Lab team members inside the UCSF Byers Hall atrium

Translational Metabolic Imaging Lab

Guided by Drs. Renuka Sriram, John Kurhanewicz, and Donna Peehl, our team investigates how altered metabolism drives disease and how it can be visualized non-invasively to advance diagnosis and therapy. Our lab bridges molecular, cellular, and in vivo imaging modalities to develop metabolic biomarkers that can translate from preclinical models into clinical practice.

Team members working in the lab

Our Research

We exploit metabolic dysregulation in cancer to identify imaging biomarkers of disease presence, progression, and therapeutic response.

Learn about our approach

Co-Clinical Imaging Research Program

To overcome translational barriers, we develop co-clinical imaging research that encourage consensus on how imaging methods are optimized to improve the quality of imaging results for co-clinical trials. 

Explore the program

Researcher Renuka Sriram at work in the lab

Publications

Resistance to Androgen Deprivation Leads to Altered Metabolism in Human and Murine Prostate Cancer Cell and Tumor Models
Modeling hyperpolarized lactate signal dynamics in cells, patient‐derived tissue slice cultures and murine models
Simultaneous Metabolic and Perfusion Imaging Using Hyperpolarized 13C MRI Can Evaluate Early and Dose-Dependent Response to Radiation Therapy in a Prostate Cancer Mouse Model
Elevated Tumor Lactate and Efflux in High-grade Prostate Cancer demonstrated by Hyperpolarized 13C Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of Prostate Tissue Slice Cultures
Resistance to Androgen Deprivation Leads to Altered Metabolism in Human and Murine Prostate Cancer Cell and Tumor Models

Opportunities

Rotation opportunities are available to get a feel for the multiple facets of a translational metabolic imaging lab.

Post-Doctoral Fellowships
Masters Thesis Projects

People

Renuka Sriram
Associate Professor
Donna Peehl
Adjunct Professor
John Kurhanewicz
Professor in Residence
Shubhangi Agarwal
Postdoctoral Scholar
Will Byrne
Staff Scientist Assistant
Hecong Qin
PhD Candidate
Ivina Mali, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Deepti Upadhyay
Post Doctoral Scholar

  • Joao Piraquive Agudelo
  • Emilie Decavel-Bueff
  • Kayvan Keshari
  • Bertram Koelsch
  • Vickie Zhang
  • Avantika Sinha
  • Jinny Sun
  • Jessie Lee
  • Rahwa Imam
  • Justin De Los Santos  
  • Jeff Hsiao
  • Fayyaz Ahamed 

Additional Resources

Hyperpolarized MRI Technology Resource Center
NIH CIRP Sites
Advanced Imaging Technologies SRG
Chemistry, Probes, and Molecular Therapy
Preclinical Core
Preclinical MR Imaging & Spectroscopy Lab

Contact Us

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Translational Metabolic Imaging Lab

Renuka Sriram, PhD
Associate Professor
renuka.sriram@ucsf.edu

Donna Peehl, PhD
Professor
donna.peehl@ucsf.edu

John Kurhanewicz, PhD
Professor Emeritus
john.kurhanewicz@ucsf.edu