Research Summary

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at UCSF focused on developing MRI methods that provide novel information about tissue structure and function that are not accessible by other clinical imaging modalities. My background is primarily in MR pulse sequence development, including MR physics, RF pulse design, acquisition strategies, and reconstruction techniques, beginning in 2003 under the advising of Profs. Dwight Nishimura and John Pauly at Stanford University. I came to UCSF as a post-doc in 2007 under Prof. Daniel Vigneron and joined the faculty in 2011.

A major focus of my research program is hyperpolarized carbon-13 metabolic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods, and I am part of the team at UCSF translating this modality into human studies of cancer. The technology has the potential to improve staging of cancer and monitoring treatment response by measuring real-time conversion in key metabolic pathways. I develop the MRI data acquisition and image reconstruction methodologies for these studies.

Research Funding

  • July 1, 2024 - March 31, 2029 - Pediatric Cardiopulmonary MRI using RF Navigators and High Dimensional Deep Learning , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: 1R01HL173035-01
  • May 1, 2024 - January 31, 2029 - High Resolution MRSI for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: 1R01AG087159-01
  • September 1, 2024 - June 30, 2028 - Hyperpolarized 13C MRI of Cardiac Metabolic Remodeling in Heart Disease , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: 1R01HL171992-01A1
  • July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2026 - Hyperpolarized C-13 MRI Techniques to Monitor Radiation Therapy Response in Prostate Cancer Patients , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA238379
  • April 1, 2021 - March 31, 2026 - Ultra-Fast Knee MRI with Deep Learning , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AR078762
  • January 1, 2021 - December 31, 2025 - Translating Hyperpolarized 13C Metabolic MRI to Predict Renal Tumor Aggressiveness , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA249909
  • December 1, 2020 - November 30, 2025 - Measuring Metabolic Activity in Prostate Cancer Bone Metastases Using Hyperpolarized 13C Pyruvate MRI for Improved Targeted Therapy Monitoring , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA256740
  • September 7, 2020 - August 31, 2025 - Co-Clinical Quantitative Imaging of Small Cell Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer Using Hyperpolarized 13C MRI , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U24CA253377
  • September 1, 2010 - August 31, 2025 - Training Program in Translational Brain Tumor Research , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: T32CA151022
  • August 1, 2021 - July 31, 2024 - UTE MRI: a Novel Biomarker for Remyelination in Multiple Sclerosis Patients , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: DOD, Sponsor Award ID: MS200272
  • August 16, 2019 - June 30, 2024 - Development of Sodium Fluoride PET-MRI for Quantitative Assessment of Knee Osteoarthritis , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AR074492
  • April 11, 2019 - March 31, 2024 - Hyperpolarized C-13 MRI for Early Detection of Aggressive Prostate Cancer in Active Surveillance Patients , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01CA232320
  • June 1, 2019 - February 29, 2024 - Development and Translation of Hyperpolarized C-13 Prostate Cancer MRI Methods , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01EB026412
  • February 15, 2022 - January 31, 2024 - Hyperpolarized Carbon-13 Metabolic MRI of the Human Heart , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: 1R33HL161816-01
  • July 12, 2021 - April 30, 2023 - Hyperpolarized 13C Metabolic MRI for Noninvasive Monitoring of Kidney Injury , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21DK130002
  • March 6, 2017 - February 28, 2023 - Qualification and Harmonization of PET/MRI for Cancer Clinical Trials , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA212148
  • December 1, 2020 - November 30, 2022 - Multi-modal and Extreme PET/MRI Reconstruction Methods , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: F32EB030411
  • July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2022 - Imaging Metabolism and Cellular Transport in Cancer , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: American Cancer Society, Sponsor Award ID: 131715-RSG-18-005-01-CCE
  • April 15, 2018 - March 31, 2022 - MRI methods for high resolution imaging of the lung , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01HL136965
  • March 6, 2017 - February 28, 2022 - CLINICAL TRANSLATION OF HYPERPOLARIZED 13C-UREA FOR CANCER MR MOLECULAR IMAGING , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA214554
  • March 1, 2017 - February 28, 2022 - Multi-Site Development & Evaluation of a Quantitative 3D Hyperpolarized C-13 MRI Clinical Prostate Cancer Exam , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA211150
  • January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2021 - Comprehensive Assessment of Cardiac Anatomy and Function with Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Mentor . Sponsor: American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, Sponsor Award ID:
  • July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2021 - Prediction of Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer from Only T2 Weighted Imaging Using Machine Learning , Co-investigator . Sponsor: RSNA Research Resident/Fellow Grant, Sponsor Award ID:
  • July 1, 2011 - May 31, 2021 - Hyperpolarized MRI Technology Resource Center , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P41EB013598
  • April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2021 - Metabolic Imaging of Brain Tumor Response to Therapy , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA197254
  • April 1, 2019 - March 30, 2021 - Prediction of clinically significant prostate cancer and prostate-cancer related outcomes from only T2 weighted imaging using machine learning , Co-investigator . Sponsor: Society for Abdominal Radiology, Sponsor Award ID:

Education

Stanford University, Stanford, CA, B.S., 06/02, Electrical Engineering and Mathematics
Stanford University, Stanford, CA, M.S., 06/03, Electrical Engineering
Stanford University, Stanford, CA, Ph.D., 09/07, Electrical Engineering
University of California – San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, Postdoctoral, 09/07-08/11, Radiology and Biomedical Imaging

Honors & Awards

  • 1998
    IEEE Wescon Scholarship - 2nd Place
  • 1998
    RC Byrd Honors Scholarship
  • 2003
    National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship - Honorable Mention
  • 2005
    International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Annual Meeting Poster Award – 2nd place, Pulse sequences category
  • 2006
    Myelin Imaging Conference Poster Award – Accompanied by proffered talk
  • 2009
    Surbeck Scholar Award – 2nd place
  • 2009
    Outstanding Poster Award – UCSF Dept. of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research Symposium
  • 2010
    Surbeck Scholar Award – 1st place
  • 2011
    Surbeck Scholar Award – 1st place
  • 2011
    International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Junior Fellow
  • 2010,2011,2012
    Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (MRM) Distinguished Reviewer

Selected Publications

  1. Chen HY, de Kouchkovsky I, Bok RA, Ohliger MA, Wang ZJ, Gebrezgiabhier D, Nickles T, Carvajal L, Gordon JW, Larson PEZ, Kurhanewicz J, Aggarwal R, Vigneron DB Correction: Chen et al. Multivariate Framework of Metabolism in Advanced Prostate Cancer Using Whole Abdominal and Pelvic Hyperpolarized 13C MRI-A Correlative Study with Clinical Outcomes. Cancers 2025, 17, 2211.  View on PubMed
  2. Dwork N, Gordon JW, Tang S, Larson PEZ Estimating Sensitivity Maps for X-Nuclei Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging.  View on PubMed
  3. Chen HY, de Kouchkovsky I, Bok RA, Ohliger MA, Wang ZJ, Gebrezgiabhier D, Nickles T, Carvajal L, Gordon JW, Larson PEZ, Kurhanewicz J, Aggarwal R, Vigneron DB Multivariate Framework of Metabolism in Advanced Prostate Cancer Using Whole Abdominal and Pelvic Hyperpolarized 13C MRI-A Correlative Study with Clinical Outcomes.  View on PubMed
  4. Liu J, Ordovas K, Yang Y, Larson PEZ, Wang Y, Saloner D, Lee Y, Abraham MR Myocardial Tissue Composition Mapping Based on Three-Compartment Modeling: A Preliminary Study on Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy for Detecting Myocardial Fibrosis Without Contrast Agents.  View on PubMed
  5. Punwani S, Larson PEZ, Laustsen C, VanderMeulen J, Ardenkjær-Larsen JH, Autry AW, Bankson JA, Bernard J, Bok R, Bertelsen LB, Che J, Chen AP, Chowdhury R, Comment A, Cunningham CH, Dang D, Gallagher FA, Gaunt A, Gong Y, Gordon JW, Grimmer A, Grist J, Hansen ESS, Lerche MH, Hesketh RL, Hoevener JB, Hsieh CY, Keshari KR, Kozerke S, Lanz T, Mayer D, McLean M, Park JM, Slater J, Tyler D, Vanderheyden JL, von Morze C, Zaccagna F, Zaha V, Xu D, Vigneron D, HP 13C MRI Consensus Group Consensus recommendations for hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate MRI multi-center human studies.  View on PubMed
  6. Tan F, Eddy RL, Diamond VM, Rayment JH, Larson PEZ Three-Dimensional Free-Breathing Ultrashort Echo Time (UTE) 1H MRI Regional Ventilation: Comparison With Hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI and Pulmonary Function Testing in Healthy Volunteers and People With Cystic Fibrosis.  View on PubMed
  7. Punwani S, Larson PE, Laustsen C, VanderMeulen J, Ardenkjær-Larsen JH, Autry AW, Bankson JA, Bernard J, Bok R, Bertelsen LB, Che J, Chen AP, Chowdhury R, Comment A, Cunningham CH, Dang D, Gallagher FA, Gaunt A, Gong Y, Gordon JW, Grimmer A, Grist J, Hansen ESS, Lerche MH, Hesketh RL, Hoevener JB, Hsieh CY, Keshari KR, Kozerke S, Lanz T, Mayer D, McLean M, Park JM, Slater J, Tyler D, Vanderheyden JL, von Morze C, Zaccagna F, Zaha V, Xu D, Vigneron D, HP 13C MRI Consensus Group. Consensus Recommendations for Hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate MRI Multi-center Human Studies. ArXiv. 2025 Apr 29.  View on PubMed
  8. Liu X, Cui D, Larson PEZ, Mayer D, Korzowski A, Nielsen JF, Schulte RF, Mu C, Carvajal L, Xu D, Gordon JW, Vigneron DB, Flavell RR, Wang ZJ. Open-source implementation of X-nuclear sequences using the Pulseq framework. Magn Reson Med. 2025 Apr 02.  View on PubMed
  9. Kim Y, Chen HY, Nickles T, Shkliar I, Dang D, Slater J, Wang C, Gordon JW, Tan CT, Suszczynski C, Maddali S, Gaunt A, Chen R, Villanueva-Meyer J, Xu D, Larson PEZ, Kurhanewicz J, Bok RA, Chang S, Vigneron DB. Translation of hyperpolarized [13C,15N2]urea MRI for novel human brain perfusion studies. Npj Imaging. 2025; 3(1):11.  View on PubMed
  10. Autry AW, Kim Y, Dang D, Chen HY, Slater JB, Bok RA, Xu D, Lupo JM, Gordon JW, Larson PEZ, Vigneron DB, Li Y, Chang SM. Clinical Translation of Hyperpolarized 13C Metabolic Probes for Glioma Imaging. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2025 Mar 05.  View on PubMed
  11. Bennett Haller A, Liu X, Sinha A, Sahin S, Larson PEZ, Wang CY A flexible MRF approach to improve kinetic rate estimation with bSSFP-based hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate MRI.  View on PubMed
  12. Nayak S, Salkever H, Diaz E, Sinha A, Deveshwar N, Hess M, Gibbons M, Sahin S, Rajagopal A, Larson PEZ, Sriram R. Deep Learning-Based Tumor Segmentation of Murine Magnetic Resonance Images of Prostate Cancer Patient-Derived Xenografts. Tomography. 2025 Feb 22; 11(3).  View on PubMed
  13. Kim Y, Nickles TM, Lee PM, Bok RA, Gordon JW, Larson PEZ, Vigneron DB, von Morze C, Ohliger MA. A data-driven approach for improved quantification of in vivo metabolic conversion rates of hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate. Magn Reson Med. 2025 Jun; 93(6):2346-2356.  View on PubMed
  14. Sahin S, Haller AB, Gordon J, Kim Y, Hu J, Nickles T, Dai Q, Leynes AP, Vigneron DB, Wang ZJ, Larson PEZ. Spatially constrained hyperpolarized 13C MRI pharmacokinetic rate constant map estimation using a digital brain phantom and a U-Net. J Magn Reson. 2025 Feb; 371:107832.  View on PubMed
  15. Ivan de Kouchkovsky, Hao Nguyen, Hsin-Yu Chen, Xiaoxi Liu, Hecong Qin, Bradley A. Stohr, Romelyn Delos Santos, Michael A. Ohliger, Zhen Jane Wang, Robert A. Bok, Jeremy W. Gordon, Peder E.Z. Larson, Mary Frost, Kimberly Okamoto, Daniel Gebrezgiabhier, Matthew Cooperberg, Daniel B. Vigneron, John Kurhanewicz, Rahul Aggarwal. Dual hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate and [13C]urea magnetic resonance imaging of prostate cancer. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Open. 2024 Dec 1; 21:100165.  View on PubMed
  16. Cui D, Liu X, Larson PEZ, Xu D. Time-resolved MR fingerprinting for T2* signal extraction: MR fingerprinting meets echo planar time-resolved imaging. Magn Reson Med. 2025 Apr; 93(4):1751-1760.  View on PubMed
  17. Liu X, Lai YC, Cui D, Kung SC, Park M, Zoltan L, Larson PEZ, Wang ZJ. Initial Experience of Metabolic Imaging with Hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate MRI in Kidney Transplant Patients. ArXiv. 2024 Sep 10.  View on PubMed
  18. Liu X, Lai YC, Cui D, Kung SC, Park M, Laszik Z, Larson PEZ, Wang ZJ. Initial Experience of Metabolic Imaging With Hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate MRI in Kidney Transplant Patients. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2024 Sep 06.  View on PubMed
  19. Natsuaki Y, Leynes A, Wangerin K, Hamdi M, Rajagopal A, Kinahan PE, Laforest R, Larson PEZ, Hope TA, James SS. Assessment of lesion insertion tool in pelvis PET/MR data with applications to attenuation correction method development. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2024 Nov; 25(11):e14507.  View on PubMed
  20. Rajagopal A, Westphalen AC, Velarde N, Simko JP, Nguyen H, Hope TA, Larson PEZ, Magudia K. Mixed Supervision of Histopathology Improves Prostate Cancer Classification From MRI. IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2024 07; 43(7):2610-2622.  View on PubMed

Go to UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI