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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
NAME
Nikdokht Farid, M.D.
POSITION TITLE
Associate Professor of Radiology
EDUCATION/TRAINING
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION
University of California, Los Angeles, CA
University of California, San Diego, CA
University of California, San Diego, CA
DEGREE
(if applicable)
B.S.
M.D.
YEAR(s)
FIELD OF STUDY
1996-2000
2000-2004
2004-2005
Neuroscience
Medicine
Medicine Internship
University of California, San Diego, CA
Board
Certification in
Diagnostic
Radiology
2005-2009
Diagnostic Radiology
Residency
University of California, San Diego, CA
Certificate of
Added
Qualification in
Neuroradiology
2009-2010
Neuroradiology
Fellowship
A. Personal Statement
As a board-certified Neuroradiologist with seven years of experience, my main area of expertise is in brain
tumor imaging.
Clinically, my role in the weekly Neuro-Oncology Tumor Board provides me the opportunity to review and
analyze the imaging for all the brain tumor patients being treated at UCSD Moores Cancer Center. Working
closely with the Neurosurgeons, Radiation Oncologists, and Neuro-Oncologists caring for these patients, I have
a keen awareness of the pivotal part imaging plays in predicting prognosis, monitoring response to therapy, and
determining when a different therapeutic intervention is needed. Furthermore, I have a profound understanding
of the limitations of standard structural imaging, especially in the era of anti-angiogenic agents and
immunotherapy, and the need to develop and apply new advanced imaging sequences to serve as a better
biomarker for treatment response.
As one of the leaders on our Brain Tumor Imaging Research team, I have worked closely with researchers at
ACTRI (Dr. Anders Dale, Dr. Carrie McDonald, and Dr. Nathan White) in studying the clinical applications of
Restriction Spectrum Imaging (RSI), an advanced diffusion-weighted imaging technique developed by
members of our research group. Specifically, we have shown that RSI provides greater conspicuity and
delineation of high-grade primary brain tumors than ADC, differentiates recurrent tumor from bevacizumabrelated necrosis when combined with perfusion imaging, and predicts response to bevacizumab in patients with
high-grade glioma.
My goal is to continue to apply RSI and other advanced imaging techniques as biomarkers in diagnosing and
monitoring treatment response in patients with both primary and metastatic brain tumors.
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B. Positions and Honors
Positions and Employment
2010-present Associate Professor of Radiology and Attending Neuroradiologist; UC San Diego Health System
2010-present Associate Professor of Radiology and Attending Neuroradiologist; VA San Diego Healthcare
Professional Memberships
2005-present Radiological Society of North America
2005-present San Diego Radiological Society
2010-present American Society of Neuroradiology
2010-present American Society of Head and Neck Radiology
2010-present American Society of Spine Radiology
2012-present Western Neuroradiologic Society (WNRS)
Honors
1996-2000
1996-1998
1998
1998-2000
2001
2002
2002-2004
2002-2004
2009
2011-2013
2013
2014
2017
UCLA Regents Scholar
UCLA Dean’s Honor List
UCLA Ethel Terry McCoy Award for Excellence in Chemistry and Biochemistry
UCLA Provost’s Honor List
NIH Grant for summer research
Western Student Medical Research Forum Subspecialty Award Winner in “Behavior and
Development” for abstract entitled “Neurological Abnormalities in Young Children with Autism
UOMINI scholarship (for women of good scholarship pursuing medicine)
Medical School Honors in Medicine, Pediatrics, Neurology, and Surgery Clinical Rotations
Award for Excellence in Research, UCSD Department of Radiology Alumni Association
Appreciation Award, UCSD Health & Medical Professions Mentorship Program
Faculty Excellence in Research Award, UCSD Department of Radiology
Winner of Case of the Day Competition, American Society of Head and Neck Radiology
Faculty Mentoring Award, UCSD Department of Radiology
C. Contributions to Science
My most significant contribution to science is in the use of Restriction Spectrum Imaging (RSI) for improving
the detection and monitoring of brain tumors. RSI was recently developed at UCSD by my research mentor,
Dr. Anders Dale, and we have successfully shown that RSI improves tumor conspicuity in patients with high
grade tumors. Furthermore, we have shown that RSI is a more robust biomarker of tumor response following
treatment with antiangiogenic agents (i.e., bevacizumab) relative to standard diffusion weighted imaging
(DWI). We were also one of the first groups to describe the development of areas of necrosis characterized by
marked and persistent restricted diffusion in a subset of patients treated with bevacizumab, a phenomenon
which we termed “BRIA” (bevacizumab related imaging abnormality). We have demonstrated that by
combining RSI with perfusion imaging, we are able to differentiate recurrent tumor from BRIA.
My role in this research has been both as a lead author and as a core member of our Brain Tumor Imaging team.
My key publications in the field of RSI and Neuro-Oncology are listed below:
1. White NS, McDonald CR, Farid N, Kuperman JM, Kesari S, Dale AM. Improved conspicuity and
delineation of high-grade primary and metastatic brain tumors using “restriction spectrum imaging”:
quantitative comparison with high b-value DWI and ADC. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2013;34:958-64.
2. McDonald CR, White NS, Farid N, Lai G, Kuperman JM, Bartsch H, Hagler DJ, Kesari S, Carter BS,
Chen CC, Dale AM. Recovery of white matter tracts in regions of peritumoral FLAIR hyperintensity with
use of restriction spectrum imaging. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2013;34:1157-63.
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3. Kothari PD, White NS, Farid N, Chung R, Kuperman JM, Girard HM, Shankaranarayanan A, Kesari S,
McDonald CR, Dale AM. Longitudinal restriction spectrum imaging is resistant to pseudoresponse in
patients with high-grade gliomas treated with bevacizumab. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2013;34:1752-7.
4. Farid N, Almeida-Freitas DB, White NS, McDonald CR, Muller KA, Vandenberg SR, Kesari S, Dale
AM. Restriction-spectrum imaging of bevacizumab-related necrosis in a patient with GBM. Front Oncol.
2013;3:258.
5. Farid N, Almeida-Freitas DB, White NS, McDonald CR, Kuperman JM, Almutairi AA, Muller KA,
VandenBerg SR, Kesari S, Dale AM. Combining diffusion and perfusion differentiates tumor
from bevacizumab-related imaging abnormality (BRIA). J Neurooncol 2014;120:539-46.
6. White NS, McDonald CR, Farid N, Kuperman J, Karow D, Schenker-Ahmed NM, Bartsch H, RakowPenner R, Holland D, Shabaik A, Bjørnerud A, Hope T, Hattangadi-Gluth J, Liss M, Parsons JK, Chen
CC, Raman S, Margolis D, Reiter RE, Marks L, Kesari S, Mundt AJ, Kaine CJ, Carter BS, Bradley WG,
Dale AM. Diffusion-weighted imaging in cancer: physical foundations and applications of restriction
spectrum imaging. Cancer Res 2014;74:4638-4652
7. Steed TC, Treiber JM, Taich Z, White NS, Farid N, Carter BS, Dale AM, Chen CC. Iterative
probabilistic voxel labeling (IPVL): automated segmentation for analysis of The Cancer Imaging
Archive (TCIA) glioblastoma images. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2015;36:678-85.
8. Chen CC, White NS, Farid N, Kobalka P, Hansen L, Pearn M, Dale AM. Pre-operative cellularity
mapping and intra-MRI surgery: potential for improving neurosurgical biopsies. Expert Rev Med
Devices 2015;12:1-5.
9. Karunamuni R, Bartsch H, White NS, Moiseenko V, Carmona R, Marshall D, Seibert TM, McDonald
CR, Farid N, Krishnan A, Kuperman J, Mell L, Brewer JB, Dale AM, Hattangadi-Gluth JA. Dosedependent Cortical Thinning After Partial Brain Irradiation in High-grade Glioma. Int J Radiat Oncol
Biol Phys. 2016;94:297-304.
10. Karunamuni RA, Moore KL, Seibert TM, Li N, White NS, Bartsch H, Carmona R, Marshall D,
McDonald CR, Farid N, Krishnan A, Kuperman J, LK Mell, Brewer J, Dale AM, Moiseenko V,
Hattangadi-Gluth JA. Radiation sparing of cerebral cortex in brain tumor patients using quantitative
neuroimaging. Radiother Oncol 2016;118:29-34.
11. Treiber JM, White NS, Steed TC, Bartsch H, Holland D, Farid N, McDonald CR, Carter BS, Dale AM,
Chen CC. Characterization and correction of geometric distortions in 814 diffusion weighted images.
PLoS One 2016;11:e0152472.
12. McDonald CR, Delfanti RL, Krishnan AP, Leyden KM, Hattangadi-Gluth JA, Seibert TM, Karunamuni
R, Elbe P, Kuperman JM, Bartsch H, Piccioni DE, White NS, Dale AM, Farid N. Restriction spectrum
imaging predicts response to bevacizumab in patients with high-grade glioma. Neuro Oncol 2016 [Epub
ahead of print].
13. Seibert TM, White NS, Kim GY, Moiseenko V, McDonald CR, Farid N, Bartsch H, Kuperman J,
Karunamuni R, Marshall D, Holland D, Sanghvi P, Simpson DR, Mundt AJ, Dale AM, Hattangadi, JA.
Distortion inherent to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can lead to geometric miss in radiosurgery
planning. Pract Radiat Oncol 2016 [Epub ahead of print].
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D. Research Support
Ongoing
Research Scholar Grant
American Cancer Society
(P.I. McDonald, C.R.)
7/01/15 – 6/30/19
Role: Co-investigator
Restriction Spectrum Imaging for Detecting and Monitoring Brain Tumors
This study evaluates the ability of an advanced diffusion imaging technique, restriction spectrum imaging (RSI),
to improve the adetection of brain tumors relative to standard diffusion methods. Overlap: This grant uses
RSI, but for tumor detection in a retrospective cohort of patients receiving a wide range of therapies.
Completed
Translational & Clinical Pilot Project Award (P.I.s, McDonald; Hattangadi-Gluth, J.A.) 3/1/15-2/29/16
CTRI, UC San Diego
Role: Co-investigator
Restriction Spectrum Imaging as a Biomarker for Monitoring Disease Progression and Response to Therapy in
Patients with High Grade Glioma
This pilot grant uses advanced diffusion imaging and standard imaging to monitor disease progression and
response to treatment in patients with high-grade glioma who are treated with bevacizumab.