Research Summary

Sharmila Majumdar, PhD, is a UCSF Professor and the Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and Professor in the Departments of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, Orthopedic Surgery at UCSF and Bioengineering at UC Berkeley. She is Director of the Musculoskeletal Research Interest Group at UCSF, an interdisciplinary group consisting of faculty, post-doctoral scholars and students. She obtained her PhD degree in Engineering and Applied Science from Yale University in 1987, where she stayed as a post-doctoral researcher and Assistant Professor until 1989, when she joined UCSF.

Her research work on imaging, particularly magnetic resonance and micro computed tomography, and development of image processing and analysis tools, has been focused in the areas of osteoporosis, osteo-arthritis and lower back pain. Her research, which is supported by grants from the NIH and corporate entities, and is diverse ranging from technical development to clinical trials. She currently heads an NIH Center of Research Translation focused on Osteoarthritis and Imaging, a joint effort between UCSF and UC Davis.

Dr. Majumdar was selected as a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers in 2004 and a fellow of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine in 2008. In 2007 she was awarded the “Excellence in Direct Teaching and/or Excellence in Mentoring and Advising Award” by the UCSF Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators.

She has published extensively in the Journal of Bone Mineral Research, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, and other highly regarded journals. She also serves as a reviewer and is on the editorial board of scientific journals, and is a recognized expert in the area of imaging.

Research Funding

  • July 14, 2016 - June 30, 2026 - Evaluating Disease Progression in Hip Osteoarthritis , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AR069006
  • September 26, 2019 - July 31, 2024 - Technology Research Site for Advanced, Faster Quantitative Imaging for BACPAC , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: UH3AR076724
  • April 1, 2018 - July 31, 2021 - Deep Learning for Characterizing Knee Joint Degeneration Predicting Progression of Osteoarthritis and Total Knee Replacement , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R33AR073552
  • September 26, 2019 - August 31, 2020 - Technology Research Site for Advanced, Faster Quantitative Imaging for BACPAC , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: UH2AR076724
  • April 1, 2018 - March 31, 2020 - Deep Learning for Characterizing Knee Joint Degeneration Predicting Progression of Osteoarthritis and Total Knee Replacement , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R61AR073552
  • July 1, 2014 - March 31, 2020 - UCSF Core Center for Musculoskeletal Biology and Medicine , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P30AR066262
  • August 1, 2011 - July 31, 2018 - Translation of Quantitative Imaging in Osteoarthritis , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P50AR060752
  • September 17, 1999 - May 31, 2018 - Loaded and Unloaded MR Imaging of Meniscus-Cartilage-Trabecular Bone in OA , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AR046905
  • January 1, 2000 - June 30, 2014 - Morphological and Functional Musko-Skeletal Imaging , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AG017762
  • September 30, 2009 - August 31, 2012 - A Multi-Disciplinary Multi-Development Core on Musculoskeletal Imaging , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P30AR058899
  • July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2011 - Instrument Development for the Osteoarthritis Initiative , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01AR055079
  • September 30, 2002 - August 31, 2007 - Vertebral Fracture: Trabecular Bone Structure Assessment , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AR049701
  • August 23, 2004 - June 30, 2007 - SPECTROSCOPIC MARKERS OF DISC DEGENERATION , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21AR051048
  • September 30, 1995 - August 31, 2000 - NON-INVASIVE ASSESSMENT OF TRABECULAR ARCHITECTURE , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AG013612
  • June 1, 1999 - May 31, 2000 - CARTILAGE &TRABECULAR BONE MORPHOLOGY IN OSTEOARTHRITIS , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R03AG016388
  • April 15, 1999 - April 14, 2000 - CONSOLE AND COMPUTER UPGRADE FOR A 15T MR SCANNER , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: S10RR013051
  • May 1, 1993 - December 31, 1998 - QUANTIFICATION OF TRABECULAR BONE DENSITY AND STRUCTURE , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: K04AR001903
  • September 15, 1992 - August 31, 1995 - QUANTIFICATION OF TRABECULAR BONE DENSITY AND STRUCTURE , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AR041226

Education

St. Stephens College, University of Delhi, India, B.S., 1983, Physics
Yale University, Connecticut, USA, M.S., 1984, Eng. & Applied Physics
Yale University, Connecticut, USA, Ph.D., 1987, Eng. & Applied Physics
Yale University, Connecticut, USA, Postdoctoral, 1988, Radiology

Honors & Awards

  • 2002
    Celebrating Woman Faculty, Award and Recognition, Chancellor and Deans of UCSF
  • 2004
    Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers (AIMBE)
  • 2008
    Fellow of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM)
  • 2016
    Gold Medal of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM)

Selected Publications

  1. Hoyer G, Gao KT, Gassert FG, Luitjens J, Jiang F, Majumdar S, Pedoia V. Foundations of a knee joint digital twin from qMRI biomarkers for osteoarthritis and knee replacement. NPJ Digit Med. 2025 Feb 21; 8(1):118.  View on PubMed
  2. Joseph GB, Liu F, Ziegeler K, Akkaya Z, Lynch JA, Pedoia V, Majumdar S, Lane NE, Nevitt MC, McCulloch CE, Link TM. Quantifying knee-adjacent subcutaneous fat in the entire OAI baseline dataset - Associations with cartilage MRI T2, thickness and pain, independent of BMI. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2025 Apr; 33(4):482-490.  View on PubMed
  3. Cao X, Liao C, Zhu Z, Li Z, Bhattacharjee R, Nishmura M, Wang Z, Wang N, Zhou Z, Chen Q, Abraham D, Majumdar S, Villanueva-Meyer J, Yang Y, Setsompop K. Three-dimensional high-isotropic-resolution MR fingerprinting optimized for 0.55 T. Magn Reson Med. 2025 Jan 15.  View on PubMed
  4. Gensler LS, Jans L, Majumdar S, Poddubnyy D. Unmet Needs in Spondyloarthritis: Imaging in Axial Spondyloarthritis. J Rheumatol. 2024 Dec 01; 51(12):1241-1246.  View on PubMed
  5. Bailey KN, Gao KT, Halvorson RT, Oeding JF, Majumdar S, Pedoia V, Lansdown DA. Association Between Tibiofemoral Bone Shape Features and Retears After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction. Orthop J Sports Med. 2024 Nov; 12(11):23259671241289096.  View on PubMed
  6. Brink L, Romero RA, Coombs L, Tilkin M, Mazaheri S, Gichoya J, Zaiman Z, Trivedi H, Medina A, Bizzo BC, Chang K, Kalpathy-Cramer J, Kalra MK, Astuto B, Ramirez C, Majumdar S, Lee AY, Lee CI, Cross NM, Chen PH, Ciancibello M, Chiunda A, Nachand D, Shah C, Wald C. Multi-Institutional Evaluation and Training of Breast Density Classification AI Algorithm Using ACR Connect and AI-LAB. J Am Coll Radiol. 2025 Feb; 22(2):211-219.  View on PubMed
  7. Sato D, Han M, Feeley BT, Ma CB, Majumdar S, Lansdown DA. Higher Posterior Tibial Slope and Lower Medial Proximal Tibial Angle of the Knee Are Associated With Delayed Graft Maturation After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Surgery With Hamstring Autograft. Arthroscopy. 2024 Nov 07.  View on PubMed
  8. Thahakoya R, Roach KE, Han M, Bhattacharjee R, Jiang F, Luitjens J, Bahroos E, Pedoia V, Souza RB, Majumdar S. Association of cartilage T1ρ and T2 relaxation time measurement with hip osteoarthritis progression: A 5-year longitudinal study using voxel-based relaxometry and Z-score normalization. Osteoarthr Cartil Open. 2024 Dec; 6(4):100538.  View on PubMed
  9. Luitjens J, Ziegeler K, Yoon D, Gassert F, Bhattacharjee R, Manatrakul R, Ngarmsrikam C, Becker A, Yang Y, Joseph GB, Su P, Itriago-Leon P, Majumdar S, Link TM. Improved metal suppression using new generation low-field MRI: a biophantom feasibility study. Skeletal Radiol. 2025 May; 54(5):1093-1099.  View on PubMed
  10. 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
  11. Wang J, Ashraf Ganjouei A, Romero-Hernandez F, Foroutani L, Bahceci D, Deranteriassian A, Casey M, Li PY, Houshmand S, Behr S, Jamshidi N, Majumdar S, Donahue T, Kim GE, Wang ZJ, Thornblade LW, Adam M, Alseidi A. A Computer Vision Algorithm to Predict Superior Mesenteric Artery Margin Status for Patients with Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Ann Surg. 2024 Aug 23.  View on PubMed
  12. Akkaya Z, Giesler PJ, Roach KE, Joseph GB, McCulloch CE, Bharadwaj UU, Souza RB, Majumdar S, Link TM. Ligamentum teres lesions are associated with compositional and structural hip cartilage degenerative change: region-specific cartilage degeneration. Eur Radiol. 2025 Apr; 35(4):2275-2286.  View on PubMed
  13. Tong MW, Zhou J, Akkaya Z, Majumdar S, Bhattacharjee R. Artificial intelligence in musculoskeletal applications: a primer for radiologists. Diagn Interv Radiol. 2025 Mar 03; 31(2):89-101.  View on PubMed
  14. Gassert FG, Joseph GB, Lynch JA, Luitjens J, Nevitt MC, McCulloch CE, Lane NE, Majumdar S, Link TM. Clinical and imaging findings associated with preservation of knee joint health over 8 years in individuals aged 65 and over: data from the OAI. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2024 Jun 26; 25(1):495.  View on PubMed
  15. Roach KE, Bird AL, Pedoia V, Majumdar S, Souza RB. Automated evaluation of hip abductor muscle quality and size in hip osteoarthritis: Localized muscle regions are strongly associated with overall muscle quality. Magn Reson Imaging. 2024 Sep; 111:237-245.  View on PubMed
  16. Ozhinsky E, Liu F, Pedoia V, Majumdar S. Machine learning-based automated scan prescription of lumbar spine MRI acquisitions. Magn Reson Imaging. 2024 Jul; 110:29-34.  View on PubMed
  17. Huang BK, Elicker BM, Henry TS, Kallianos KG, Hahn LD, Tang M, Heng F, McCulloch CE, Bhakta NR, Majumdar S, Choi J, Denlinger LC, Fain SB, Hastie AT, Hoffman EA, Israel E, Jarjour NN, Levy BD, Mauger DT, Sumino K, Wenzel SE, Castro M, Woodruff PG, Fahy JV, Sarp FTNSARP. Persistent mucus plugs in proximal airways are consequential for airflow limitation in asthma. JCI Insight. 2024 Feb 08; 9(3).  View on PubMed
  18. Luitjens J, Gassert FG, Patwardhan V, Bhattacharjee R, Joseph GB, Zhang AL, Souza RB, Majumdar S, Link TM. Is hip capsule morphology associated with hip pain in patients without another structural correlate? Eur Radiol. 2024 Jul; 34(7):4321-4330.  View on PubMed
  19. Tong MW, Tolpadi AA, Bhattacharjee R, Han M, Majumdar S, Pedoia V. Synthetic Knee MRI T1p Maps as an Avenue for Clinical Translation of Quantitative Osteoarthritis Biomarkers. Bioengineering (Basel). 2023 Dec 24; 11(1).  View on PubMed
  20. Nosrat C, Gao KT, Bhattacharjee R, Pedoia V, Koff MF, Gold GE, Potter HG, Majumdar S. Multiparametric MRI of Knees in Collegiate Basketball Players: Associations With Morphological Abnormalities and Functional Deficits. Orthop J Sports Med. 2023 Dec; 11(12):23259671231216490.  View on PubMed

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