Mitchel Berger, MD
Director, Brain Tumor Center
Specialties: Adult brain tumors, including gliomas and meningiomas
Dr. Berger's main clinical interests are the treatment of brain tumors in adults and children and of epilepsy related to brain tumors. He is a pioneer of intraoperative mapping — a technique used to avoid functional areas of the brain during surgical resection of a tumor. His work has enabled surgeons to perform more extensive resection of tumor with less chance of producing sensorimotor or language deficit.
Dr. Berger is a leader of translational research and is the Principal Investigator of the UCSF Brain Tumor Research Center’s Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in neuro-oncology, funded by the National Cancer Institute. He has held this role for the 20 consecutive years that the SPORE has been funded at UCSF. He is also currently one of three members of the President’s Cancer Panel, appointed by President Biden to develop the scope of the National Cancer Program.
During his distinguished career, Dr. Berger has served as President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), President of the Society of Neuro-Oncology, and President of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery. He has also been a director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery; a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons; a member of the National Football League’s Head, Neck and Spine Committee; and a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel for the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative. He is a past recipient of the Winn Prize – the highest honor awarded by the Society of Neurological Surgeons for scientific excellence in neurological surgery – as well as the AANS Cushing Award for Technical Excellence and Innovation in Neurosurgery.
1974: BA, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1979: MD, University of Miami School of Medicine
1979-1980: Internship, UCSF
1980-1985: Residency in Neurological Surgery, UCSF
1985: Clinical Fellowship in Neuro-oncology, Brain Tumor Research Center at UCSF
1986: Fellowship in Pediatric Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital for Sick Children of the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1986: Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle/Concomitant appointments as Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgical Oncology at the Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle and Chief of the Northwest Neuro-Oncology Research & Therapy Section at the University of Washington
1990: Associate Professor at the University of Washington
1996: Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Washington
1997-2020: Chair of the UCSF Department of Neurological Surgery
1997-Present: Director of the UCSF Brain Tumor Center
2024: Cushing Award for Technical Excellence and Innovation in Neurosurgery, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
2016: Charles B. Wilson Award, AANS/CNS Joint Section on Tumors
2015: President, American Academy of Neurological Surgery
2012: President, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
2011: President Elect, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
2010: Vice President, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
2010-2013: Secretary, American Academy of Neurological Surgery
2009: Winn Prize, Society of Neurological Surgeons
2009: Elected Member, UCSF Institute of Molecular Medicine
2007-2010: Director, American Board of Neurological Surgery
2007-2010: Board of Directors, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
2006: UCSF Medical Center THANKS Star Award for exceptional contribution
2006: Ronald L. Bittner Lecturer, Tumor Section, AANS Annual Meeting
2006: Jeannette and Bernard S. Post MD Endowed Lecturer, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
2006: Farber Award, AANS Annual Meeting
2005-2006: Appointed Chairman of the Scientific Program Committee, AANS Annual Meeting
2004: UCSF Medical Center THANKS Star Award for exceptional contribution
2002-present: America's Top Doctors, Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
1999: Appointment to the Board of Directors of the California Division of the American Cancer Society (ACS)
1997-1999: President of the Society for Neuro-Oncology
1997-1998: Vice President of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons