Top Researchers
Top Medicine Researchers at University of California San Diego for 2026
The University of California San Diego has a broad and active medicine research portfolio, with work spanning clinical care, population health, and translational science. Over the past year, researchers across the institution have contributed studies that connect bedside questions with longer-term disease patterns and patient outcomes.
Below, you’ll find a snapshot of the people helping shape that effort across topics such as cancer, sleep medicine, kidney health, cardiovascular risk, infectious disease, and surgery. Together, their recent publications offer a useful view of how UC San Diego’s medical research community is approaching pressing clinical problems from multiple angles.
Featured Researchers
Rana R. McKay
Rana R. McKay at the University of California San Diego has been focusing on prostate cancer, with recent work spanning oncology and cancer research through studies on hormonal therapy, radiotherapy, circulating tumor cells, and real-world treatment patterns.
Activity over the last year: 139 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Development and Validation of an Artificial Intelligence Digital Pathology Biomarker to Predict Benefit of Long-Term Hormonal Therapy and Radiotherapy in Men With High-Risk Prostate Cancer Across Multiple Phase III Trials (Apr 2025)
- High-Purity CTC RNA Sequencing Identifies Prostate Cancer Lineage Phenotypes Prognostic for Clinical Outcomes (Feb 2025)
- Real-world utilization patterns and survival in men with metastatic prostate cancer treated with Radium-223 in the United States (Apr 2025)
Atul Malhotra
Atul Malhotra at the University of California, San Diego has concentrated on physiology and sleep-related medicine, including analyses of positive airway pressure therapy, COPD burden projections, and the long-term impact of obstructive sleep apnoea.
Activity over the last year: 76 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Positive airway pressure therapy and all‐cause and cardiovascular mortality in people with obstructive sleep apnoea: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and confounder-adjusted, non-randomised controlled studies (Mar 2025)
- Forecasting the Global Economic and Health Burden of COPD From 2025 Through 2050 (Apr 2025)
- Projecting the 30-year burden of obstructive sleep apnoea in the USA: a prospective modelling study (Aug 2025)
Rohit Loomba
Rohit Loomba at the University of California San Diego is advancing work in hepatology and epidemiology, with recent publications on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, MASH therapy, and chronic liver disease burden.
Activity over the last year: 63 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in adults (Mar 2025)
- AZD2693, a PNPLA3 antisense oligonucleotide, for the treatment of MASH in 148M homozygous participants: Two randomized phase I trials (Jan 2025)
- The Global Burden of Cirrhosis and Other Chronic Liver Diseases in 2021 (Feb 2025)
Mahmoud B. Malas
Mahmoud B. Malas at the University of California, San Diego has been working across surgery and cardiovascular medicine, including studies on chronic limb-threatening ischemia, carotid revascularization, and stroke risk from carotid plaque features.
Activity over the last year: 45 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Outcomes of chronic limb-threatening ischemia revascularization in patients with chronic kidney disease in the BEST-CLI trial (Jan 2025)
- Cerebral Hyperperfusion Syndrome after Carotid Revascularization; Predictors and Complications (Mar 2025)
- High-risk carotid plaque features may be more accurate predictors of ipsilateral ischemic stroke risk than the degree of carotid artery stenosis (Aug 2025)
Joachim H. Ix
Joachim H. Ix at the University of California San Diego has centered recent work on nephrology, with studies of exercise and CKD prevention, blood pressure lowering, and urine biomarkers for diabetic kidney disease progression.
Activity over the last year: 51 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Long-Term Physical Exercise for Preventing CKD in Older Adults (Feb 2025)
- Individualized Net Benefit of Intensive Blood Pressure Lowering Among Community‐Dwelling Older Adults in SPRINT (Feb 2025)
- Urine Biomarkers for Diabetic Kidney Disease Progression in Participants of the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study (Jun 2025)
Robert M. Hoffman
Robert M. Hoffman at the University of California, San Diego is publishing across biotechnology and biomedical engineering, with recent papers on fluorescence-guided surgery models, methionine restriction, and tumor resistance.
Activity over the last year: 33 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- A new locoregional mouse model of gastric cancer for identifying probes for fluorescence guided surgery (Mar 2025)
- Prostate Cancer Patient With Lymph-node Metastasis Treated Only With Methionine Restriction Has Stable Disease for Two Years Demonstrated With PET/CT and PSMA-PET Scanning and PSA Testing (Jan 2025)
- HT1080 Fibrosarcoma With Acquired Trabectedin Resistance: Increased Malignancy But Sustained Sensitivity to Methionine Restriction (Feb 2025)
Karine Dubé
Karine Dubé at the University of California San Diego is focusing on infectious diseases and public health, with qualitative research that explores HIV cure research perspectives among long-term survivors and women living with HIV.
Activity over the last year: 29 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- “Sometimes They Exclude Us because of Our Age—That’s Not Right”: Perceptions of HIV Cure Research Among Diverse Long-Term Survivors in the United States (Apr 2025)
- ‘It is scary to pause treatment’: perspectives on HIV cure-related research and analytical treatment interruptions from women diagnosed during acute HIV in Durban, South Africa (Jan 2025)
- “This Is How I Give Back”: Long-Term Survivors on Legacy and HIV Cure Research at the End of Life—A Qualitative Inquiry in the United States (Jul 2025)
Harpreet Bhatia
Harpreet Bhatia at the University of California San Diego has been working at the intersection of surgery, imaging, and immunology, with recent studies on lipoprotein(a), cardiovascular risk, and aspirin use in atherosclerotic disease.
Activity over the last year: 30 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- AHA PREVENT Equations and Lipoprotein(a) for Cardiovascular Disease Risk (Jun 2025)
- Role of Lipoprotein(a) in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in South Asian Individuals (Jul 2025)
- Role of Aspirin in Reducing Risk for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in Individuals with Elevated Lipoprotein(a) (Apr 2025)
What University of California San Diego's Medicine Community Is Working On
The strongest themes across these researchers point to a community actively working in pulmonary and respiratory medicine, surgery, oncology, and physiology, with additional activity in nephrology, hepatology, and public health. That mix suggests a medical research environment that is both clinically grounded and methodologically diverse: some groups are focused on disease mechanisms and biomarkers, while others are modeling burden, evaluating interventions, and studying outcomes in real-world care. Across the board, the work reflects close attention to prevention, risk prediction, and treatment decision-making.- Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
- Surgery - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
- Oncology - seen across 1 of the featured researchers
- Cancer Research - seen across 1 of the featured researchers
- Physiology - seen across 1 of the featured researchers
These recent publications show a medical research community working across specialties while staying focused on patient-centered questions and practical impact. If you want to keep exploring similar work, browse more institutional research profiles and consider using Resub to help organize citations, format manuscripts, and prepare submissions with less friction.
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