Miguel Hernandez Pampaloni MD, PhD

Miguel Hernandez Pampaloni, MD, Ph.D., is the Director of Nuclear Cardiology for the Molecular Imaging and Therapeutics Clinical Section in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Pampaloni is responsible for overseeing nuclear cardiology and the development of new techniques to evaluate cardiac metabolism and function. He will also serve as co-chair of the Cancer Center's new Molecular Imaging & Radionuclide Therapy Site Committee. Dr. Pampaloni earned his Ph.D. in Radiological Sciences from the Universidad Complutense School of Medicine in Madrid, Spain, and he obtained his MD from the Universidad Complutense School of Medicine. Dr. Pampaloni completed a residency in Nuclear Medicine at the San Carlos Hospital in Madrid, Spain, and he completed a residency in Nuclear Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Pampaloni was a postdoctoral fellow in Cardiovascular Nuclear Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and he was a clinical research fellow in PET Cardiology at the Imperial College in London, England. Dr. Pampaloni joined the UCSF Nuclear Medicine Section as an Assistant Professor in 2009.

Dr. Pampaloni has two main research interests: applications of molecular imaging in the cardiovascular field and oncology. He is interested in assessing the pathophysiological changes in the inflammatory process at the base of coronary artery disease by non-invasive evaluation of endothelial function with positron emission tomography. He is particularly interested in developing a molecular imaging model to assess quantitatively the initial changes in the atherosclerotic process, which may help for an early, preclinical, diagnosis. As part of vascular biology characteristics, he is interested in applying newly developed radioligands to target specific processes in the angiogenesis of cancer.

Dr. Pampaloni is published broadly and has spoken to national and international audiences on multiple topics in nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, especially quantitative myocardial blood flow and ischemic cardiomyopathy. He led the Nuclear Medicine section for a decade, during which time he directed the opening of operations at Mission Bay Hospital, helped to bring multiple new imaging and treatment agents to clinical practice, and guided the professional development of numerous highly successful residents, fellows, and faculty. He has served as PI and co-investigator on multiple clinical trials and received numerous accolades for his scientific presentations.