Research Summary

Youngho Seo, PhD, is a Professor and Director of Nuclear Imaging Physics in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Faculty at the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, Program Member of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, Faculty of the UC Berkeley - UCSF Bioengineering Graduate Program, and Physicist Faculty Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He received his bachelor's degree in Physics from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) where he investigated radiation effects on electronics by cosmic ray as his senior thesis research project. 

He completed a master's degree in Physics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, focusing on space plasma physics. He spent one year at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) as a medical physics student before moving to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he obtained his second master's degree and PhD in Physics with the dissertation on a dark matter experiment using dual-phase xenon under the supervision of Professor David B. Cline. He spent another year for postdoctoral training at the same institution in experimental neutrino physics. Dr. Seo joined the UCSF Physics Research Laboratory (PRL) in 2003, and was trained in medical imaging physics under the supervision of Professor Bruce H. Hasegawa before joining the faculty in 2006.

Dr. Seo leads a group of physicists and engineers working in the field of radionuclide and x-ray imaging instrumentation and physics, and directs the UCSF PRL. His primary research focus is to use quantitative SPECT/CT, PET/CT, and PET/MR molecular imaging tools for a broad range of research areas from small animal imaging using dedicated animal imaging systems and basic instrumentation development for physics analysis of clinical research data. Visit the UCSF PRL webpage to learn more about the current projects.Dr. Seo also directs the preclinical PET/SPECT/CT/Optical imaging core facility at the UCSF Center for Molecular and Functional Imaging at China Basin.

Research Funding

  • May 1, 2023 - April 30, 2028 - Systematic evaluation of toxicity and therapeutic efficacy in CD46 directed radioligand therapy , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA279203
  • January 21, 2022 - December 31, 2026 - [18F]F-AraG as an imaging biomarker for early diagnosis and monitoring of cardiotoxicity related to doxorubicin and immune check point inhibitor therapy , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH/NHLBI, Sponsor Award ID: R01HL160688
  • April 1, 2023 - March 31, 2024 - High-throughput microPET/CT at UCSF Preclinical Imaging Core , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH/OD, Sponsor Award ID: S10OD034286
  • April 1, 2021 - January 31, 2024 - Molecular imaging of CD46 , Interim PI and Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH/NIBIB, Sponsor Award ID: R21EB029695

Education

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, B.S., 1995, Physics
University of Alabama in Huntsville, M.S., 1997, Physics/Space Plasma
University of California, Irvine, 1998-1999, Physics/Medical Physics
University of California, Los Angeles, M.S., 2001, Physics
University of California, Los Angeles, Ph.D., 2002, Physics/Astroparticle Physics
University of California, Los Angeles, Post-doc, 2002-2003, Physics/Neutrino Physics
University of California, San Francisco, Post-doc, 2003-2006, Medical Imaging Physics

Honors & Awards

  • 2021-22
    Outstanding Teacher Award, UCSF MSBI Program
  • 2020
    Outstanding Reviewer, Resource Allocation Program, University of California, San Francisco
  • 2019
    Alexander R. Margulis Award for Scientific Excellence, Radiological Society of North America
  • 2016
    Distinguished Investigator Award, Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research
  • 2011
    Physicist of the Year Award, Korean Association of Medical Physicists in North America
  • 2010
    Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation of the Year Award, Prostate Cancer Diagnosis North America
  • 2006-11
    Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award, National Cancer Institute

Selected Publications

  1. Peluso MJ, Ryder D, Flavell R, Wang Y, Levi J, LaFranchi BH, Deveau TM, Buck AM, Munter SE, Asare KA, Aslam M, Koch W, Szabo G, Hoh R, Deswal M, Rodriguez A, Buitrago M, Tai V, Shrestha U, Lu S, Goldberg SA, Dalhuisen T, Durstenfeld MS, Hsue PY, Kelly JD, Kumar N, Martin JN, Gambir A, Somsouk M, Seo Y, Deeks SG, Laszik ZG, VanBrocklin HF, Henrich TJ. Multimodal Molecular Imaging Reveals Tissue-Based T Cell Activation and Viral RNA Persistence for Up to 2 Years Following COVID-19. medRxiv. 2023 Jul 31.  View on PubMed
  2. Mayfield JJ, Bogomolovas J, Abraham MR, Sullivan K, Seo Y, Sheikh F, Scheinman M. Recurrent Myocarditis in Patients With Desmosomal Pathogenic Variants: Is Self Antigen Presentation The Link? JACC Clin Electrophysiol. 2023 Jul 05.  View on PubMed
  3. Klauser PC, Chopra S, Cao L, Bobba KN, Yu B, Seo Y, Chan E, Flavell RR, Evans MJ, Wang L. Covalent Proteins as Targeted Radionuclide Therapies Enhance Antitumor Effects. ACS Cent Sci. 2023 Jun 28; 9(6):1241-1251.  View on PubMed
  4. Bobba KN, Bidkar AP, Meher N, Fong C, Wadhwa A, Dhrona S, Sorlin A, Bidlingmaier S, Shuere B, He J, Wilson DM, Liu B, Seo Y, VanBrocklin HF, Flavell RR. Evaluation of 134Ce/134La as a PET Imaging Theranostic Pair for 225Ac α-Radiotherapeutics. J Nucl Med. 2023 07; 64(7):1076-1082.  View on PubMed
  5. Bidkar AP, Wang S, Bobba KN, Chan E, Bidlingmaier S, Egusa EA, Peter R, Ali U, Meher N, Wadhwa A, Dhrona S, Dasari C, Beckford-Vera D, Su Y, Tang R, Zhang L, He J, Wilson DM, Aggarwal R, VanBrocklin HF, Seo Y, Chou J, Liu B, Flavell RR. Treatment of Prostate Cancer with CD46-targeted 225Ac Alpha Particle Radioimmunotherapy. Clin Cancer Res. 2023 05 15; 29(10):1916-1928.  View on PubMed
  6. Kim SJW, Lupo JM, Chen Y, Pampaloni MH, VanBrocklin HF, Narvid J, Kim H, Seo Y. A feasibility study for quantitative assessment of cerebrovascular malformations using flutriciclamide ([18F]GE-180) PET/MRI. Front Med (Lausanne). 2023; 10:1091463.  View on PubMed
  7. Huh Y, Caravaca J, Kim J, Cui Y, Huang Q, Gullberg G, Seo Y. Simulation studies of a full-ring, CZT SPECT system for whole-body imaging of 99m Tc and 177 Lu. Med Phys. 2023 Jun; 50(6):3726-3737.  View on PubMed
  8. Li J, Huang T, Hua J, Wang Q, Su Y, Chen P, Bidlingmaier S, Li A, Xie Z, Bidkar AP, Shen S, Shi W, Seo Y, Flavell RR, Gioeli D, Dreicer R, Li H, Liu B, He J. CD46 targeted 212Pb alpha particle radioimmunotherapy for prostate cancer treatment. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2023 Mar 11; 42(1):61.  View on PubMed
  9. Midha AD, Zhou Y, Queliconi BB, Barrios AM, Haribowo AG, Chew BTL, Fong COY, Blecha JE, VanBrocklin H, Seo Y, Jain IH. Organ-specific fuel rewiring in acute and chronic hypoxia redistributes glucose and fatty acid metabolism. Cell Metab. 2023 03 07; 35(3):504-516.e5.  View on PubMed
  10. Caravaca J, Peter R, Yang J, Gunther C, Antonio Camara Serrano J, Nostrand C, Steri V, Seo Y. Comparison and calibration of dose delivered by137Cs and x-ray irradiators in mice. Phys Med Biol. 2022 11 18; 67(22).  View on PubMed
  11. Meher N, Ashley GW, Bidkar AP, Dhrona S, Fong C, Fontaine SD, Beckford Vera DR, Wilson DM, Seo Y, Santi DV, VanBrocklin HF, Flavell RR. Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen Targeted Deep Tumor Penetration of Polymer Nanocarriers. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022 Nov 16; 14(45):50569-50582.  View on PubMed
  12. Tao W, Rohmer D, Gullberg GT, Seo Y, Huang Q. An Analytical Algorithm for Tensor Tomography From Projections Acquired About Three Axes. IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2022 11; 41(11):3454-3472.  View on PubMed
  13. Peter R, Sandmaier BM, Dion MP, Frost SHL, Santos EB, Kenoyer A, Hamlin DK, Wilbur DS, Stewart RD, Fisher DR, Vetter K, Seo Y, Miller BW. Small-scale (sub-organ and cellular level) alpha-particle dosimetry methods using an iQID digital autoradiography imaging system. Sci Rep. 2022 10 26; 12(1):17934.  View on PubMed
  14. Zheng Y, Huh Y, Vetter K, Nasholm N, Gustafson C, Seo Y. Simultaneous Imaging of Ga-DOTA-TATE and Lu-DOTA-TATE in Murine Models of Neuroblastoma. IEEE Trans Radiat Plasma Med Sci. 2023 Jan; 7(1):75-82.  View on PubMed
  15. Levi J, Duan H, Yaghoubi S, Packiasamy J, Huynh L, Lam T, Shaikh F, Behera D, Song H, Blecha J, Jivan S, Seo Y, VanBrocklin HF. Biodistribution of a Mitochondrial Metabolic Tracer, [18F]F-AraG, in Healthy Volunteers. Mol Imaging. 2022; 2022:3667417.  View on PubMed
  16. Seo Y, Craig MC, Murphy ST, Feng J, Chen X, Yuneva M. [18F]-(2S,4R)4-Fluoroglutamine PET Imaging of Glutamine Metabolism in Murine Models of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Mol Imaging. 2022; 2022:5185951.  View on PubMed
  17. Gandhi A, Tang R, Seo Y, Bhargava A. Organ-Specific Glucose Uptake: Does Sex Matter? Cells. 2022 07 16; 11(14).  View on PubMed
  18. Zhao N, Chopra S, Trepka K, Wang YH, Sakhamuri S, Hooshdaran N, Kim H, Zhou J, Lim SA, Leung KK, Egusa EA, Zhu J, Zhang L, Foye A, Sriram R, Chan E, Seo Y, Feng FY, Small EJ, Chou J, Wells JA, Aggarwal R, Evans MJ. CUB Domain-Containing Protein 1 (CDCP1) Is a Target for Radioligand Therapy in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer, including PSMA Null Disease. Clin Cancer Res. 2022 07 15; 28(14):3066-3075.  View on PubMed
  19. Huh Y, Shrestha UM, Gullberg GT, Seo Y. Monte Carlo Simulation and Reconstruction: Assessment of Myocardial Perfusion Imaging of Tracer Dynamics With Cardiac Motion Due to Deformation and Respiration Using Gamma Camera With Continuous Acquisition. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022; 9:871967.  View on PubMed
  20. Polvoy I, Seo Y, Parker M, Stewart M, Siddiqua K, Manacsa HS, Ravanfar V, Blecha J, Hope TA, Vanbrocklin H, Flavell RR, Barry J, Hansen E, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Engel J, Rosenberg OS, Wilson DM, Ohliger MA. Imaging joint infections using D-methyl-11C-methionine PET/MRI: initial experience in humans. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2022 09; 49(11):3761-3771.  View on PubMed

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