Cha has been awarded several NIH grants, serving as Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator on many NIH projects. She has published 87 articles, and she has written 77 peer-reviewed articles and 4 book chapters.

Expertise:
Neuroradiology

Specialty:
Brain tumor imaging

Professional Interests:
Brain tumor, brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme, gliomas, primary cerebral lymphoma, angiogenesis, hypoxia, invasion, perfusion MR imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging, molecular imaging, biomarkers, microarray, genomics, neural stem cell

Education and Training:
• Medical School: Georgetown University, College of Arts and Sciences, Washington, District of Columbia
• Internship: Georgetown University Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church
• Residency: North Shore University Hospital, Cornell University Medical College, Manhasset, New York - Diagnostic Radiology
• Fellowship: New York University Medical Center, New York - Neuroradiology

Research Funding

  • August 1, 2003 - April 30, 2009 - Brain Tumor Imaging: Quantitative MRI and 1H MRS , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: K23NS045013

Education

Georgetown University, Washington, DC, B.S., 1983-1987, Chemistry
Georgetown University, Washington, DC, M.D., 1987-1991, Medicine
Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, Internship, 1991-1992, Transitional Internship
North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, NY, Residency, 1992-1996, Diagnostic Radiology
New York University Medical Center, New York, NY, Fellowship, 1996-1998, Neuroradiology

Honors & Awards

  • April 2000
    ASNR Outstanding Presentation Award in General Neuroradiology at the 38th Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA.
  • 1995
    Certificate of Merit Award, Scientific exhibit at RSNA
  • 1994
    Certificate of Merit Award, Scientific exhibit at RSNA

Selected Publications

  1. Hu LS, Smits M, Kaufmann TJ, Knutsson L, Rapalino O, Galldiks N, Sundgren PC, Cha S. Advanced Imaging in the Diagnosis and Response Assessment of High-Grade Glioma: AJR Expert Panel Narrative Review. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2025 Jan; 224(1):e2330612.  View on PubMed
  2. Zhou MH, Cha S. MYCN-amplified spinal ependymomas: a rare aggressive subtype. Illustrative cases. J Neurosurg Case Lessons. 2025 Jan 06; 9(1).  View on PubMed
  3. Isikbay M, Caton MT, Narvid J, Talbott J, Cha S, Calabrese E. Deep learning segmentation-based bone removal from computed tomography of the brain improves subdural hematoma detection. J Neuroradiol. 2024 Nov 08; 52(1):101231.  View on PubMed
  4. Terry M, Nguyen MP, Tang V, Guney E, Bharani KL, Dahiya S, Choutka O, Borys E, Reis G, Blevins L, Aghi MK, Kunwar S, DeGroot J, Raleigh DR, Pekmezci M, Bollen AW, Cha S, Joseph NM, Perry A. High-Grade Progression, Sarcomatous Transformation, and/or Metastasis of Pituitary Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (PitNENs): The UCSF Experience. Endocr Pathol. 2024 Dec; 35(4):338-348.  View on PubMed
  5. Fields BKK, Calabrese E, Mongan J, Cha S, Hess CP, Sugrue LP, Chang SM, Luks TL, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Rauschecker AM, Rudie JD. The University of California San Francisco Adult Longitudinal Post-Treatment Diffuse Glioma MRI Dataset. Radiol Artif Intell. 2024 Jul; 6(4):e230182.  View on PubMed
  6. Cha SM, Lee SH, Ga IH, Kim YH, Lee SH. Usefulness of multiple bioabsorbable Mg screws/K‑wires for comminuted radial head fractures. Int Orthop. 2024 Aug; 48(8):2165-2177.  View on PubMed
  7. Cha SM, Lee SH, Ga IH, Kim YH. Locking plate fixation in comminuted coronoid fractures with partial loss of the articular cartilage - Of basal-1 type according to the O'Driscoll classification. Injury. 2024 Jun; 55(6):111550.  View on PubMed
  8. Reddy S, Cha S, LaHue SC. Clinical Reasoning: A 22-Year-Old Man With Multifocal Brain and Osseous Lesions. Neurology. 2023 Nov 27; 101(22):1025-1031.  View on PubMed
  9. Kulac I, Yenidogan I, Oflaz Sozmen B, Baygul A, Cha S, Pekmezci M, Tihan T. Pathological perspectives in pilocytic astrocytomas: Extent of resection as the sole critical factor for recurrence-free survival, and the challenge of evaluating conclusions derived from limited data. Free Neuropathol. 2023 Jan; 4.  View on PubMed
  10. Isikbay M, Carrodeguas E, Tatem A, Cha S. Challenges of Preparing for Diagnostic Radiology Call. Radiology. 2023 09; 308(3):e230421.  View on PubMed
  11. Cha SM, Kim YK, Shin HD, Park JY, Lee SH. Importance of Whole-Body Scintigraphy or Positron Emission Tomography for Early Detection of Femoral Lesions in Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Bisphosphonates. Clin Orthop Surg. 2023 Aug; 15(4):659-667.  View on PubMed
  12. Kersch CN, Muldoon LL, Claunch CJ, Fu R, Schwartz D, Cha S, Starkey J, Neuwelt EA, Barajas RF. Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging discerns glioblastoma immune microenvironmental heterogeneity. Neuroradiol J. 2023 Jun 12; 19714009231163560.  View on PubMed
  13. LaHue SC, Guterman EL, Mikhail M, Li Y, Cha S, Richie MB. Clinical and Radiographic Characteristics of Nocardia vs Non-Nocardia Brain Abscesses. Neurol Clin Pract. 2023 Apr; 13(2):e200134.  View on PubMed
  14. 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
  15. Pati S, Baid U, Edwards B, Sheller M, Wang SH, Reina GA, Foley P, Gruzdev A, Karkada D, Davatzikos C, Sako C, Ghodasara S, Bilello M, Mohan S, Vollmuth P, Brugnara G, Preetha CJ, Sahm F, Maier-Hein K, Zenk M, Bendszus M, Wick W, Calabrese E, Rudie J, Villanueva-Meyer J, Cha S, Ingalhalikar M, Jadhav M, Pandey U, Saini J, Garrett J, Larson M, Jeraj R, Currie S, Frood R, Fatania K, Huang RY, Chang K, Balaña C, Capellades J, Puig J, Trenkler J, Pichler J, Necker G, Haunschmidt A, Meckel S, Shukla G, Liem S, Alexander GS, Lombardo J, Palmer JD, Flanders AE, Dicker AP, Sair HI, Jones CK, Venkataraman A, Jiang M, So TY, Chen C, Heng PA, Dou Q, Kozubek M, Lux F, Michálek J, Matula P, Kerkovský M, Koprivová T, Dostál M, Vybíhal V, Vogelbaum MA, Mitchell JR, Farinhas J, Maldjian JA, Yogananda CGB, Pinho MC, Reddy D, Holcomb J, Wagner BC, Ellingson BM, Cloughesy TF, Raymond C, Oughourlian T, Hagiwara A, Wang C, To MS, Bhardwaj S, Chong C, Agzarian M, Falcão AX, Martins SB, Teixeira BCA, Sprenger F, Menotti D, Lucio DR, LaMontagne P, Marcus D, Wiestler B, Kofler F, Ezhov I, Metz M, Jain R, Lee M, Lui YW, McKinley R, Slotboom J, Radojewski P, Meier R, Wiest R, Murcia D, Fu E, Haas R, Thompson J, Ormond DR, Badve C, Sloan AE, Vadmal V, Waite K, Colen RR, Pei L, Ak M, Srinivasan A, Bapuraj JR, Rao A, Wang N, Yoshiaki O, Moritani T, Turk S, Lee J, Prabhudesai S, Morón F, Mandel J, Kamnitsas K, Glocker B, Dixon LVM, Williams M, Zampakis P, Panagiotopoulos V, Tsiganos P, Alexiou S, Haliassos I, Zacharaki EI, Moustakas K, Kalogeropoulou C, Kardamakis DM, Choi YS, Lee SK, Chang JH, Ahn SS, Luo B, Poisson L, Wen N, Tiwari P, Verma R, Bareja R, Yadav I, Chen J, Kumar N, Smits M, van der Voort SR, Alafandi A, Incekara F, Wijnenga MMJ, Kapsas G, Gahrmann R, Schouten JW, Dubbink HJ, Vincent AJPE, van den Bent MJ, French PJ, Klein S, Yuan Y, Sharma S, Tseng TC, Adabi S, Niclou SP, Keunen O, Hau AC, Vallières M, Fortin D, Lepage M, Landman B, Ramadass K, Xu K, Chotai S, Chambless LB, Mistry A, Thompson RC, Gusev Y, Bhuvaneshwar K, Sayah A, Bencheqroun C, Belouali A, Madhavan S, Booth TC, Chelliah A, Modat M, Shuaib H, Dragos C, Abayazeed A, Kolodziej K, Hill M, Abbassy A, Gamal S, Mekhaimar M, Qayati M, Reyes M, Park JE, Yun J, Kim HS, Mahajan A, Muzi M, Benson S, Beets-Tan RGH, Teuwen J, Herrera-Trujillo A, Trujillo M, Escobar W, Abello A, Bernal J, Gómez J, Choi J, Baek S, Kim Y, Ismael H, Allen B, Buatti JM, Kotrotsou A, Li H, Weiss T, Weller M, Bink A, Pouymayou B, Shaykh HF, Saltz J, Prasanna P, Shrestha S, Mani KM, Payne D, Kurc T, Pelaez E, Franco-Maldonado H, Loayza F, Quevedo S, Guevara P, Torche E, Mendoza C, Vera F, Ríos E, López E, Velastin SA, Ogbole G, Soneye M, Oyekunle D, Odafe-Oyibotha O, Osobu B, Shu'aibu M, Dorcas A, Dako F, Simpson AL, Hamghalam M, Peoples JJ, Hu R, Tran A, Cutler D, Moraes FY, Boss MA, Gimpel J, Veettil DK, Schmidt K, Bialecki B, Marella S, Price C, Cimino L, Apgar C, Shah P, Menze B, Barnholtz-Sloan JS, Martin J, Bakas S. Author Correction: Federated learning enables big data for rare cancer boundary detection. Nat Commun. 2023 Jan 26; 14(1):436.  View on PubMed
  16. Pati S, Baid U, Edwards B, Sheller M, Wang SH, Reina GA, Foley P, Gruzdev A, Karkada D, Davatzikos C, Sako C, Ghodasara S, Bilello M, Mohan S, Vollmuth P, Brugnara G, Preetha CJ, Sahm F, Maier-Hein K, Zenk M, Bendszus M, Wick W, Calabrese E, Rudie J, Villanueva-Meyer J, Cha S, Ingalhalikar M, Jadhav M, Pandey U, Saini J, Garrett J, Larson M, Jeraj R, Currie S, Frood R, Fatania K, Huang RY, Chang K, Balaña C, Capellades J, Puig J, Trenkler J, Pichler J, Necker G, Haunschmidt A, Meckel S, Shukla G, Liem S, Alexander GS, Lombardo J, Palmer JD, Flanders AE, Dicker AP, Sair HI, Jones CK, Venkataraman A, Jiang M, So TY, Chen C, Heng PA, Dou Q, Kozubek M, Lux F, Michálek J, Matula P, Kerkovský M, Koprivová T, Dostál M, Vybíhal V, Vogelbaum MA, Mitchell JR, Farinhas J, Maldjian JA, Yogananda CGB, Pinho MC, Reddy D, Holcomb J, Wagner BC, Ellingson BM, Cloughesy TF, Raymond C, Oughourlian T, Hagiwara A, Wang C, To MS, Bhardwaj S, Chong C, Agzarian M, Falcão AX, Martins SB, Teixeira BCA, Sprenger F, Menotti D, Lucio DR, LaMontagne P, Marcus D, Wiestler B, Kofler F, Ezhov I, Metz M, Jain R, Lee M, Lui YW, McKinley R, Slotboom J, Radojewski P, Meier R, Wiest R, Murcia D, Fu E, Haas R, Thompson J, Ormond DR, Badve C, Sloan AE, Vadmal V, Waite K, Colen RR, Pei L, Ak M, Srinivasan A, Bapuraj JR, Rao A, Wang N, Yoshiaki O, Moritani T, Turk S, Lee J, Prabhudesai S, Morón F, Mandel J, Kamnitsas K, Glocker B, Dixon LVM, Williams M, Zampakis P, Panagiotopoulos V, Tsiganos P, Alexiou S, Haliassos I, Zacharaki EI, Moustakas K, Kalogeropoulou C, Kardamakis DM, Choi YS, Lee SK, Chang JH, Ahn SS, Luo B, Poisson L, Wen N, Tiwari P, Verma R, Bareja R, Yadav I, Chen J, Kumar N, Smits M, van der Voort SR, Alafandi A, Incekara F, Wijnenga MMJ, Kapsas G, Gahrmann R, Schouten JW, Dubbink HJ, Vincent AJPE, van den Bent MJ, French PJ, Klein S, Yuan Y, Sharma S, Tseng TC, Adabi S, Niclou SP, Keunen O, Hau AC, Vallières M, Fortin D, Lepage M, Landman B, Ramadass K, Xu K, Chotai S, Chambless LB, Mistry A, Thompson RC, Gusev Y, Bhuvaneshwar K, Sayah A, Bencheqroun C, Belouali A, Madhavan S, Booth TC, Chelliah A, Modat M, Shuaib H, Dragos C, Abayazeed A, Kolodziej K, Hill M, Abbassy A, Gamal S, Mekhaimar M, Qayati M, Reyes M, Park JE, Yun J, Kim HS, Mahajan A, Muzi M, Benson S, Beets-Tan RGH, Teuwen J, Herrera-Trujillo A, Trujillo M, Escobar W, Abello A, Bernal J, Gómez J, Choi J, Baek S, Kim Y, Ismael H, Allen B, Buatti JM, Kotrotsou A, Li H, Weiss T, Weller M, Bink A, Pouymayou B, Shaykh HF, Saltz J, Prasanna P, Shrestha S, Mani KM, Payne D, Kurc T, Pelaez E, Franco-Maldonado H, Loayza F, Quevedo S, Guevara P, Torche E, Mendoza C, Vera F, Ríos E, López E, Velastin SA, Ogbole G, Soneye M, Oyekunle D, Odafe-Oyibotha O, Osobu B, Shu'aibu M, Dorcas A, Dako F, Simpson AL, Hamghalam M, Peoples JJ, Hu R, Tran A, Cutler D, Moraes FY, Boss MA, Gimpel J, Veettil DK, Schmidt K, Bialecki B, Marella S, Price C, Cimino L, Apgar C, Shah P, Menze B, Barnholtz-Sloan JS, Martin J, Bakas S. Federated learning enables big data for rare cancer boundary detection. Nat Commun. 2022 12 05; 13(1):7346.  View on PubMed
  17. Calabrese E, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Rudie JD, Rauschecker AM, Baid U, Bakas S, Cha S, Mongan JT, Hess CP. The University of California San Francisco Preoperative Diffuse Glioma MRI Dataset. Radiol Artif Intell. 2022 Nov; 4(6):e220058.  View on PubMed
  18. Zhang Y, Lucas CG, Young JS, Morshed RA, McCoy L, Oberheim Bush NA, Taylor JW, Daras M, Butowski NA, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Cha S, Wrensch M, Wiencke JK, Lee JC, Pekmezci M, Phillips JJ, Perry A, Bollen AW, Aghi MK, Theodosopoulos P, Chang EF, Hervey-Jumper SL, Berger MS, Clarke JL, Chang SM, Molinaro AM, Solomon DA. Prospective genomically guided identification of "early/evolving" and "undersampled" IDH-wildtype glioblastoma leads to improved clinical outcomes. Neuro Oncol. 2022 10 03; 24(10):1749-1762.  View on PubMed
  19. Rudie JD, Calabrese E, Saluja R, Weiss D, Colby JB, Cha S, Hess CP, Rauschecker AM, Sugrue LP, Villanueva-Meyer JE. Longitudinal Assessment of Posttreatment Diffuse Glioma Tissue Volumes with Three-dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks. Radiol Artif Intell. 2022 Sep; 4(5):e210243.  View on PubMed
  20. Merkaj S, Bahar RC, Zeevi T, Lin M, Ikuta I, Bousabarah K, Cassinelli Petersen GI, Staib L, Payabvash S, Mongan JT, Cha S, Aboian MS. Machine Learning Tools for Image-Based Glioma Grading and the Quality of Their Reporting: Challenges and Opportunities. Cancers (Basel). 2022 May 25; 14(11).  View on PubMed

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