Salil Soman, MD

Dr. Soman earned his MD from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ, followed by an internship at Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital. He returned to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for residency, followed by a neuroradiology fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center and then a research postdoctoral fellowship at the Stanford Radiological Sciences Laboratory and the Palo Alto VA. Dr. Soman also holds an MS in Computer Science from MIT. Before his appointment at UCSF, Dr. Soman was an assistant professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School, associate director of the neuroradiology fellowship, and staff neuroradiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA.

A board-certified radiologist, Dr. Soman’s clinical expertise covers a range of neuroradiology topics, including brain tumors, intracranial hemorrhage, neurodegenerative disorders, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. As an educator and mentor, he has developed and taught courses in neuroradiology for medical students, residents, and fellows, including introduction to neuroradiology, head and neck imaging, advanced neuroimaging techniques, and spinal pathology.

Dr. Soman’s research interests focus on advancing understanding of brain physiology, particularly through the application of MRI-based oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) mapping which allows for non-invasive measurement of oxygen extraction in the brain, providing insights into cerebral metabolism and perfusion. He performed the first trial of OEF mapping to distinguish multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions from cerebral small vessel ischemic disease, presenting preliminary results at the American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR). He is expanding this work to evaluate its application in Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and vascular dementia for improving diagnosis, guiding treatment decisions, and enhancing patient outcomes in complex neurological cases.