Manish K. Aghi MD, PhD

Professor in Residence of Neurological Surgery
Principal Investigator, Brain Tumor Center
Maydan Family Endowed Faculty
Attending Neurosurgeon, California Center for Pituitary Disorders
Co-Director, Center for Minimally Invasive Skull Base Surgery
Faculty Member, UCSF Graduate Division in Biomedical Sciences
Dr. Aghi is a neurosurgeon-scientist specializing in adult brain tumors, including pituitary tumors, gliomas, chorodomas, and meningiomas. Dr. Aghi leads a large nationwide clinical reserach team that has published several dozen award winning publications on the resection of pituitary tumors and tumors of the anterior skull base through an endoscopic endonasal approach, and is currently leading a Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) taskforce to formulate national guidelines for the neurosurgical management of pituitary tumors. Dr. Aghi's work on glioblastoma spans from the bench to the operating room. Dr. Aghi leads a scientific laboratory studying how the tumor microenviornment contributes to therapeutic resistance in glioblastoma. The Aghi lab has been awarded an R01 researach grant from the NIH and large grants from the American Cancer Society and James McDonnell foundation. Read about Dr. Aghi's basic science research laboratory in the UCSF Brain Tumor Research Center (BTRC) here. These laboratory efforts synergize with Dr. Aghi's neurosurgical care of glioblastoma patients, which uses intraoperative mapping of brain function and 5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) to optimize tumor resection. Dr. Aghi is also principal investigator of a phase I clinical trial studying convection-enhanced delivery of a replicating retrovirus for recurrent glioblastoma, a gene therapy strategy featured on ABC News.
Education, Training, and Previous Positions
- 1993: BS, MS, Stanford University
- 2000: MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School
- 2000-2007: Residency, Neurological Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital
- 2007: Instructor, Department of Neurological Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
- 2008-2012: Assistant Professor in Residence, Department of Neurological Surgery, UCSF
2012-present: Associate Professor in Residence, Department of Neurological Surgery, UCSF
Selected Professional Memberships and Appointments
- Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO)
- Pituitary Network Association (PNA)
International Society of Pituitary Surgeons (ISPS) - American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)
- Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)
- AANS and CNS, Joint Section for Tumors
- North American Skull Base Society
- American Association of Cancer Research (AACR)
Selected Honors and Awards
- 2004: Preuss Resident Research Award, American Association of Neurologic Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons
- 2005: Ronald L. Bittner Award, American Association of Neurologic Surgeons (AANS)
- 2005: William Scoville Resident Research Award, New England Neurosurgery meeting
- 2005: Congress of Neurologic Surgeons (CNS) Resident Research Award
- 2005: American Academy of Neurologic Surgeons Resident Research Award
- 2006: Mahaley Award, American Association of Neurologic Surgeons
- 2006: Integra Foundation Award, Congress of Neurologic Surgeons
- 2007: Synthes Skull Base Award, Congress of Neurologic Surgeons
2009: American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA) Young Investigator Award, Congress of Neurologic Surgeons - 2011: Harold Rosegay Teaching Award, UCSF Neurological Surgery
- 2013: Young Investigator Award, Society for Neuro-Oncology
Selected Recent Publications
Magill ST, Lee DS, Yen AJ, Lucas CG, Raleigh DR, Aghi MK, Theodosopoulos PV,
McDermott MW. Surgical outcomes after reoperation for recurrent skull base
meningiomas. J Neurosurg. 2018 May 4:1-8. doi: 10.3171/2017.11.JNS172278. [Epub
ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 29726777.
Dalle Ore CL, Ames CP, Magill ST, Deviren V, Aghi MK, Lau D. Initial
experience with intraoperative phosphorous-32 brachytherapy during resection of
malignant spinal tumors. World Neurosurg. 2018 Apr 24. pii:
S1878-8750(18)30825-8. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2018.04.105. [Epub ahead of print]
PubMed PMID: 29702311.
Griveau A, Seano G, Shelton SJ, Kupp R, Jahangiri A, Obernier K, Krishnan S,
Lindberg OR, Yuen TJ, Tien AC, Sabo JK, Wang N, Chen I, Kloepper J, Larrouquere
L, Ghosh M, Tirosh I, Huillard E, Alvarez-Buylla A, Oldham MC, Persson AI, Weiss
WA, Batchelor TT, Stemmer-Rachamimov A, Suvà ML, Phillips JJ, Aghi MK, Mehta S,
Jain RK, Rowitch DH. A Glial Signature and Wnt7 Signaling Regulate
Glioma-Vascular Interactions and Tumor Microenvironment. Cancer Cell. 2018 May
14;33(5):874-889.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2018.03.020. Epub 2018 Apr 19. PubMed
PMID: 29681511.
Magill ST, Rick JW, Chen WC, Haase DA, Raleigh DR, Aghi MK, Theodosopoulos PV,
McDermott MW. Petrous Face Meningiomas: Classification, Clinical Syndromes, and
Surgical Outcomes. World Neurosurg. 2018 Apr 4. pii: S1878-8750(18)30676-4. doi:
10.1016/j.wneu.2018.03.194. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 29626689.
Chen WC, Magill ST, Wu A, Vasudevan HN, Morin O, Aghi MK, Theodosopoulos PV,
Perry A, McDermott MW, Sneed PK, Braunstein SE, Raleigh DR. Histopathological
features predictive of local control of atypical meningioma after surgery and
adjuvant radiotherapy. J Neurosurg. 2018 Apr 6:1-8. doi:
10.3171/2017.9.JNS171609. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 29624151.
Magill ST, Young JS, Chae R, Aghi MK, Theodosopoulos PV, McDermott MW.
Relationship between tumor location, size, and WHO grade in meningioma. Neurosurg
Focus. 2018 Apr;44(4):E4. doi: 10.3171/2018.1.FOCUS17752. PubMed PMID: 29606048.
Magill ST, Morshed RA, Lucas CG, Aghi MK, Theodosopoulos PV, Berger MS, de
Divitiis O, Solari D, Cappabianca P, Cavallo LM, McDermott MW. Tuberculum sellae
meningiomas: grading scale to assess surgical outcomes using the transcranial
versus transsphenoidal approach. Neurosurg Focus. 2018 Apr;44(4):E9. doi:
10.3171/2018.1.FOCUS17753. PubMed PMID: 29606045.
Chen WC, Hara J, Magill ST, Wu A, Aghi MK, Theodosopoulos PV, Perry A,
McDermott MW, Sneed PK, Raleigh DR, Braunstein SE. Salvage therapy outcomes for
atypical meningioma. J Neurooncol. 2018 Jun;138(2):425-433. doi:
10.1007/s11060-018-2813-9. Epub 2018 Feb 26. PubMed PMID: 29480505.
Flanigan PM, Jahangiri A, Weinstein D, Dayani F, Chandra A, Kanungo I, Choi S,
Sankaran S, Molinaro AM, McDermott MW, Berger MS, Aghi MK. Postoperative Delirium
in Glioblastoma Patients: Risk Factors and Prognostic Implications. Neurosurgery.
2018 Feb 16. doi: 10.1093/neuros/nyx606. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID:
29462362.
Rick J, Chandra A, Aghi MK. Tumor treating fields: a new approach to
glioblastoma therapy. J Neurooncol. 2018 May;137(3):447-453. doi:
10.1007/s11060-018-2768-x. Epub 2018 Jan 18. Review. PubMed PMID: 29349613.
Flanigan PM, Jahangiri A, Golubovsky JL, Karnuta JM, May FJ, Berger MS, Aghi
MK. A cross-sectional study of neurosurgical department chairs in the United
States. J Neurosurg. 2018 Jan 5:1-7. doi: 10.3171/2017.7.JNS17567. [Epub ahead of
print] PubMed PMID: 29303441.
Hayes J, Yu Y, Jalbert LE, Mazor T, Jones LE, Wood MD, Walsh KM, Bengtsson H,
Hong C, Oberndorfer S, Roetzer T, Smirnov IV, Clarke JL, Aghi MK, Chang SM,
Nelson SJ, Woehrer A, Phillips JJ, Solomon DA, Costello JF. Genomic analysis of
the origins and evolution of multicentric diffuse lower-grade gliomas. Neuro
Oncol. 2018 Apr 9;20(5):632-641. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/nox205. PubMed PMID:
29077933; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5892142.
Jahangiri A, Nguyen A, Chandra A, Sidorov MK, Yagnik G, Rick J, Han SW, Chen
W, Flanigan PM, Schneidman-Duhovny D, Mascharak S, De Lay M, Imber B, Park CC,
Matsumoto K, Lu K, Bergers G, Sali A, Weiss WA, Aghi MK. Cross-activating
c-Met/β1 integrin complex drives metastasis and invasive resistance in cancer.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Oct 10;114(41):E8685-E8694. doi:
10.1073/pnas.1701821114. Epub 2017 Sep 26. PubMed PMID: 28973887; PubMed Central
PMCID: PMC5642678.
Rutkowski MJ, Kunwar S, Blevins L, Aghi MK. Surgical intervention for
pituitary apoplexy: an analysis of functional outcomes. J Neurosurg. 2017 Sep
15:1-8. doi: 10.3171/2017.2.JNS1784. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 28946177.
Vasudevan HN, Raleigh DR, Johnson J, Garsa AA, Theodosopoulos PV, Aghi MK,
Ames C, McDermott MW, Barani IJ, Braunstein SE. Management of Chordoma and
Chondrosarcoma with Fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy. Front Surg. 2017 Jun
23;4:35. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2017.00035. eCollection 2017. PubMed PMID: 28691010;
PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5481320.
Chan AK, Han SJ, Choy W, Beleford D, Aghi MK, Berger MS, Shieh JT, Bollen AW,
Perry A, Phillips JJ, Butowski N, Solomon DA. Familial melanoma-astrocytoma
syndrome: synchronous diffuse astrocytoma and pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma in a
patient with germline CDKN2A/B deletion and a significant family history. Clin
Neuropathol. 2017 Sep/Oct;36(5):213-221. doi: 10.5414/NP301022. PubMed PMID:
28699883; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5628627.
Rutkowski MJ, Alward RM, Chen R, Wagner J, Jahangiri A, Southwell DG, Kunwar
S, Blevins L, Lee H, Aghi MK. Atypical pituitary adenoma: a clinicopathologic
case series. J Neurosurg. 2018 Apr;128(4):1058-1065. doi:
10.3171/2016.12.JNS162126. Epub 2017 Jun 9. PubMed PMID: 28598278.
Flanigan PM, Jahangiri A, Kuang R, Truong A, Choi S, Chou A, Rick JW, Chang
SM, Molinaro AM, McDermott MW, Berger MS, Aghi MK. Improved Survival with
Decreased Wait Time to Surgery in Glioblastoma Patients Presenting with Seizure.
Neurosurgery. 2017 Nov 1;81(5):824-833. doi: 10.1093/neuros/nyx084. PubMed PMID:
28541497.
Flanigan PM, Jahangiri A, Kuang R, Truong A, Choi S, Chou A, Molinaro AM,
McDermott MW, Berger MS, Aghi MK. Developing an Algorithm for Optimizing Care of
Elderly Patients With Glioblastoma. Neurosurgery. 2018 Jan 1;82(1):64-75. doi:
10.1093/neuros/nyx148. PubMed PMID: 28475720.
Castro BA, Flanigan P, Jahangiri A, Hoffman D, Chen W, Kuang R, De Lay M,
Yagnik G, Wagner JR, Mascharak S, Sidorov M, Shrivastav S, Kohanbash G, Okada H,
Aghi MK. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor downregulation: a novel mechanism
of resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy. Oncogene. 2017 Jun 29;36(26):3749-3759.
doi: 10.1038/onc.2017.1. Epub 2017 Feb 20. PubMed PMID: 28218903; PubMed Central
PMCID: PMC5491354.
Yagnik G, Jahangiri A, Chen R, Wagner JR, Aghi MK. Role of a p53 polymorphism
in the development of nonfunctional pituitary adenomas. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2017
May 5;446:81-90. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2017.02.017. Epub 2017 Feb 16. PubMed PMID:
28214592; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5553295.
Kuang R, Jahangiri A, Mascharak S, Nguyen A, Chandra A, Flanigan PM, Yagnik
G, Wagner JR, De Lay M, Carrera D, Castro BA, Hayes J, Sidorov M, Garcia JL,
Eriksson P, Ronen S, Phillips J, Molinaro A, Koliwad S, Aghi MK. GLUT3
upregulation promotes metabolic reprogramming associated with antiangiogenic
therapy resistance. JCI Insight. 2017 Jan 26;2(2):e88815. doi:
10.1172/jci.insight.88815. PubMed PMID: 28138554; PubMed Central PMCID:
PMC5256137.
Winkler EA, Birk H, Safaee M, Yue JK, Burke JF, Viner JA, Pekmezci M, Perry
A, Aghi MK, Berger MS, McDermott MW. Surgical resection of fourth ventricular
ependymomas: case series and technical nuances. J Neurooncol. 2016
Nov;130(2):341-349. Epub 2016 Oct 24. Review. Erratum in: J Neurooncol. 2017
Jan;131(2):423. PubMed PMID: 27778210.
Ziu M, Dunn IF, Hess C, Fleseriu M, Bodach ME, Tumialan LM, Oyesiku NM, Patel
KS, Wang R, Carter BS, Chen JY, Chen CC, Patil CG, Litvack Z, Zada G, Aghi MK.
Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guideline
on Posttreatment Follow-up Evaluation of Patients With Nonfunctioning Pituitary
Adenomas. Neurosurgery. 2016 Oct;79(4):E541-3. doi: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000001392.
Review. PubMed PMID: 27635964.
Sheehan J, Lee CC, Bodach ME, Tumialan LM, Oyesiku NM, Patil CG, Litvack Z,
Zada G, Aghi MK. Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and
Evidence-Based Guideline for the Management of Patients With Residual or
Recurrent Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas. Neurosurgery. 2016
Oct;79(4):E539-40. doi: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000001385. Review. PubMed PMID:
27635963.
Kuo JS, Barkhoudarian G, Farrell CJ, Bodach ME, Tumialan LM, Oyesiku NM,
Litvack Z, Zada G, Patil CG, Aghi MK. Congress of Neurological Surgeons
Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guideline on Surgical Techniques and
Technologies for the Management of Patients With Nonfunctioning Pituitary
Adenomas. Neurosurgery. 2016 Oct;79(4):E536-8. doi: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000001390.
Review. PubMed PMID: 27635962.
Lucas JW, Bodach ME, Tumialan LM, Oyesiku NM, Patil CG, Litvack Z, Aghi MK,
Zada G. Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based
Guideline on Primary Management of Patients With Nonfunctioning Pituitary
Adenomas. Neurosurgery. 2016 Oct;79(4):E533-5. doi: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000001389.
Review. PubMed PMID: 27635961.
Newman SA, Turbin RE, Bodach ME, Tumialan LM, Oyesiku NM, Litvack Z, Zada G,
Patil CG, Aghi MK. Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and
Evidence-Based Guideline on Pretreatment Ophthalmology Evaluation in Patients
With Suspected Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas. Neurosurgery. 2016
Oct;79(4):E530-2. doi: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000001388. Review. PubMed PMID:
27635960.
Fleseriu M, Bodach ME, Tumialan LM, Bonert V, Oyesiku NM, Patil CG, Litvack
Z, Aghi MK, Zada G. Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and
Evidence-Based Guideline for Pretreatment Endocrine Evaluation of Patients With
Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas. Neurosurgery. 2016 Oct;79(4):E527-9. doi:
10.1227/NEU.0000000000001387. Review. PubMed PMID: 27635959.
Chen CC, Carter BS, Wang R, Patel KS, Hess C, Bodach ME, Tumialan LM, Oyesiku
NM, Patil CG, Litvack Z, Zada G, Aghi MK. Congress of Neurological Surgeons
Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guideline on Preoperative Imaging Assessment
of Patients With Suspected Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas. Neurosurgery. 2016
Oct;79(4):E524-6. doi: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000001391. Review. PubMed PMID:
27635958.
Aghi MK, Chen CC, Fleseriu M, Newman SA, Lucas JW, Kuo JS, Barkhoudarian G,
Farrell CJ, Sheehan J, Ziu M, Dunn IF. Congress of Neurological Surgeons
Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guidelines on the Management of Patients
With Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas: Executive Summary. Neurosurgery. 2016
Oct;79(4):521-3. doi: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000001386. Review. PubMed PMID:
27635956.
Han SJ, Reis G, Kohanbash G, Shrivastav S, Magill ST, Molinaro AM, McDermott
MW, Theodosopoulos PV, Aghi MK, Berger MS, Butowski NA, Barani I, Phillips JJ,
Perry A, Okada H. Expression and prognostic impact of immune modulatory molecule
PD-L1 in meningioma. J Neurooncol. 2016 Dec;130(3):543-552. Epub 2016 Sep 13.
PubMed PMID: 27624915; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5560602.
Rick JW, Jahangiri A, Flanigan PM, Aghi MK. Patients cured of acromegaly do
not experience improvement of their skull deformities. Pituitary. 2017
Apr;20(2):292-294. doi: 10.1007/s11102-016-0741-2. PubMed PMID: 27590786.
Barajas RF Jr, Butowski NA, Phillips JJ, Aghi MK, Berger MS, Chang SM, Cha S.
The Development of Reduced Diffusion Following Bevacizumab Therapy Identifies
Regions of Recurrent Disease in Patients with High-grade Glioma. Acad Radiol.
2016 Sep;23(9):1073-82. doi: 10.1016/j.acra.2016.04.004. Epub 2016 Jul 18. PubMed
PMID: 27443507; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5571825.
Imber BS, Kanungo I, Braunstein S, Barani IJ, Fogh SE, Nakamura JL, Berger
MS, Chang EF, Molinaro AM, Cabrera JR, McDermott MW, Sneed PK, Aghi MK.
Indications and Efficacy of Gamma Knife Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Recurrent
Glioblastoma: 2 Decades of Institutional Experience. Neurosurgery. 2017 Jan
1;80(1):129-139. doi: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000001344. PubMed PMID: 27428784; PubMed
Central PMCID: PMC5235998.
Raleigh DR, Seymour ZA, Tomlin B, Theodosopoulos PV, Berger MS, Aghi MK,
Geneser SE, Krishnamurthy D, Fogh SE, Sneed PK, McDermott MW. Resection and brain
brachytherapy with permanent iodine-125 sources for brain metastasis. J
Neurosurg. 2017 Jun;126(6):1749-1755. doi: 10.3171/2016.4.JNS152530. Epub 2016
Jul 1. PubMed PMID: 27367240.