Fellowships

The fellow will participate in many of the 400 surgical cases that are performed annually for aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, cavernous malformations, bypasses, carotid endarterectomy, and other miscellaneous cases. The fellow will also participate in the management of the inpatient service, which includes postoperative management of vascular neurosurgical patients, ICU management of subarachnoid and intracerebral hemorrhage, and daily review of diagnostic and therapeutic imaging, including angiography and endovascular surgery. The fellow will also attend the outpatient clinics to participate in the preoperative patient evaluations as well as postoperative patient management. The fellow will attend all case conferences, teaching sessions, journal clubs, and endovascular neurosurgery cases. 

Available to post residency graduates only with case mix to involve approximately 75 percent open cerebrovascular and 25 percent endovascular neurosurgery.

Application Process

Contact Luis Savastano MD, PhD ([email protected]), with your CV, cover letter, and letters of recommendation. Interviews are held in Fall/Winter, 2-2.5 years prior to start date.

Other Details

• Salary/Benefits: Please see the UCSF GME website for details
• Accreditation: CAST/SNS accreditation /transition of fellowship director request submitted (this was previously a CAST approved fellowship)
• Program Length: One year
• Location/Campus: UCSF Parnassus
• Start of Program: July 1
• Number of Fellows per Year: 1

The Neuro-Oncology Fellowship program provides 1-2 years training in the neurological, medical, surgical, and oncologic management of patients with primary or metastatic central and peripheral nervous system neoplasms, and any other disorders or complications affecting the nervous system, that result directly or indirectly from nervous system or systemic neoplasms or from related treatment. Training includes clinical rotations in adult and pediatric neuro-oncology, radiation oncology, neuropathology, primary CNS lymphoma, and neurological complications of cancer. These rotations ensure that fellows are appropriately trained to properly assess and manage the neurologic component of a patient’s disease while also receiving training in medical neuro-oncology which is required to establish competency in the use of chemotherapy and related medical treatments and supportive measures.

Electives include integrated medicine, palliative medicine, medical oncology/hematology, neurological surgery, and neuroradiology. Please note that surgical time is considered an elective for the medical-based fellowship and must be arranged with our neurosurgeons independent of other fellowship duties.

After completing the fellowship, trainees are also able to accurately design, administer, and interpret neuro-oncology clinical trials; are familiar with the standard multidisciplinary management of patients; are knowledgeable about current experimental therapies and molecular research; and are able to function independently as academic neuro-oncology clinicians.

The first year of the program is primarily clinical and fellows will attend clinic at least 2-3 days per week in addition to consulting on patients hospitalized at UCSF for illness related to brain tumors. Fellows also participate in a weekly multidisciplinary tumor board. The second year of the program is focused on research, but continues to incorporate clinical experience. Fellows work either on clinical trial development or in a laboratory under the supervision of a principal investigator.

Application Process

There is an application and interview process through SF Match:

• Thursday, November 1, 2018 - Applications open in SF Match
• Thursday, February 28, 2019 - Applications close in SF Match
• Thursday, March 1, 2019 - Interviews period begins
• Friday, May 31, 2019 – Interview period ends
• Friday, June 7, 2019 - Rankings due at 12:00 noon PST from candidates & programs
• Thursday, June 20, 2019 - Results posted
• Friday, June 21, 2019 - Vacancies posted

Other Details

• Salary/Benefits: Please see the UCSF GME website for details
• Accreditation: UCNS accredited neuro-oncology fellowship
• Program Length: 1-2 years
• Location/Campus: UCSF Neuro-Oncology Clinic (Parnassus)
• Start of Program: July

The fellowship is based at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG), under the supervision of Dr. Geoffrey Manley and Dr. Michael Huang. SFGH is the only Level I Trauma Center for San Francisco and the Northern Peninsula, serving nearly 2 million people in the Bay Area. It is the first and only hospital to receive disease-specific certification in the acute care of traumatic brain injury from the Joint Commission.  
 
The fellow will receive broad exposure to both surgical and medical management of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, including multimodality neuromonitoring.  The fellow will work closely with members of Neurology, Pulmonary Critical Care and Neuroradiology to deliver multidisciplinary care.  With experience, the fellow is expected to function with greater independence, and to take on increasing leadership roles.
 
The fellow will be actively incorporated into on-going research projects and will be encouraged to develop individual research interests.  In this fashion, the fellow will receive mentored training in clinical neurotraumatology and in clinical trial administration. Basic science research opportunities are also available within the Brain and Spinal Injury Center. 

Application Process

Contact Michael Huang, MD ([email protected]) by December 31st of the prior year with your CV, Letter of Interest, and three Letters of Recommendation. Prospective Fellows must be eligible for a California Medical License.

Other Details

• Salary/Benefits: Please see the UCSF GME website for details
• Accreditation: CAST Neurotrauma Fellowship
• Program Length: 1-2 years
• Location/Campus: Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (Northern California’s only Level 1 Trauma Center)
• Start of Program: July 1
• Number of Fellows per Year: 1

The Functional Neurosurgery program offers fellowship training an intensive focus on advanced techniques in deep brain stimulation. The fellow will also participate in surgery for epilepsy and pain.

Application Process

Eligibility: Fellows must be board-eligible by the time of the intended start date of the fellowship. Applicants must be residents in Neurosurgical training programs in the United States. “Enfolded” fellowships, in which a fellow remains in residency training and is not board eligible, are not possible. Non-US citizens may apply, if they are residency-trained in the United States. Fellows will not have independent attending privileges, are not allowed to moonlight, and should be able to commit to a full year of fellowship.

Contact Philip Starr MD, PhD ([email protected]) and our fellowship coordinator, Teresa Pan ([email protected]), with your CV and a brief letter outlining your career goals, as well as names of three references we may contact. Applications are due on March 31^st two years before the starting year. (i.e. Applications for fellows starting July 1, 2023 are due on March 31, 2021.) Interviews are held that April. Offers are made 2 years in advance of the start date. However, the fellowship is not always filled at this time, so inquiries that are within 2 years of the start date are also welcome.

Other Details

• Salary/Benefits: Please see the UCSF GME website for details
• Accreditation: Certified by the Committee on Subspecialty Training (CAST) of the Society of Neurological Surgeons (SNS).
• Program Length: 1 year
• Location/Campus: UCSF Parnassus, UCSF Mission Bay,  and San Francisco Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center
• Start of Program: July
• Number of Fellows per Year: 1

This fellowship offers training for those wishing to specialize in pediatric neurosurgery, with a focus on advanced techniques in the full range of clinical neurosurgery, including  microsurgery, in utero surgery, endoscopic surgery, and surgical research protocols. The fellow will also participate in outpatient clinics and teaching conferences.

Application Process

We participate in the Pediatric Neurosurgery Match. Information about our fellowship and application to the match can be found at SFMatch.org. Interviews are held in October and November.

Other Details

• Salary/Benefits: Please see the UCSF GME website for details
• Accreditation: Our Fellowship is approved by the ABPNS.
• Program Length: 1 year
• Location/Campus: UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, San Francisco and Oakland
• Start of Program: July 1
• Number of Fellows per Year: 1

Fellows participate in patient care in the spine center clinic and on the inpatient service. The objective is advanced experience with complex spine surgery.

Application Process

Contact Praveen Mummaneni, MD ([email protected]) or Christopher Ames, MD ([email protected]) between 1-3 years in advance, with your CV. CC the fellowship coordinator, Teresa Pan ([email protected]), in your email.

Other Details

• Salary/Benefits: Please see the UCSF GME website for details
• Accreditation: CAST Fellowship
• Program Length: 1 year
• Location/Campus: Parnassus
• Start of Program: July 1
• Number of Fellows per Year: 2-3

The objective of the T32 Training Grant in Translational Brain Tumor Research is to provide predoctoral and postdoctoral training for individuals interested in careers in translational brain tumor research. Despite the best efforts of neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists, and laboratory-based scientists, brain cancer remains among the deadliest of all malignancies. Improvements in brain cancer therapy have come slowly, in part because of the relative dearth of individuals trained in a manner that allows them to communicate with both clinicians and lab-based investigators.

Each year, our current program supports six postdoctoral trainees and two predoctoral trainees. The faculty of the Program consists of 28 mentors and a core of 18 research labs whose work has made the UCSF brain tumor community one of the most productive and recognized in the world:

Over the course of two years, the trainees work with the PIs of these labs and clinics to develop and complete meaningful and significant translational brain tumor research projects, and in the process become fluent in laboratory-based and/or clinical research techniques, as well as bioinformatics for the majority of trainees. The basic science trainees also have unique, supervised experiences in clinical neuropathology, clinical neuro-oncology. and clinical trial design. At the same time, trainees take part in a faculty-led didactic curriculum uniquely focused on brain tumor related issues and which allow trainees to develop a common language with which to discuss and understand brain tumor biology, diagnostic and therapeutic modalities, and unresolved problems in the field. Additional courses and training events that encourage effective speaking and writing are included, and there is an extensive selection of existing courses to help tailor the educational experience of individual trainees. Evaluation and mentoring mechanisms, and mentoring for our mentors, are included to help ensure success in the program and in attaining future career goals.

List of T32 Fellows and Alumni

Eligibility

Postdoctoral applicants must have PhD or MD degrees and must not currently hold a position as an independent investigator. Predoctoral applicants must be working on an PhD or an MD/PhD in a T32 mentor’s lab at UCSF. Eligible predoc and postdoc applicants must also have US citizenship, permanent residence, or a green card.

Application Process

• Prospective UCSF Postdocs: General inquiries may be sent to Joseph Costello, PhD ([email protected]). To inquire about availability in a specific lab, please contact the individual PI above. 
• Current UCSF Predocs and Postdocs: If you meet the eligibility requirements and are conducting translational brain tumor research in any of the UCSF labs listed above, you may also apply for this fellowship. To do so, please submit electronic versions of the following to Florence Pang ([email protected]) and Joseph Costello, PhD, ([email protected]):

1. Specific Aims Page of proposed 2-year project (1 page, 11-point arial font, 0.5 inch margins).
2. NIH Biosketch of applicant (5 pages max, 11-point arial font) in the most current NIH format.
3. NIH Biosketch of proposed mentor(s) (5 pages max, 11-point arial font) in the most current NIH format.  Please also include information regarding trainees from the mentor’s laboratory for the past 5 years (1 page, 11-point arial font).
4. Combine #1-3 in a single PDF.

The deadline for application is Friday, August 2, 2024.  All applications will be reviewed by the selection committee, and all decisions will be made by Sept 1, 2024.