Department Highlights: Winter 2026

Features: 2026 Physicians of Excellence

Every year, the Orange County Medical Association releases its list of Physicians of Excellence in our county. For 2026, we are proud to announce that 13 clinical faculty members are featured.

UC Irvine Radiological Sciences at:

Technical Exhibits: Nov. 30 – Dec. 3 | RSNA 2025: Imaging the Individual

 

Kevin Dao, MD

Dao, a third-year radiological sciences resident, presented and hosted an education exhibit at RSNA 2025 in Chicago, Illinois:

Presentation: Improving Representation in Radiology Residency Using a Reproducible Framework — Dec. 4, 2025

Education Exhibit: Home Alone: “Booby” Traps For New On-Call Junior Radiology Residents

 

 

Omar Cespedes-Gomez, MD

Cespedes-Gomez, a second-year resident, presented the study he worked on with faculty members Gelareh Sadigh, MD, and Maedeh Sharifian, MD, at RSNA 25.  Their work focused on lung cancer screening, specifically on EMR Documentation and UPSTF Criteria. The team had a fantastic showing in Chicago, which led to them being featured on both the RSNA Daily Bulletin and Aunt Minnie.

 

Mahnur Bharucha, MD

Mahnur works with Gelareh Sadigh, MD, in her lab as a research assistant. She received the Trainee Research Prize for her work on empowering the Latinx community to increase lung cancer screening uptake.

 

 

 

 

Gelareh Sadigh, MD

Sadigh was invited to participate in the following sessions at RSNA 25:

Panelist: MEIR07. ITARJF: Lessons Learned - Insight and Advice for Early Career Faculty

Speaker: Advancing Research with a Health Equity Lens

Additional presentation at RSNA 25:

Sharifian M, Echeverria R, Nguyen V, Bharucha M, Hoyt M, Madan A, Nguyen T, Lee S, Keshava H, Sadigh G. Patient and providers’ experiences with a multilevel intervention to improve lung cancer screening. Radiological Society of North America. December 2, 2025.

 

Amir Imanzadeh, MD

Imanzadeh served as the session moderator for a scientific chest session at RSNA 25.

He also had the following presentations at RSNA 25:

-Comparing the Novel Target and PI-FAB Scoring Systems for the Evaluation of the Local Recurrence of Prostate Cancer After HIFU

-Body of Evidence: Radiologic Manifestations of KAPOSI Sarcoma from Head to Toe —Winner of Cum Laude Award and was solicited for Radiographics

 

 

Lydia Min-Ying Su, PhD

Su presented the following abstract at RSNA: Prediction of High and Low Expression of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (Tils) in Breast Cancer Using MRI BI-RADS Features and Clinicopathological Parameters

 

 

 

 

 

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Achievements

Shawn (Liangzhong) Xiang, PhD, receives the Distinguished Investigator Award

Xiang attended the award ceremony for the Distinguished Investigator Award in Chicago, presented by the Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research. Xiang is one of two of our research faculty receiving this award, the other being Ali Gholipour, MD.

 

 

 

Arash Kheradvar, MD, PhD

Last month, Kheradvar gave the following talks:

• Heart Center Hamburg, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany (December 8th, 2024)
• American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, New Orleans, LA (October 10, 2025)
• Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA (September 17, 2025)

He also had the following conference proceedings:

• Hashemi MS, Abdelmaseeh P, Nehvi A, Pressman GS, Kheradvar A. Two Mechanisms, One Valve: A Structural and Hemodynamic Comparison of Rheumatic and MAC-Induced Mitral Stenosis. 2025 AHA Scientific Sessions, November 6-10, New Orleans, LA, USA
• Pradhan SP, Hashemi MS, Yavari A, Singh S, Matusov Y, Pedrizzetti G, Kheradvar A. Novel Echocardiographic Strain Analysis Enables Mapping of Myocardial Fiber Contraction Patterns: A Case Study in Pulmonary Hypertension. 2025 AHA Scientific Sessions, November 6-10, New Orleans, LA, USA
• Toosky M and Kheradvar A. Assessing Mitochondrial Viability Under High-Calcium Stress: Relevance to Intracoronary Therapeutics. 2025 AHA Scientific Sessions, November 6-10, New Orleans, LA, USA

 

Jogeshwar Mukherjee, PhD

Mukherjee had the following presentation:

Karim, F., Biju, A.P., Schafer, D.M., Sison, S.A., Liang, C., Mukherjee, J. Evaluation of drug effects on the binding of [125I]IPPI and [18F]MK-6240 to human tau in postmortem brains of human Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome. Presented at the Annual Meeting of Society of Neuroscience, San Diego, California, November 15-19, 2025. PSTR383.10 / E58

 

 

 

Gelareh Sadigh, MD

Sadigh also had the following presentations:

• Zhou Y, Hu D, Lyu T, Dhillon J, Beck A, Sadigh G, Zheng K. Understanding Stigmatizing Language Lexicons: A Comparative Analysis in Clinical Contexts. American Medical Informatics Association. Oral Presentation. San Francisco, CA. November 17, 2025.
• Jafari M, Shahverdian A, Mohajer N, Nabulsi R, Porwollik S, Sadigh G, Van Etten R. The Impact of Personality Traits on Adherence to TKI Therapy in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. American Society of Hematoloy 67th Annual Meeting. Oral Presentation. Orlando, Florida. December 6, 2025.
• McEligot A, Sharifian M, Akande OP, Beck AL, Chapa A, Dhillon J, Zhou Y, Chen WP, Zheng K, Ziogas A, Sadigh G. Feasibility and Application of Machine Learning to Investigate the Prevalence of and Factors Associated with Stigmatizing Language in Medical Records. American Public Health Association. Oral Presentation. Washington, DC. November 2-5, 2025

 

Lydia Min-Ying Su, PhD

Su served as the chair of a grant review panel for the Department of Defense Melanoma Research Program, Dec 2-3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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New Faculty Publications

Arash Kheradvar, MD, PhD

• Hashemi MS, Abdelmaseeh P, Nehvi A, Pressman GS, Kheradvar A. Two Faces of Mitral Stenosis: Uncovering Structural and Hemodynamic Signatures of Rheumatic and MAC-Induced Disease. Journal of American Heart Association (JAHA), accepted.
• Toosky M and Kheradvar A. Assessment of Mitochondrial Viability Under Calcium Stress: Insights for Mitochondrial Transplantation, Mitochondrion, 2025 Nov 17:86:102098. doi: 10.1016/j.mito.2025.102098. Online ahead of print.

Lydia Min-Ying Su, PhD

• Wang Q, Zhang Y, Wang T, Chen Y, Yan R, Liu K, Zhao W, Hao D, Su MY, Lang N. MRI-based Habitat Analysis for the Prediction of Progression-Free Survival in Primary Spinal Tumors. Radiology. 2025 Oct;317(1):e242993. doi: 10.1148/radiol.242993.
• Tong Y, Zhu Y, Wen S, Du M, Miao H, Zhou J, Wang M, Su MY. MRI-Based Radiomics Model for Classifying Axillary Lymph Node Burden and Disease-Free Survival in Patients With Early-Stage Breast Cancer. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2025 Nov 25. doi: 10.1002/jmri.70182.

Anderanik Tomasian, MD

• Diagnostic efficacy of pediatric image-guided core needle biopsy of musculoskeletal lesions. Winkler WL, Baker JC, Tomasian A, Northrup B, Vander Velde TL, Hillen TJ, Luo C, Imaoka R, Dettorre GM, Jennings JW. Skeletal Radiol. 2025 Nov 1. doi: 10.1007/s00256-025-05064-4
• Essentials of Spinal Tumor Ablation. Tomasian A, Jennings JW.Neurosurg Clin N Am. 2025 Oct;36(4):571-577
• Diagnostic Efficacy and Clinical Impact of Image-guided Core Needle Biopsy of Suspected Adult Nonvertebral Osteomyelitis. Winkler WL, Geroge IA, Gandra S, Baker JC, Tomasian A, Northrup B, Vander Velde TL, Hillen TJ, Luo C, Imaoka R, Dettorre GM, Jennings JW. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2025 Oct 29;12(11):ofaf665.

Jogeshwar Mukherjee, PhD

• Karim, F., Ngo, A., Tucker, T.E., Coronel, A.D.L., Mukherjee, J. Assessment of [125I]a-Bungarotoxin Binding to a7 Nicotinic Acetylcholinergic Receptors in Hippocampus-Subiculum of Postmortem Human Parkinson’s Disease Brain. Biomolecules, 15(12), 1686, 2025. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15121686

Gelareh Sadigh, MD

• Pelzl C, Sadigh G, Malhotra A, Martinez ML, Prosper AE, Carlos RC, Christensen E, Drake AR, Rula EY, Jordan JE. State-Level Malpractice Factors and Imaging Utilization in Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department With Headache: A National Medicaid Analysis. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2025 Oct 29. doi: 10.2214/AJR.25.33781. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41159789/)
• Rashidi A, Sadigh G. Implementation Science: Definition, Importance, and Application in Neuroradiology. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2025 Nov 14:ajnr.A9104. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A9104. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41238399/)
• Shojazadeh A, Kao R, Pham T, Madan A, Echeverria R, Chen WP, Nguyen V, Gutierrez O, Lee S, Hoyt MA, Ziogas A, Nguyen TQ, Keshava H, Sadigh G. A Multilevel Approach to Improve Participation in Low-Dose CT for Lung Cancer Screening (Empower LCS): A Single-Arm Pilot Feasibility Clinical Trial. J Am Coll Radiol. 2025 Nov 13:S1546 1440(25)00652-0. doi:10.1016/j.jacr.2025.11.005. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41241060/)
• Kwak L, Patel S, Yenokyan G, Sadigh G, Miles RC, McDonald ES, Oluyemi ET, Carlos RC. Evaluating the Association Between Allostatic Load and Malignancy on Image-Guided Breast Biopsy/ J Am Coll Radiol. 2025 Nov 14:S1546-1440(25)00662-3. doi:10.1016/j.jacr.2025.11.014. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41242583/)
• Graetz I, Arshad S, Cai C, Hernandez S, Sapir T, Carter J, Heggen C, McKinnon KE, Yang F, Sadigh G, Meisel J. Feasibility of a Smart Label-Enabled Remote Therapeutic Monitoring Intervention to Support Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4/6 Inhibitor Adherence in Breast Cancer Care. JCO Clin Cancer Inform. 2025 Nov;9:e2500152. doi:10.1200/CCI-25-00152. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41259732/)
• Sadigh G, Duan F, Gareen IF, Hancock J, Sicks JD, Thangarajah M, Meisel JL, Torres MA, Ramsey SD, Wolff AC, Wagner LI, Carlos RC, Graetz I. Improving CDK4/6 inhibitors adherence in breast cancer using the CONnected CUstomized Treatment Platform (CONCURxP) mobile health intervention: Study protocol for ECOG-ACRIN EAQ221CD. Contemp Clin Trials. 2025 Nov 18;160:108145.doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.108145 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41265834/)
• Harada GK, Ku E, Park J, Munjal A, Peterson N, Hsu S, Banker R, Attarian S, Healy E, Hoyt M, Sadigh G, Chen A, Harris JP. Financial toxicity on treatment outcomes in head & neck cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy.
• Radiat Oncol. 2025 Nov 25;20(1):176. doi:10.1186/s13014-025-02749-x (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41291797/)
• Sabour R, Bharucha M, Gandhi R, Echeverria R, Nguyen V, Chen WP, Ziogas A, Lee S, Nguyen TQ, Keshava HB, Hoyt MA, Sadigh G. Reliability of Electronic Medical Record to Assess Patient's Eligibility for Lung Cancer Screening: Analysis of Two Pilot Trials . J Am Coll Radiol. 2025 Dec;22(12):1500-1509. doi:10.1016/j.jacr.2025.10.020.(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41338703/)

Amir Imanzadeh, MD

• Phillipi M, Choung D, Ho E, Anavim S, Saeed S, Shu C, Shi J, Glavis-Bloom J, Gupta A, Joshi A, Imanzadeh A, Seyedin S, Uchio E, Daneshvar M, Houshyar R. Diagnostic performance of PSMA PET/CT, multiparametric MRI, and combined imaging for local prostate cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Abdom Radiol (NY). 2025 Nov 8.
• Santo IDO, Pourjabbar S, Sharma R, Imanzadeh A. Life as a radiologist in the U.S.: perspectives from international medical graduates. Curr Probl Diagn Radiol. 2025 Nov-Dec;54(6):687-693.