Vinil Shah, MD, Appointed Chief of Neuroradiology
The UC San Francisco Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging is pleased to announce that Vinil Shah, MD has accepted the position of chief of Neuroradiology, effective August 1, 2021.
Dr. Shah has been an associate professor and faculty member in the department since 2014. He has served as Neuroradiology Fellowship program director since 2017, stewarding a two-year program of nine first year ACGME fellows and six second-year clinical instructors.
Dr. Shah earned his bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and subsequently his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine where he received the Brinton Prize for the Most Outstanding Medical Student. He completed his internship at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York before he began his radiology residency at UCSF. During his residency, Dr. Shah served as chief resident and received the Elmer Ng Outstanding Resident Award in 2011. After fellowships in neuroradiology and musculoskeletal radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he also served as neuroradiology chief fellow, he returned to UCSF and joined the faculty.
Recognized locally, nationally, and internationally for his clinical expertise, Dr. Shah's primary interests focus on imaging evaluation of spinal and peripheral nerve disorders and image-guided intervention. His research explores biomarkers of pain generation in the spine, efficacy of image-guided intervention for treatment of acute and chronic back pain, and emerging technologies and techniques for treatment of chronic pain, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, and spinal tumors.
Dr. Shah has served in numerous leadership and service activities for the section, our department, and in national professional organizations. Outside of UCSF he serves on the Board of Directors of the Spine Intervention Society (SIS) and on the Executive Committee of the American Society of Spine Radiology (ASSR) and is a frequently invited speaker at national and international neuroradiology conferences. Known as a passionate educator and strong advocate for our trainees, as Neuroradiology Fellowship program director, Dr. Shah has actively engaged in recruitment efforts to increase the diversity and number of underrepresented trainees, including recruiting more women into our fellowship program.
"Dr. Shah is committed to continuing the neuroradiology section's mission of clinical excellence, advancing imaging neuroscience, and educating future leaders. He will bring passion, expertise, scholarship, and vision to this important leadership position," says Christopher Hess, MD, PhD, Alexander R. Margulis Distinguished Professor and chair of UCSF Radiology.
The department thanks Christine Glastonbury, MBBS, vice chair for Academic Affairs for her nearly four years of service as interim chief of Neuroradiology. During her tenure as chief, she has provided strong and steady leadership, enhanced the section's national visibility, enriched the level of communication, managed operations through the pandemic, and built upon an already strong culture of excellence and camaraderie within the group.
The department also thanks the search committee, led by Dr. Glastonbury, for its service throughout the process in the national search.