Research Summary

Dr. Tarik Tihan is a pathologist who cares for adults and children with brain tumors, particularly pilocytic astrocytoma and pilomyxoid astrocytoma, benign brain tumors that arises from the supportive cells in the nervous system.

Tihan's research seeks a better understanding of brain tumors. He is particularly interested in pediatric brain tumors, their distinctive subtypes and predictors for each subtype. His work has contributed to revealing the biological behavior and molecular features in tumors such as pilomyxoid astrocytomas. He collaborates with colleagues across UCSF, at other universities, and from national and international organizations to more clearly define tumor entities, their molecular signatures and new diagnostic or prognostic markers.

Tihan earned his medical degree from Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine, where he also completed a doctorate in biochemistry. He completed a residency in anatomic pathology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He completed a fellowship in pathology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a fellowship in pathology at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.

Tihan is passionate about teaching and international outreach. He enjoys working with colleagues from other countries to close the technological and economic gaps that prevent doctors and researchers in the developing world from fully contributing to world science. He works with numerous individuals and organizations to create a more integrated world across the oceans and to advance science as one people and one world.

Education

1979 - 1985 Istanbul University School of Medicine, M.D, Medicine, 
1986 - 1989 Istanbul University Dept of Biochemistry, Ph.D, Clinical Biochemistry
1992 - 1994 Beth Israel Medical Center, New York,  Resident, Pathology
1994 - 1995 Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Fellow, Oncologic Pathology
1995 – 1997 State University of New York, Fellow, Neuropathology

Honors & Awards

  • 2021
    Certificate of Master Educator, Koc Academy of Medical Education Research
  • 2019
    Certificate of Recognition/Turkish Times 100 most influential Physicians in Turkey
  • 2018
    UCSF Dept Neurological Surgery, Dianne Ralston Basic Science Teaching Award
  • 2017
    Sakarya University, Certificate of Recognition for Contribution to Teaching
  • 2016
    Duzce University, Certificate of Recognition for Contribution in Teaching
  • 2016
    Certificate of Recognition, Turkish Federation of Pathology Societies
     
  • 2016
    Certificate of recognition Radiological Society of North America
  • 2016
    Certificate of Appreciation for Contribution to Teaching, EURO-CNS
     
  • 2015
    UCSF Dept Neurological Surgery, Dianne Ralston Basic Science Teaching Award
  • 2014
    Recognition of Contribution to Teaching and Science, Aegean Pathology Society
  • 2014
    Certificate of Appreciation for Contribution to Teaching, Katip Celebi University
  • 2013
    Teaching Award, Karadeniz Teknik University, School of Medicine
     
  • 2013
    Certificate of Teaching Recognition, Selcuk University School of Medicine
  • 2013
    Certificate of Recognition World Federation of Neurological Societies
     
  • 2013
    Certificate of Appreciation for Contribution to Teaching, EURO-CNS
     
  • 2012
    Turkish Federation of Pathology Societies, Certificate of Recognition
     
  • 2012
    Teaching Recognition, Turkish Federation of Pathology Societies
     
  • 2012
    Teaching Award, Turgut Ozal University School of Medicine
     
  • 2012
    Teaching Award, Ecopathology Society of Turkiye
     
  • 2011
    Recognition of Teaching Excellence, Dokuz Eylul University School of Medicine
  • 2011
    Award for Contribution to Pathology Education, Cukurova Pathology Society
  • 2010
    Teaching Recognition, Turkish Federation of Pathology Societies
     
  • 2010
    Recognition of Contribution to Teaching, Moroccan Hematology-Oncology Society
  • 2010
    Certificate of Recognition in Contribution to Teaching, Ankara Pathology Society
  • 2009
    AWADIAP Association of West African Pathologists Certificate of Recognition
  • 2008
    Teaching Award, Ankara Pathology Society
     
  • 2008
    Recognition of Contribution to Teaching and Science, Aegean Pathology Society
  • 2008
    Certificate of Recognition, Turkish Federation of Pathology Societies
     
  • 2008
    Award for Contribution to Pathology Education, Cukurova Pathology Society
  • 2007
    Certificate of Recognition in Teaching, 21st European Congress of Pathology
  • 2006
    Teaching Recognition, Turkish Federation of Pathology Societies
     
  • 2004
    UCSF Dept Neurological Surgery, Dianne Ralston Basic Science Teaching Award
  • 2002
    UCSF Dept Neurological Surgery, Dianne Ralston Basic Science Teaching Award
  • 2002
    UCSF Department of Pathology Teaching Excellence Award
     
  • 2001
    W Barry Wood Jr Award for Teaching Excellence, JHU Medical School
     
  • 2000
    W Barry Wood Jr Award for Teaching Excellence, JHU Medical School

Selected Publications

  • 1.    Waite KA, Cioffi G, Kruchko C, Patil N, Brat DJ, Bruner JM, McLendon RE, Tihan T, Ostrom QT, Barnholtz-Sloan JS: Aligning the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS) histology groupings with current definitions, Neuro-oncology practice 2022, 9:317-327
  • 2.    Soylemezoglu F, Oz B, Egilmez R, Pekmezci M, Bozkurt S, Danyeli AE, Onguru O, Kulac I, Tihan T: Towards Development of a Standard Terminology of the World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System in the Turkish Language, and a Perspective on the Practical Implications of the WHO Classification for Low and Middle Income Countries, Turk Patoloji Derg 2022, 
  • 3.    Oz D, Yildirim Z, Kiyi I, Ozbek Y, Kulac I, Erkol G, Tihan T, Gurvit IH, Yener G: Senior Moments Are Never-ending Times When You Are Old (Are They?): First Step of Turquoise Project, Noro psikiyatri arsivi 2022, 59:S10-S16
  • 4.    Lucas CG, Sloan EA, Gupta R, Wu J, Pratt D, Vasudevan HN, Ravindranathan A, Barreto J, Williams EA, Shai A, Whipple NS, Bruggers CS, Maher O, Nabors B, Rodriguez M, Samuel D, Brown M, Carmichael J, Lu R, Mirchia K, Sullivan DV, Pekmezci M, Tihan T, Bollen AW, Perry A, Banerjee A, Mueller S, Gupta N, Hervey-Jumper SL, Oberheim Bush NA, Daras M, Taylor JW, Butowski NA, de Groot J, Clarke JL, Raleigh DR, Costello JF, Phillips JJ, Reddy AT, Chang SM, Berger MS, Solomon DA: Multiplatform molecular analyses refine classification of gliomas arising in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1, Acta neuropathologica 2022, 
  • 5.    Lucas CG, Davidson CJ, Alashari M, Putnam AR, Whipple NS, Bruggers CS, Mendez JS, Cheshier SH, Walker JB, Ramani B, Cadwell CR, Sullivan DV, Lu R, Mirchia K, Van Ziffle J, Devine P, Goldschmidt E, Hervey-Jumper SL, Gupta N, Oberheim Bush NA, Raleigh DR, Bollen A, Tihan T, Pekmezci M, Solomon DA, Phillips JJ, Perry A: Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing Reveals Divergent Clonal Evolution in Components of Composite Pleomorphic Xanthoastrocytoma-Ganglioglioma, J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2022, 81:650-657
  • 6.    Koy Y, Tihan T: Circumscribed astrocytic gliomas: Contribution of molecular analyses to histopathology diagnosis in the WHO CNS5 classification, Indian journal of pathology & microbiology 2022, 65:S33-S41
  • 7.    Iorgulescu JB, Sun C, Neff C, Cioffi G, Gutierrez C, Kruchko C, Ruhl J, Waite K, Negoita S, Hofferkamp J, Tihan T, McLendon R, Brat DJ, Ostrom QT, Barnholtz-Sloan JS: Corrigendum to: Molecular biomarker-defined brain tumors: Epidemiology, validity, and completeness in the United States, Neuro Oncol 2022, 
  • 8.    Iorgulescu JB, Sun C, Neff C, Cioffi G, Gutierrez C, Kruchko C, Ruhl J, Waite K, Negoita S, Hofferkamp J, Tihan T, McLendon R, Brat DJ, Ostrom QT, Barnholtz-Sloan JS: Molecular Biomarker-Defined Brain Tumors: Epidemiology, Validity, and Completeness in the United States, Neuro Oncol 2022, 
  • 9.    Guney E, Lucas CG, Qi Z, Yu J, Zhang R, Ohgami RS, Rubenstein JL, Boue DR, Schafernak K, Wertheim GB, Dahiya S, Giulino-Roth L, Attarbaschi A, Barth MJ, Kothari S, Abla O, Cohen AL, Mendez JS, Bollen A, Perry A, Tihan T, Pekmezci M, Solomon DA, Wen KW: A genetically distinct pediatric subtype of primary CNS large B-cell lymphoma is associated with favorable clinical outcome, Blood advances 2022, 6:3189-3193
  • 10.    Gao S, Nelson J, Weinsheimer S, Winkler EA, Rutledge C, Abla AA, Gupta N, Shieh JT, Cooke DL, Hetts SW, Tihan T, Hess CP, Ko N, Walcott BP, McCulloch CE, Lawton MT, Su H, Pawlikowska L, Kim H: Somatic mosaicism in the MAPK pathway in sporadic brain arteriovenous malformation and association with phenotype, J Neurosurg 2022, 136:148-155
  • 11.    Cummins DD, Morshed RA, Tihan T, Kunwar S: Calcifying pseudoneoplasm of the neuraxis within the sellar region: illustrative case, Journal of neurosurgery Case lessons 2022, 3:
  • 12.    Sloan EA, Chiang J, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Alexandrescu S, Eschbacher JM, Wang W, Mafra M, Ud Din N, Carr-Boyd E, Watson M, Punsoni M, Oviedo A, Gilani A, Kleinschmidt-DeMasters BK, Coss DJ, Lopes MB, Raffel C, Berger MS, Chang SM, Reddy A, Ramani B, Ferris SP, Lee JC, Hofmann JW, Cho SJ, Horvai AE, Pekmezci M, Tihan T, Bollen AW, Rodriguez FJ, Ellison DW, Perry A, Solomon DA: Intracranial mesenchymal tumor with FET-CREB fusion-A unifying diagnosis for the spectrum of intracranial myxoid mesenchymal tumors and angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma-like neoplasms, Brain Pathol 2021, 31:e12918
  • 13.    Pekmezci M, Morshed RA, Chunduru P, Pandian B, Young J, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Tihan T, Sloan EA, Aghi MK, Molinaro AM, Berger MS, Hervey-Jumper SL: Detection of glioma infiltration at the tumor margin using quantitative stimulated Raman scattering histology, Scientific reports 2021, 11:12162
  • 14.    Miller KD, Ostrom QT, Kruchko C, Patil N, Tihan T, Cioffi G, Fuchs HE, Waite KA, Jemal A, Siegel RL, Barnholtz-Sloan JS: Brain and other central nervous system tumor statistics, 2021, Ca-Cancer J Clin 2021, 71:381-406
  • 15.    Halabi C, Williams EK, Morshed RA, Caffarelli M, Anastasiou C, Tihan T, Cooke D, Abla AA, Dowd CF, Shah V, Chung S, Richie MB: Neurological manifestations of polyarteritis nodosa: a tour of the neuroaxis by case series, Bmc Neurol 2021, 21:205
  • 16.    Gu W, Rauschecker AM, Hsu E, Zorn KC, Sucu Y, Federman S, Gopez A, Arevalo S, Sample HA, Talevich E, Nguyen ED, Gottschall M, Nourbakhsh B, Gold CA, Cree BAC, Douglas VC, Richie MB, Shah MP, Josephson SA, Gelfand JM, Miller S, Wang L, Tihan T, DeRisi JL, Chiu CY, Wilson MR: Detection of Neoplasms by Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing of Cerebrospinal Fluid, JAMA neurology 2021, 78:1355-1366
  • 17.    Gao S, Nelson J, Weinsheimer S, Winkler EA, Rutledge C, Abla AA, Gupta N, Shieh JT, Cooke DL, Hetts SW, Tihan T, Hess CP, Ko N, Walcott BP, McCulloch CE, Lawton MT, Su H, Pawlikowska L, Kim H: Somatic mosaicism in the MAPK pathway in sporadic brain arteriovenous malformation and association with phenotype, J Neurosurg 2021, 1-8
  • 18.    Chen J, Sinha N, Cobb O, Liu C, Ersen A, Phillips JJ, Tihan T, Gutmann DH, Dahiya S: Immune cell analysis of pilocytic astrocytomas reveals sexually dimorphic brain region-specific differences in T-cell content, Neuro-oncology advances 2021, 3:vdab068
  • 19.    Andrews JP, Joshi RS, Pereira MP, Oh T, Haddad AF, Pereira KM, Osorio RC, Donohue KC, Peeran Z, Sudhir S, Jain S, Beniwal A, Chopra AS, Sandhu NS, Tihan T, Blevins L, Aghi MK: Plurihormonal PIT-1-Positive Pituitary Adenomas: A Systematic Review and Single-Center Series, World Neurosurg 2021, 151:e185-e191
  • 20.    Ulgen E, Karacan S, Gerlevik U, Can O, Bilguvar K, Oktay Y, Akyerli CB, Yuksel SK, Danyeli AE, Tihan T, Sezerman OU, Yakicier MC, Pamir MN, Ozduman K: Mutations and Copy Number Alterations in IDH Wild-Type Glioblastomas Are Shaped by Different Oncogenic Mechanisms, Biomedicines 2020, 8:  

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