K. Pallav Kolli, MD, Appointed Chief of Interventional Radiology
The UC San Francisco Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging is pleased to announce that K. Pallav Kolli, MD has accepted the position of chief of Interventional Radiology, effective October 18, 2021.
Dr. Kolli has served as the department’s associate chair and medical director for Quality & Safety since 2018. In this role, Dr. Kolli has worked to improve the patient and referring provider experience, build a culture of continuous quality improvement, and ensure safety and regulatory compliance. During the pandemic, he has also served on the Radiology Incident Command System (RICS) team and has prior experience as the department’s director of operations, Interventional Radiology from 2018-20 and as a member of the Strategic Planning Committee (2018-20). With leaders on our Diversity and Operations Committees, Dr. Kolli contributes to evaluating health and healthcare disparities in the radiology clinical context and defining structures to address them. Within UCSF Health, Dr. Kolli chairs the Quality Improvement Executive Committee (QIEC) and is a member of the Clinical Performance Improvement Committee (CPIC) and the Executive Medical Board (EMB). Outside of UCSF, Dr. Kolli was named a fellow of the Society of Interventional Radiology in 2020, and is a frequently invited speaker at national and international conferences.
After earning his bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering in 2002 and his medical degree in 2006 from Northwestern University in Chicago, Dr. Kolli completed his transitional medicine internship at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare where he was named Transitional Intern of the Year. Dr. Kolli subsequently completed his residency in diagnostic radiology at UCSF in 2011, followed by a fellowship in vascular and interventional radiology at UCSF in 2012.
Dr. Kolli’s clinical expertise and research interests span management of acute and chronic venous diseases; minimally invasive therapies to treat patients with solid tumors of the liver, kidneys, and lungs; and complex hepatobiliary interventions in patients with portal hypertension or complex biliary tract disease. Dr. Kolli has led UCSF involvement in multicenter clinical trials in the areas of chronic venous disease and portal hypertension and sits on the steering committee of a prospective multicenter national trial evaluating outcomes in patients undergoing creation of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS). Dr. Kolli has also led adoption of new techniques to manage patients with acute and chronic venous disease and with portal hypertension and occluded portal veins.
A committed educator and strong advocate for our trainees, Dr. Kolli has mentored several dozen residents and fellows in interventional and diagnostic radiology, and currently serves as a clinical mentor to former fellows who are now in practice at academic institutions and in private practice. Most recently, Dr. Kolli has focused his mentoring on projects conducted by early career faculty in our department engaged in quality and safety work.
“Dr. Kolli is committed to continuing the Interventional Radiology section’s mission of clinical excellence, innovation, and educating future leaders. I am confident that he will bring significant expertise and vision to this important leadership position,” says Christopher Hess, MD, PhD, Alexander R. Margulis Distinguished Professor and chair of UCSF Radiology.
The department thanks Nicholas Fidelman, MD for his service as interim Chief of Interventional Radiology. During his tenure as interim chief, Dr. Fidelman has significantly improved the IR section through tireless effort. Among his numerous notable contributions, he has led the section to achieve more effective clinical staffing, participated in the recruitment of a new IR modality leader, and helped to design space for IR operations in the planned new hospital at UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights.
The department also thanks the search committee, led by Jane Wang, MD, for its service throughout the process in the national search.