Research Summary

Steven Hetts, MD, is an Associate Professor of Radiology in Residence at the University of California, San Francisco, and he is Chief of Neuroradiology at the San Francisco General Hospital where he has established a new clinical Interventional Neuroradiology service, providing cutting edge minimally invasive endovascular therapy. Dr. Hetts received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts in 2000, and completed a residency in Diagnostic Radiology at UCSF, followed by a fellowship in Diagnostic Neuroradiology and Interventional Neuroradiology from UCSF.

Dr. Hetts is involved in translational research as Co-Director of the Interventional Radiology Laboratory at China Basin, including the conception, performance, and management of research projects translating basic science and engineering research into clinical applicability. One of his projects is Magnetic Catheter Navigation and Microinfarction Evaluation in the Brain and Heart. Dr. Hetts also implements many clinical research projects involving retrospective and prospective patient data. The main focus of his clinical research is endovascular therapy for cerebrovascular disease, spinal vascular disease, and neurooncology.

Research Funding

  • September 23, 2021 - June 30, 2022 - Endovascular ChemoFilter to Reduce Doxorubicin Toxicity during Intra-Arterial Chemotherapy , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R42CA265316
  • August 1, 2011 - March 31, 2022 - Endovascular Interventional MRI: Optimizing Tools and Techniques at 3T , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01EB012031
  • June 1, 2015 - May 31, 2021 - Endovascular Chemofiltration: Optimizing Removal of Chemotherapeutics and Nanoparticles from the Blood to Reduce Toxicity , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA194533
  • February 1, 2016 - January 31, 2019 - Improved sensitivity and safety for endovascular MR imaging at 3T , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21EB020283

Education

Harvard College, Boston, MA, AB summa cum laude, 06/1996, Biology
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, MD, 06/2000, Medicine
Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA, Internship, 06/2001, Internal Medicine
UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, Residency, 06/2005, Diagnostic Radiology
UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, Fellowship, 06/2006, Diagnostic Neuroradiology
UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, Fellowship, 02/2008, Interventional Neuroradiology

Honors & Awards

  • 1992
    United States Presidential Scholar, highest academic honor for US high school students
  • 1993-1996
    John Harvard Scholarship and Dean’s List, Harvard College
  • 1995
    Phi Beta Kappa, elected in Senior 45, Harvard College
  • 1996
    Biology Undergraduate Honors Thesis, summa cum laude
  • 1997
    Finalist, Rhodes Scholarship, California Nominee to Region VIII Competition
  • 1999
    Aesculapian Club, Harvard Medical School
  • 2001
    Nominee, Resident Teaching Award, Department of Internal Medicine, Stanford Hospital
  • 2002, 2003
    Margulis Society Radiology Resident Research Award
  • 2003
    American Roentgen Ray Society Introduction to Research Program
  • 2004
    International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Amersham Fellowship
  • 2004
    American Society of Pediatric Neuroradiology Annual Research Award
  • 2005
    Executive Council Award, Residents in Radiology Competition, American Roentgen Ray Society
  • 2010, 2011
    American Society of Neuroradiology, Neuroradiology Research and Education Foundation Scholar Award in Neuroradiology Research
  • 2012
    Visiting Professor, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • 2015
    Nominee, QB3 Award for Startup of the Year, ChemoFilter
  • 2015
    Fellow, Rosenman Institute, UCSF

Selected Publications

  1. Scott G, Agundiz A, Nelson J, Hetts S, Clancy M, Kim H, Faughnan ME, Brain Vascular Malformation Consortium HHT Investigator Group Assessing racial differences in North American hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia study recruitment and care.  View on PubMed
  2. Orscelik A, Senol YC, Chaney E, Narsinh K, Amans M, Raper DM, Winkler E, Hetts S, Cooke D, Savastano LE Rescue management of recurrent or growing non-acute subdural hematoma following standalone or adjunctive middle meningeal artery embolization: A case series and systematic review.  View on PubMed
  3. Asghariahmadabad M, Ismail A, Metanat P, Tavakkol E, Bahr-Hosseini M, Szeder V, Colby GP, Saver JL, Yedavalli V, Smith WS, Ko N, Kim A, Halabi C, Savastano LE, Saloner D, Cooke DL, Hetts SW, Amans MR, Narsinh K, Josephson SA, Hess CP, Liebeskind DS, Nael K Oxygen Extraction Fraction on Baseline MRI Predicts Infarction Growth in Successfully Reperfused Patients.  View on PubMed
  4. Massachi JA, Yoo C, Walia S, Schollenberger J, Saloner D, Kim H, Fox CK, Fullerton HJ, Hetts SW, Narsinh KH 4D flow MRI for noninvasive monitoring of high-flow vascular malformations in neonates and infants: A feasibility study.  View on PubMed
  5. Mattay R, Han W, Walia S, Hetts SW, Narsinh KH Intra-arterial chemotherapy for bleeding head and neck tumors: a single-center experience.  View on PubMed
  6. Young CC, Narsinh KH, Chen SR, Ansari SA, Hetts SW, Lang FF, Wintermark M, Kan PT State of Practice: A Report from the Inaugural SNIS Neurointerventional Oncology Summit.  View on PubMed
  7. Kabir A, Shah S, Haddad AF, Amans MR, Cooke DL, Hetts SW, Narsinh KH, Savastano L, Winkler EA, Raper DMS. Iatrogenic dural arteriovenous fistula formation as a rare complication of external ventricular drain placement: institutional review of 16 cases. J Neurointerv Surg. 2025 May 22.  View on PubMed
  8. Nguyen TN, Dabus G, McGuinness B, Caldwell J, Priest R, Rai A, Zaidat OO, Gross BA, Hanel RA, Lee SSH, Hussain MS, Shaikh H, Abdalkader M, Budzik RF, Kilburg C, Woodward BK, Colasurdo M, Liu J, Yoo AJ, Khandelwal P, Boo S, Vu P, Lin E, AlMajali M, Singh J, Al-Bayati AR, Lang MJ, Abraham MG, Hassan AE, Pema P, Martin CO, Grandhi R, Tonetti DA, Hixson HR, Aghaebrahim A, Sauvageau E, Ortega-Gutierrez S, Yavagal DR, Cheng-Ching E, Khalife J, Linfante I, Vulkanov V, Soomro JH, Fifi JT, Maidan L, Copelan AZ, Schirmer CM, Bain M, Toth G, Jayaraman MV, Novakovic-White R, Satti SR, Villelli N, Jabbour PM, Page M, Mcallister DJ, Araujo Contreras R, Samaniego EA, Liebeskind DS, Hetts SW, Nogueira RG, English J, Puri AS SUMMIT MAX: A randomized trial of the super large bore HiPoint Reperfusion System versus Vecta System for aspiration thrombectomy.  View on PubMed
  9. Isikbay M, Caton MT, Mattay R, Han W, Cooke DL, Raper D, Winkler EA, Savastano L, Narsinh KH, Hetts SW, Amans MR. Arteriovenous shunts of the cervical spine: patient demographics, presentation, patterns of high-risk venous drainage, and updated classification. J Neurointerv Surg. 2025 Mar 17; 17(4):427-433.  View on PubMed
  10. Narsinh KH, Young C, Chen SR, Ansari SA, Kan P, Hetts SW. Neurointerventional oncology: the new frontier. J Neurointerv Surg. 2025 Jan 29.  View on PubMed
  11. Shah BR, Tanabe J, Jordan JE, Kern D, Harward SC, Feltrin FS, O'Suilliebhain P, Sharma VD, Maldjian JA, Boutet A, Mattay R, Sugrue LP, Narsinh K, Hetts S, Shah LM, Druzgal J, Lehman VT, Lee K, Khanpara S, Lad S, Kaufmann TJ. State of Practice on Transcranial MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound: A Report from the ASNR Standards and Guidelines Committee and ACR Commission on Neuroradiology Workgroup. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2025 Jan 08; 46(1):2-10.  View on PubMed
  12. Beslow LA, Kim H, Hetts SW, Ratjen F, Clancy MS, Gossage JR, Faughnan ME. Brain and lung arteriovenous malformation rescreening practices for children and adults with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2024 Nov 09; 19(1):421.  View on PubMed
  13. Hanel RA, Cortez GM, Jankowitz BT, Sauvageau E, Aghaebrahim A, Lin E, Jadhav AP, Gross B, Khaldi A, Gupta R, Frei D, Loy D, Price LL, Hetts SW, Zaidat OO, ATLAS Investigators. Anterior circulation location-specific results for stent-assisted coiling - carotid versus distal aneurysms: 1-year outcomes from the Neuroform Atlas Stent Pivotal Trial. J Neurointerv Surg. 2024 Oct 14; 16(11):1125-1130.  View on PubMed
  14. Beslow LA, White AJ, Krings T, Hammill AM, Lang SS, Baba A, Clancy MS, Olitsky SE, Hetts SW. Current Practice: Rationale for Screening Children with Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia for Brain Vascular Malformations. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2024 Sep 09; 45(9):1177-1184.  View on PubMed
  15. Chen JS, Caldwell DJ, Falcone JA, Dalle Ore C, Sankaranarayanan V, Liu F, Hetts SW, Ho WS, Gupta N. Timing of diffusion tensor imaging in the management of a ruptured pediatric arteriovenous malformation: illustrative case. J Neurosurg Case Lessons. 2024 Aug 19; 8(8).  View on PubMed
  16. Alyafaie A, Han W, Li Y, Vydro SA, Vella M, Truong TL, Park L, Langston D, Kim H, Conrad MB, Hetts SW. Arterial Spin-Labeling MR Imaging in the Detection of Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations in Patients with Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2024 Aug 09; 45(8):1019-1024.  View on PubMed
  17. Heit JJ, Chaudhary N, Mascitelli JR, Al-Kawaz M, Baker A, Bulsara KR, Burkhardt JK, Marden FA, Raper D, Tjoumakaris SI, Schirmer CM, Hetts SW, SNIS Standards and Guidelines Committee, SNIS Board of Directors. Focused update to guidelines for endovascular therapy for emergent large vessel occlusion: basilar artery occlusion patients. J Neurointerv Surg. 2024 Jul 16; 16(8):752-755.  View on PubMed
  18. Beslow LA, Vossough A, Kim H, Nelson J, Lawton MT, Pollak J, Lin DDM, Ratjen F, Hammill AM, Hetts SW, Gossage JR, Whitehead KJ, Faughnan ME, Krings T, Brain Vascular Malformation Consortium HHT Investigator Group. Brain AVM compactness score in children with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Childs Nerv Syst. 2024 Jul; 40(7):2101-2108.  View on PubMed
  19. Beslow LA, Krings T, Kim H, Hetts SW, Lawton MT, Ratjen F, Whitehead KJ, Gossage JR, McCulloch CE, Clancy M, Bagheri N, Faughnan ME, Brain Vascular Malformation Consortium HHT Investigator Group. De Novo Brain Vascular Malformations in Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia. Pediatr Neurol. 2024 Jun; 155:120-125.  View on PubMed
  20. Al-Mufti F, Marden FA, Burkhardt JK, Raper D, Schirmer CM, Baker A, Chen PR, Bulsara KR, Narsinh KH, Amans MR, Cooper J, Yaghi S, Al-Kawaz M, Hetts SW, SNIS Standards and Guidelines Committee, SNIS Board of Directors. Endovascular therapy for anterior circulation emergent large vessel occlusion stroke in patients with large ischemic cores: a report of the SNIS Standards and Guidelines Committee. J Neurointerv Surg. 2024 Feb 23.  View on PubMed

Go to UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI