UCSF Imaging

09/08/2026

A day at an amusement park turned into something far more serious for Zachary Davis. When a roller coaster snapped his neck, imaging revealed the real cause of his pain was a chordoma, a rare bone cancer pressing on his spinal cord.

Removing it took a team working together. Spine neurosurgeon Dr. Jang Won Yoon planned to reach the tumor from the front of the spine, but a major artery sat right at its edge. UCSF Imaging's Dr. Kazim Narsinh used an angiogram to confirm the vessel could be safely sacrificed, and head and neck surgeon Dr. Ilya Likhterov helped navigate the delicate anatomy of the throat. The tumor was removed in one piece, with no visible disease left behind.

Zachary is now completing proton therapy close to home. We are grateful to have played a part in his care. https://radiology.ucsf.edu/news/multidisciplinary-expert-team-makes-difference-rare-cervical-chordoma

08/19/2026

Losing and regaining the same weight over and over may cost you more than you think. UCSF researchers found that people whose weight repeatedly fluctuated lost nearly four times as much thigh muscle over four years as those whose weight stayed steady, and they did not build it back, even though both groups ended up near their starting weight.

Led by Dr. Thomas Link with Drs. Adrian Marth and Gabby Joseph, the study points to something worth watching as weight-loss medications grow more common. Protecting muscle may matter just as much as shedding fat. https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2026/07/432226/its-not-just-fat-yo-yo-diet-means-losing-healthy-muscle-too

08/06/2026

Some of the sharpest minds working on Alzheimer's just earned a major vote of confidence. Team ATLAS, led by UCSF Imaging's Dr. Duygu Tosun-Turgut with Oliver Robinson of Imperial College London, has been chosen for the Dementia Frontiers Fund, one of only five teams selected worldwide from an initial group of 12 finalists.

The team wants to give doctors a clearer read on how the disease will progress. Alzheimer's shows up in the brain through two kinds of damage, amyloid and tau, and they appear at different times. Team ATLAS wants to measure the gap between them and use it to predict how the disease will unfold for each patient.

Congratulations to the whole team, whose members come from the US, UK, and Spain.

08/05/2026

Congyu Liao, PhD, started his career studying the physics of underground water, not the human brain. But the same science that helped him map aquifers, nuclear magnetic resonance, is the science behind MRI. That connection drew him into medicine.

Today he leads the technology behind the UCSF Neuroimaging Technology Research Center, where powerful new scanners let researchers see the brain in remarkable detail. His work follows how the brain's wiring develops in infancy and changes over a lifetime.

https://radiology.ucsf.edu/news/congyu-liao-takes-physics-first-approach-advancing-neuropsychiatry

07/16/2026

Dr. Melanie Morrison and her lab are leading the clinical imaging portion of a major international research collaboration on Parkinson's disease, funded by a $9 million grant from the Aligning Science Across Parkinson's (ASAP) initiative in partnership with The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF).

The project is led by Dr. Asa Mackenzie, senior lecturer and research team leader at Lund University, and focuses on psychiatric and cognitive symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including depression, anxiety, apathy, and lack of motivation. The team will use deep brain stimulation as a tool to better understand the subthalamic nucleus and its role in these symptoms.

Read more:

Lund University. Team Mackenzie will join ASAP’s Collaborative Research Network (CRN), an international, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional network working to address high-priority research questions about Parkinson's disease.

07/16/2026

A warm welcome to the diagnostic radiology residents who joined our department on July 1.

This incoming class brings training from medical schools across New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, California, Minnesota, Maryland, and more.

We are so glad to have them here and cannot wait to see all they will accomplish during residency!

07/09/2026

For patients living with Parkinson's disease, OCD, and other movement and neuropsychiatric disorders, deep brain stimulation can offer real relief. UCSF Imaging's Dr. Melanie Morrison describes how DBS works and how it can improve symptoms for patients in this new video.

Watch now:

Melanie Morrison, PhD, (https://radiology.ucsf.edu/people/melanie-m...

07/07/2026

A well-deserved honor for Dr. Marc Kohli, who received the Gold Medal from the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine at their annual meeting.

Dr. Kohli was recognized for his scholarly impact, pragmatic implementation, leadership, and sustained service to SIIM, along with his mentorship of emerging leaders in imaging informatics. The medal was established in 2020 and first awarded to Dr. David Avrin, Dr. Kohli's mentor and former informatics vice chair in our department.

Pictured with UCSF colleagues Dr. John Mongan and Dr. Neil Singh.

07/04/2026

Happy Fourth of July! We hope you spend today with the people you love, enjoy some great food, and catch a beautiful fireworks display tonight. Wishing our patients, colleagues, and community a safe and fun holiday weekend.

07/01/2026

Welcome, Class of 2030 Radiology Residents! We’re so glad you’re here.