Manish K. Aghi MD, PhD

Manish 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.