Mitchel S. Berger M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.N.S. is the Berthold and Belle N. Guggenhime Professor of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Director of UCSF’s Brain Tumor Center. He is currently one of three members of the President’s Cancer Panel, appointed by President Biden in 2023 to develop the scope of the National Cancer Program.

Dr. Berger is a pioneer of intraoperative brain mapping — a technique used to avoid functional areas of the brain during surgical resection of a tumour. His work has enabled surgeons to perform more extensive resection of tumour with less chance of producing sensorimotor or language deficits.

Dr. Berger is a leader of translational research and is the principal investigator of the UCSF Brain Tumor Research Center’s Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in neuro-oncology, funded by the National Cancer Institute. He has held this role for the 24 consecutive years that the SPORE has been funded at UCSF.

During his distinguished career, Dr. Berger has served as President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), President of the Society for Neuro-Oncology, and President of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery. He has also been a director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery; a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons; a member of the National Football League’s Head, Neck and Spine Committee; and a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel for the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative. He has received the Cushing Award for Technical Excellence and Innovation in Neurosurgery from the AANS and is a past recipient of the Winn Prize – the highest honour awarded by the Society of Neurological Surgeons for scientific excellence in neurological surgery.