News & Events

In December, three UCSF Lobular Breast Cancer Research Program Fellows, medical students Elle Cleland, Mandeep Kaur and Harriet Rothschild, presented at the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.       Quantifying estrogen and progesterone receptor status in early-stage invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: associated factors and outcomes in an institutional series We are interested in understanding the distribution and the clinical significance of ER/PR hormone receptor positivity in early-stage ILC. Overall, we know that ILC is typically regarded as strongly ER and PR positive [...]

UCSF Hosts First Lady Jill Biden to Discuss Breast Cancer Research By Elizabeth Fernandez First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden visits UCSF to speak with patients, researchers, and doctors as part of President Biden's Cancer Moonshot program. From left to right: Alan Ashworth, MD, Paola Betancur, MD, Monica Bertagnolli, MD, First Lady Jill Biden, Ed.D, Kami Pullakhandam. Photo by Noah Berger First Lady Jill Biden, Ed.D, met with top UC San Francisco cancer leaders during a visit Friday to hear about UCSF's breast cancer research and progress on the National Cancer Moonshot. The visit was [...]

Committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion UCSF and the Department and Surgery are committed to building a broadly diverse community, nurturing a culture that is welcoming and supportive, and engaging diverse ideas for the provision of culturally competent education, discovery, and patient care. Chancellor Awards for Diversity Chancellor Awards for Diversity recognize the outstanding efforts of individuals who demonstrate a strong dedication to diversity. Individuals recognized are leaders and pioneers in their respective fields and to the communities in which they serve. We are proud [...]

The UCSF Department of Surgery is pleased to announce that third year UCSF medical student Mary Kathryn (Katy) Abel, A.B. was awarded the inaugural Thomas K. Hunt Memorial fellowship from the Division of General Surgery for her research project: "Optimizing outcomes in invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: addressing barriers to clinical trial enrollment and personalizing therapy," with mentor Rita Mukhtar, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of General Surgery. Under the leadership of Hobart Harris, M.D., MPH and supported by the Division of General Surgery and the Department of [...]

We are pleased to announce the appointment of three new Associate Residency Program Directors for our general surgery residency program: Rita Mukhtar, MD as Associate Residency Program Director for Curriculum; Wen Shen, MD, MA as Associate Residency Program Director for Resident Professional Development; and Lan Vu, MD as Associate Residency Program Director for Assessment. All three appointments will be effective January 1, 2021. As the Associate Residency Program Director for Curriculum, Dr. Mukhtar will be primarily responsible for the curriculum of the general surgery residency program. [...]

The Department of Surgery celebrated the many achievements of our UCSF Surgery trainees and educators at Surgery Grand Rounds on June 10, 2020, recognizing the tireless hard work and extraordinary talent displayed each and every day by these recipients. In addition, there was a tribute to the late Chief Resident Evan Werlin, MD, the inaugural "Evan Werlin Lodestar Award," accepted by his fiancée, Dr. Alyssa Perez. Junior Resident Faculty Teaching Award The award was presented by our interns to Dr. Huey Chern, Director of the UCSF Surgical Skills Lab in recognition of her extraordinary and [...]

UCSF surgeon-scientist Rita Mukhtar, M.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of General Surgery, has been awarded two grants to study  lobular breast cancer. This work is also being crowd-funded by one of Dr. Mukhtar's patients through a novel mechanism offered by the UCSF Foundation, "Together at UCSF."  Dr. Mukhtar's clinical and translational research program focuses on invasive lobular carcinoma, the second most common type of breast cancer, and an understudied disease with unique treatment challenges.  The Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center awarded Dr. Mukhtar [...]

Surgeons, from left, Lucy Kornblith, Rita Mukhtar and Carter Lebares pose for a photograph in the lobby of the UCSF Clinical Science Building in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (Courtesy Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group) The April 3, 2017 cover of the New Yorker depicting four women in blue doctors' scrubs over an operating table has gone viral. Reflecting the power of that image, female surgeons throughout the world have been posting group selfie photos of themselves recreating the pose. Malika Favre, who has designed a number of covers for the magazine, told CNN that [...]