Galateia Kazakia, PhD

Professor
Professsor in Residence
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Biography

Galateia J. Kazakia, PhD, is Professor in Residence and Director of the Bone Quality Research Laboratory in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Kazakia serves as the Faculty Director of the Quantitative Musculoskeletal-Imaging Core, Director of the UCSF Core Center for Musculoskeletal Biology and Medicine (CCMBM) Imaging Core, and Co-Director of the Nutrition and Obesity Research Center (NORC) Human Metabolism Core. Dr. Kazakia received her BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in 1995. She completed her PhD in Mechanical Engineering (with an emphasis on Bone Biomechanics) from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004. Dr. Kazakia was awarded an NIH F32 postdoctoral fellowship to develop bone imaging techniques, performing this work in the Musculoskeletal Quantitative Imaging Research group at UCSF. Dr. Kazakia joined the UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging as an Assistant Professor in Residence in 2009.

Dr. Kazakia’s research is focused on the assessment of bone quality using both in vivo and ex vivo imaging tools, spanning the hierarchical levels of bone structure and composition. Through her research she aims to characterize changes occurring in the skeleton in response to aging and disease, to discover biological mechanisms of these changes, and to understand the impact skeletal changes have on bone strength and fracture risk.

Dr. Kazakia is an active member of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Orthopaedic Research Society. Dr. Kazakia serves as a reviewer for >10 scientific journals, and she has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and conference abstracts.

Expertise:
Musculoskeletal Radiology

Specialty:
Musculoskeletal imaging, musculoskeletal diseases, CT, MRI, HR-pQCT, microCT, FTIR

Professional Interests:
Mineralization, bone quality, bone architecture, bone micro-damage, biomechanics, mechanical properties, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, high-resolution computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), MR spectroscopy, muscle and fat quality assessment

Education and Training:
• Bachelor of Science: Cornell University, Ithaca, New York - Mechanical Engineering
• Masters of Science: University of California, Berkeley - Mechanical Engineering
• Doctor of Philosophy: University of California, Berkeley - Mechanical Engineering

Education

2019 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
PhD, 2005 - Mechanical Engineering, University of California
BS, 1995 - Mechanical Engineering, Cornell University
Postdoctoral Studies, - Graduate Division, University of California

Honors and Awards

Summa Cum Laude Award, International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2020
Plenary Poster Award, American Society of Bone and Mineral Research, 2019
Faculty Travel Award, UCSF School of Medicine, 2018
Featured Investigator, Center for Disruptive Musculoskeletal Innovations, 2015
Plenary Poster Award, American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, 2014
Mentored Career Development Award, National Institutes of Health, 2009
Young Investigator Award, International Sun Valley Workshop of Skeletal Biology, 2006
Excellence in Research Award, Musculoskeletal Quantitative Imaging Research Group, 2006
Graduate Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation, 1999

Publications

Löffler MT, Wu PH, Pirmoazen AM, Joseph GB, Stewart JM, Saeed I, Liu J, Schafer AL, Schwartz AV, Link TM, Kazakia GJ. Microvascular disease not type 2 diabetes is associated with increased cortical porosity: A study of cortical bone microstructure and intracortical vessel characteristics. Bone Rep. 2024 Mar; 20:101745.
Sinha Gregory N, Burghardt AJ, Backlund JC, Rubin MR, Bebu I, Braffett BH, Kenny DJ, Link TM, Kazakia GJ, Barnie A, Lachin JM, Gubitosi-Klug R, de Boer IH, Schwartz AV, DCCT/EDIC Research Group. Diabetes Risk Factors and Bone Microarchitecture as Assessed by High-Resolution Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography in Adults With Long-Standing Type 1 Diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2023 Nov 29.
Wu PH, Joseph G, Saeed I, Pirmoazen AM, Kenny K, Kim TY, Schafer AL, Schwartz AV, Li X, Link TM, Kazakia GJ. Bone Marrow Adiposity Alterations in Type 2 Diabetes Are Sex-Specific and Associated with Serum Lipid Levels. J Bone Miner Res. 2023 Dec; 38(12):1877-1884.
Löffler MT, Wu PH, Kazakia GJ. MR-based techniques for intracortical vessel visualization and characterization: understanding the impact of microvascular disease on skeletal health. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2023 Aug 01; 30(4):192-199.
Sadoughi S, Subramanian A, Ramil G, Burghardt AJ, Kazakia GJ. A Laplace-Hamming Binarization Approach for Second-Generation HR-pQCT Rescues Fine Feature Segmentation. J Bone Miner Res. 2023 07; 38(7):1006-1014.
Cunningham HC, Orr S, Murugesh DK, Hsia AW, Osipov B, Go L, Wu PH, Wong A, Loots GG, Kazakia GJ, Christiansen BA. Differential bone adaptation to mechanical unloading and reloading in young, old, and osteocyte deficient mice. Bone. 2023 02; 167:116646.
Kim TY, Schwartz AV, Li X, Xu K, Kazakia GJ, Grunfeld C, Nissenson RA, Shoback DM, Schafer AL. Bone marrow adipose tissue composition and glycemic improvements after gastric bypass surgery. Bone Rep. 2022 Dec; 17:101596.
Carballido-Gamio J, Posadzy M, Wu PH, Kenny K, Saeed I, Link TM, Tien PC, Krug R, Kazakia GJ. People living with HIV have low trabecular bone mineral density, high bone marrow adiposity, and poor trabecular bone microarchitecture at the proximal femur. Osteoporos Int. 2022 Aug; 33(8):1739-1753.
Sadoughi S, Pasco C, Joseph GB, Wu PH, Schafer AL, Kazakia GJ. Cortical Bone Loss Following Gastric Bypass Surgery Is Not Primarily Endocortical. J Bone Miner Res. 2022 04; 37(4):753-763.
Erickson CB, Hill R, Pascablo D, Kazakia G, Hansen K, Bahney C. A timeseries analysis of the fracture callus extracellular matrix proteome during bone fracture healing. J Life Sci (Westlake Village). 2021 Dec; 3(4):1-30.
Pedoia V, Caliva F, Kazakia G, Burghardt AJ, Majumdar S. Augmenting Osteoporosis Imaging with Machine Learning. Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2021 12; 19(6):699-709.
Ursula Heilmeier, Courtney Pasco, Meliss Yilmaz, Andrew J. Burghardt, Gabby B. Joseph, Thomas M. Link, Galateia J. Kazakia. HR-pQCT-based regional analysis reveals tibial spatial variability in cortical bone tissue quality in type 2 diabetic postmenopausal women with and without history of fragility fractures. Bone Reports. 2021 Apr 1; 14:100801.
Heilmeier U, Joseph GB, Pasco C, Dinh N, Torabi S, Darakananda K, Youm J, Carballido-Gamio J, Burghardt AJ, Link TM, Kazakia GJ. Longitudinal Evolution of Bone Microarchitecture and Bone Strength in Type 2 Diabetic Postmenopausal Women With and Without History of Fragility Fractures-A 5-Year Follow-Up Study Using High Resolution Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021; 12:599316.
Garita B, Maligro J, Sadoughi S, Wu PH, Liebenberg E, Horvai A, Link TM, Kazakia GJ. Microstructural abnormalities are evident by histology but not HR-pQCT at the periosteal cortex of the human tibia under CVD and T2D conditions. Med Nov Technol Devices. 2021 Jun; 10.
Wu PH, Gupta T, Chang H, Petrenko D, Schafer A, Kazakia G. Soft tissue variations influence HR-pQCT density measurements in a spatially dependent manner. Bone. 2020 09; 138:115505.
Link TM, Kazakia G. Update on Imaging-Based Measurement of Bone Mineral Density and Quality. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2020 04 09; 22(5):13.
Foreman SC, Wu PH, Kuang R, John MD, Tien PC, Link TM, Krug R, Kazakia GJ. Factors associated with bone microstructural alterations assessed by HR-pQCT in long-term HIV-infected individuals. Bone. 2020 04; 133:115210.
Wu PH, Gibbons M, Foreman SC, Carballido-Gamio J, Han M, Krug R, Liu J, Link TM, Kazakia GJ. Cortical bone vessel identification and quantification on contrast-enhanced MR images. Quant Imaging Med Surg. 2019 Jun; 9(6):928-941.
Huang HC, Srinivasan R, Sun Y, Kazakia GJ, Lin PC, Yeh BM. Detection of Lumbar Spine Osseous Metastases Using Dual-Energy CT: Phantom Results and Preliminary Clinical Validation. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2019 02; 212(2):402-410.
Bucknor MD, Goel H, Pasco C, Horvai AE, Kazakia GJ. Bone remodeling following MR-guided focused ultrasound: Evaluation with HR-pQCT and FTIR. Bone. 2019 03; 120:347-353.
Berg-Johansen B, Han M, Fields AJ, Liebenberg EC, Lim BJ, Larson PE, Gunduz-Demir C, Kazakia GJ, Krug R, Lotz JC. Cartilage Endplate Thickness Variation Measured by Ultrashort Echo-Time MRI Is Associated With Adjacent Disc Degeneration. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2018 05 15; 43(10):E592-E600.
Sundh D, Nilsson M, Zoulakis M, Pasco C, Yilmaz M, Kazakia GJ, Hellgren M, Lorentzon M. High-Impact Mechanical Loading Increases Bone Material Strength in Postmenopausal Women-A 3-Month Intervention Study. J Bone Miner Res. 2018 07; 33(7):1242-1251.
Schafer AL, Kazakia GJ, Vittinghoff E, Stewart L, Rogers SJ, Kim TY, Carter JT, Posselt AM, Pasco C, Shoback DM, Black DM. Effects of Gastric Bypass Surgery on Bone Mass and Microarchitecture Occur Early and Particularly Impact Postmenopausal Women. J Bone Miner Res. 2018 06; 33(6):975-986.
Kazakia GJ, Carballido-Gamio J, Lai A, Nardo L, Facchetti L, Pasco C, Zhang CA, Han M, Parrott AH, Tien P, Krug R. Trabecular bone microstructure is impaired in the proximal femur of human immunodeficiency virus-infected men with normal bone mineral density. Quant Imaging Med Surg. 2018 Feb; 8(1):5-13.
Ford AC, Chui WF, Zeng AY, Nandy A, Liebenberg E, Carraro C, Kazakia G, Alliston T, O'Connell GD. A modular approach to creating large engineered cartilage surfaces. J Biomech. 2018 01 23; 67:177-183.
Millard SM, Wang L, Wattanachanya L, O'Carroll D, Fields AJ, Pang J, Kazakia G, Lotz JC, Nissenson RA. Role of Osteoblast Gi Signaling in Age-Related Bone Loss in Female Mice. Endocrinology. 2017 06 01; 158(6):1715-1726.
Carballido-Gamio J, Bonaretti S, Kazakia GJ, Khosla S, Majumdar S, Lang TF, Burghardt AJ. Statistical Parametric Mapping of HR-pQCT Images: A Tool for Population-Based Local Comparisons of Micro-Scale Bone Features. Ann Biomed Eng. 2017 04; 45(4):949-962.
Heilmeier U, Cheng K, Pasco C, Parrish R, Nirody J, Patsch JM, Zhang CA, Joseph GB, Burghardt AJ, Schwartz AV, Link TM, Kazakia G. Cortical bone laminar analysis reveals increased midcortical and periosteal porosity in type 2 diabetic postmenopausal women with history of fragility fractures compared to fracture-free diabetics. Osteoporos Int. 2016 09; 27(9):2791-2802.
Gibbons RS, Beaupre GS, Kazakia GJ. FES-rowing attenuates bone loss following spinal cord injury as assessed by HR-pQCT. Spinal Cord Ser Cases. 2016; 2:15041.
Mohan G, Magnitsky S, Melkus G, Subburaj K, Kazakia G, Burghardt AJ, Dang A, Lane NE, Majumdar S. Kartogenin treatment prevented joint degeneration in a rodent model of osteoarthritis: A pilot study. J Orthop Res. 2016 10; 34(10):1780-1789.
Wang J, Kazakia GJ, Zhou B, Shi XT, Guo XE. Distinct Tissue Mineral Density in Plate- and Rod-like Trabeculae of Human Trabecular Bone. J Bone Miner Res. 2015 Sep; 30(9):1641-50.
Nirody JA, Cheng KP, Parrish RM, Burghardt AJ, Majumdar S, Link TM, Kazakia GJ. Spatial distribution of intracortical porosity varies across age and sex. Bone. 2015 Jun; 75:88-95.
Kaynia N, Soohoo E, Keaveny TM, Kazakia GJ. Effect of intraspecimen spatial variation in tissue mineral density on the apparent stiffness of trabecular bone. J Biomech Eng. 2015 Jan; 137(1).
Gee CS, Nguyen JT, Marquez CJ, Heunis J, Lai A, Wyatt C, Han M, Kazakia G, Burghardt AJ, Karampinos DC, Carballido-Gamio J, Krug R. Validation of bone marrow fat quantification in the presence of trabecular bone using MRI. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2015 Aug; 42(2):539-44.
Julio Carballido-Gamio, Serena Bonaretti, Galateia J. Kazakia, Sundeep Khosla, Thomas F. Lang, Andrew J. Burghardt. Population-based local multi-parametric comparisons of HR-pQCT studies. Journal of Orthopaedic Translation. 2014 Oct 1; 2(4):234-235.
Carriero A, Zimmermann EA, Paluszny A, Tang SY, Bale H, Busse B, Alliston T, Kazakia G, Ritchie RO, Shefelbine SJ. How tough is brittle bone? Investigating osteogenesis imperfecta in mouse bone. J Bone Miner Res. 2014 Jun; 29(6):1392-1401.
Kazakia GJ, Tjong W, Nirody JA, Burghardt AJ, Carballido-Gamio J, Patsch JM, Link T, Feeley BT, Ma CB. The influence of disuse on bone microstructure and mechanics assessed by HR-pQCT. Bone. 2014 Jun; 63:132-40.
Hesse B, Langer M, Varga P, Pacureanu A, Dong P, Schrof S, Männicke N, Suhonen H, Olivier C, Maurer P, Kazakia GJ, Raum K, Peyrin F. Alterations of mass density and 3D osteocyte lacunar properties in bisphosphonate-related osteonecrotic human jaw bone, a synchrotron µCT study. PLoS One. 2014; 9(2):e88481.
Tjong W, Nirody J, Burghardt AJ, Carballido-Gamio J, Kazakia GJ. Structural analysis of cortical porosity applied to HR-pQCT data. Med Phys. 2014 Jan; 41(1):013701.
Burghardt AJ, Pialat JB, Kazakia GJ, Boutroy S, Engelke K, Patsch JM, Valentinitsch A, Liu D, Szabo E, Bogado CE, Zanchetta MB, McKay HA, Shane E, Boyd SK, Bouxsein ML, Chapurlat R, Khosla S, Majumdar S. Multicenter precision of cortical and trabecular bone quality measures assessed by high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography. J Bone Miner Res. 2013 Mar; 28(3):524-36.
Kazakia GJ, Nirody JA, Bernstein G, Sode M, Burghardt AJ, Majumdar S. Age- and gender-related differences in cortical geometry and microstructure: Improved sensitivity by regional analysis. Bone. 2013 Feb; 52(2):623-31.
Lu C, Saless N, Wang X, Sinha A, Decker S, Kazakia G, Hou H, Williams B, Swartz HM, Hunt TK, Miclau T, Marcucio RS. The role of oxygen during fracture healing. Bone. 2013 Jan; 52(1):220-9.
Kazakia GJ, Kuo D, Schooler J, Siddiqui S, Shanbhag S, Bernstein G, Horvai A, Majumdar S, Ries M, Li X. Bone and cartilage demonstrate changes localized to bone marrow edema-like lesions within osteoarthritic knees. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2013 Jan; 21(1):94-101.
Tjong W, Kazakia GJ, Burghardt AJ, Majumdar S. The effect of voxel size on high-resolution peripheral computed tomography measurements of trabecular and cortical bone microstructure. Med Phys. 2012 Apr; 39(4):1893-903.
Patsch JM, Burghardt AJ, Kazakia G, Majumdar S. Noninvasive imaging of bone microarchitecture. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2011 Dec; 1240:77-87.
A.J. Burghardt, G.J. Kazakia?, T.M. Link, S. Majumdar. Age-related differences in cortico-trabecular connectivity and load transfer in the distal radius measured in vivo by HR-pQCT. Bone. 2011 May 1; 48:s174.
W. Tjong, M. Sode, A. Burghardt, S. Majumdar, B. Feeley, B. Ma, G. Kazakia. Longitudinal in vivo HR-pQCT assessment of the influence of non-weight bearing on bone quality. Bone. 2011 May 1; 48:s184.
Kazakia GJ, Speer D, Shanbhag S, Majumdar S, Conklin BR, Nissenson RA, Hsiao EC. Mineral composition is altered by osteoblast expression of an engineered G(s)-coupled receptor. Calcif Tissue Int. 2011 Jul; 89(1):10-20.
Kazakia GJ, Burghardt AJ, Link TM, Majumdar S. Variations in morphological and biomechanical indices at the distal radius in subjects with identical BMD. J Biomech. 2011 Jan 11; 44(2):257-66.
Folkesson J, Goldenstein J, Carballido-Gamio J, Kazakia G, Burghardt AJ, Rodriguez A, Krug R, de Papp AE, Link TM, Majumdar S. Longitudinal evaluation of the effects of alendronate on MRI bone microarchitecture in postmenopausal osteopenic women. Bone. 2011 Mar 01; 48(3):611-21.
Burghardt AJ, Kazakia GJ, Sode M, de Papp AE, Link TM, Majumdar S. A longitudinal HR-pQCT study of alendronate treatment in postmenopausal women with low bone density: Relations among density, cortical and trabecular microarchitecture, biomechanics, and bone turnover. J Bone Miner Res. 2010 Dec; 25(12):2558-71.
Burghardt AJ, Kazakia GJ, Ramachandran S, Link TM, Majumdar S. Age- and gender-related differences in the geometric properties and biomechanical significance of intracortical porosity in the distal radius and tibia. J Bone Miner Res. 2010 May; 25(5):983-93.
Sode M, Burghardt AJ, Kazakia GJ, Link TM, Majumdar S. Regional variations of gender-specific and age-related differences in trabecular bone structure of the distal radius and tibia. Bone. 2010 Jun; 46(6):1652-60.
Goldenstein J, Kazakia G, Majumdar S. In vivo evaluation of the presence of bone marrow in cortical porosity in postmenopausal osteopenic women. Ann Biomed Eng. 2010 Feb; 38(2):235-46.
Slyfield CR, Niemeyer KE, Tkachenko EV, Tomlinson RE, Steyer GG, Patthanacharoenphon CG, Kazakia GJ, Wilson DL, Hernandez CJ. Three-dimensional surface texture visualization of bone tissue through epifluorescence-based serial block face imaging. J Microsc. 2009 Oct; 236(1):52-9.
G.J. Kazakia, D. Kuo, J. Schooler, S. Shanbhag, S. Majumdar, M. Ries, X. Li. 392 BONE MARROW EDEMA-LIKE LESIONS IN OSTEOARTHRITIC SUBJECTS EXHIBIT ALTERED TRABECULAR STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. 2009 Sep 1; 17:s206-s207.
Issever AS, Link TM, Kentenich M, Rogalla P, Burghardt AJ, Kazakia GJ, Majumdar S, Diederichs G. Assessment of trabecular bone structure using MDCT: comparison of 64- and 320-slice CT using HR-pQCT as the reference standard. Eur Radiol. 2010 Feb; 20(2):458-68.
Sekhon K, Kazakia GJ, Burghardt AJ, Hermannsson B, Majumdar S. Accuracy of volumetric bone mineral density measurement in high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Bone. 2009 Sep; 45(3):473-9.
Burghardt AJ, Kazakia GJ, Link TM, Majumdar S. Automated simulation of areal bone mineral density assessment in the distal radius from high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Osteoporos Int. 2009 Dec; 20(12):2017-24.
Burghardt AJ, Kazakia GJ, Laib A, Majumdar S. Quantitative assessment of bone tissue mineralization with polychromatic micro-computed tomography. Calcif Tissue Int. 2008 Aug; 83(2):129-38.
Kazakia GJ, Burghardt AJ, Cheung S, Majumdar S. Assessment of bone tissue mineralization by conventional x-ray microcomputed tomography: comparison with synchrotron radiation microcomputed tomography and ash measurements. Med Phys. 2008 Jul; 35(7):3170-9.
Kazakia GJ, Hyun B, Burghardt AJ, Krug R, Newitt DC, de Papp AE, Link TM, Majumdar S. In vivo determination of bone structure in postmenopausal women: a comparison of HR-pQCT and high-field MR imaging. J Bone Miner Res. 2008 Apr; 23(4):463-74.
Krug R, Carballido-Gamio J, Burghardt AJ, Kazakia G, Hyun BH, Jobke B, Banerjee S, Huber M, Link TM, Majumdar S. Assessment of trabecular bone structure comparing magnetic resonance imaging at 3 Tesla with high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography ex vivo and in vivo. Osteoporos Int. 2008 May; 19(5):653-61.
Bigley RF, Singh M, Hernandez CJ, Kazakia GJ, Martin RB, Keaveny TM. Validity of serial milling-based imaging system for microdamage quantification. Bone. 2008 Jan; 42(1):212-5.
Burghardt AJ, Kazakia GJ, Majumdar S. A local adaptive threshold strategy for high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography of trabecular bone. Ann Biomed Eng. 2007 Oct; 35(10):1678-86.
Kazakia GJ, Lee JJ, Singh M, Bigley RF, Martin RB, Keaveny TM. Automated high-resolution three-dimensional fluorescence imaging of large biological specimens. J Microsc. 2007 Feb; 225(Pt 2):109-17.
Kazakia GJ, Nauman EA, Ebenstein DM, Halloran BP, Keaveny TM. Effects of in vitro bone formation on the mechanical properties of a trabeculated hydroxyapatite bone substitute. J Biomed Mater Res A. 2006 Jun 15; 77(4):688-99.
Kazakia GJ, Majumdar S. New imaging technologies in the diagnosis of osteoporosis. Rev Endocr Metab Disord. 2006 Jun; 7(1-2):67-74.