Mekhail Anwar is an affilated BSAC faculty member and Associate Professor in Residence in the Radiation Oncology Department at UCSF, with an affiliate appointment in our department. Professor Anwar's research areas include many areas within the broad area of electronic circuits and devices.
Dr. Anwar's goal is to solve the fundamental and persistent challenge in cancer – identifying where all tumor cells are and how patients respond to treatment – opening the door to truly precision, personalized medicine. I develop imaging and biosensing tools using microfabricated sensors, custom molecularly-targeted imaging agents, and novel nanoparticles to identify tumor cells and guide surgery and radiotherapy with unprecedented precision deep within the body. Find out more from Google Scholar at http://bit.ly/36VOayp , NIH http://bit.ly/2tTRgEs.
These sensors – built on a platform of computer chip technology – essentially place the physician inside the patient and allow us to see and understand cancer in new detail. To accomplish this, our team of researchers works closely with clinical teams, to develop the tools to fight even the most challenging cancers. We have developed imagers smaller than a pin’s head and thinner than a human hair using standard fluorophores and novel inorganic nanoparticles allowing us to see cells and sense molecules directly within patients.
In parallel, Dr. Anwar focuses on treating challenging cancers like pancreas and liver tumors using targeted radiotherapy and radiosurgery. The combination of these efforts enables our translational research program.