Co-chair Nelson

Co-chair Sarah Nelson, Dr.rer.nat.

Nelson "I've always been fascinated by the ability to use mathematical and engineering principles to understand biological systems and to apply that knowledge for improving human health. In our department we share a common vision for developing cutting-edge research and educational programs in quantitative biomedical sciences."

Research Expertise

magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy
mathematical modeling
signal processing
algorithm development

Education

BS, Mathematics, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
Dr.rer.nat., Applied Mathematics / Radiation Biology, University of Heidelberg, West Germany
Postdoctoral Studies, In Vivo Magnetic Resonance, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia

Titles & Awards

Co-chair, Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, UCSF Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine
Professor, UCSF School of Medicine, Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging
UCSF Scientific Director, California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3)
Margaret Hart Surbeck Distinguished Professor of Advanced Imaging at UCSF
Director, Surbeck Laboratory of Advanced Imaging at UCSF
Fellow, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
Professor, University of California, Berkeley Department of Bioengineering

Research Areas

Dr. Nelson's research focuses on the development of techniques for the acquisition, reconstruction, and quantitative analysis of in vivo imaging and spectral data. This includes the interpretation of metabolic and physiological images from whole body 3T and 7T magnetic resonance scanners, which brings a number of critical challenges in terms of the design and optimization of hardware and software components. The objective of this research is to implement novel strategies for obtaining and interpreting magnetic resonance data in order to improve the understanding of normal physiology and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of disease progression and response to therapy. Translating these needs into basic bioengineering problems involves the integration of the principles of magnetic resonance physics with the design of new algorithms for quantitative interpretation of multi-dimensional and multi-faceted data. Applications that form the focus for this research include the study of patients with brain tumors, prostate cancer, and neurological diseases.

Academic Service & Leadership

In addition to activities across the San Francisco and Berkeley campuses of the University of California, which are associated with the education of bioengineering graduate students, Dr. Nelson is chair of the Imaging Committee for the National Cancer Institute-sponsored Adult Brain Tumor Consortium and director of the Imaging Program for the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCSF. She also leads the UCSF Center for Non-invasive Metabolomics, which is an academic-industry partnership dedicated to biomarker discovery and integration into clinical practice.