President's Cancer Panel

Dr. Mitchel S. Berger is a neurosurgeon, director of the Brain Tumor Center, and principal investigator for the SPORE (Specialized Program of Research Excellence) Brain Tumor Program at the University of California San Francisco (USCF). He chaired the department of neurological surgery at USCF for 23 years and served on the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel in 2016. He has been funded by the National Cancer Institute to conduct basic science research in brain tumor biology, including the molecular markers that determine the growth and treatment patterns of these tumors. Dr. Berger’s research and clinical work focuses on surgical treatments of brain tumors and tumor-associated epilepsy. He was instrumental in developing brain mapping techniques to identify sites of motor, sensory, and language function to minimize the morbidity associated with tumor surgery. He served as president of two leading national organizations, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Society of Neuro-Oncology. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine, and completed his residency at UCSF’s neurosurgical residency program.