UCSF Radiology Welcomes Three New Assistant Professors to the Faculty
We are excited to welcome three new faculty members to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging.
Christopher Brunson, MD, an interventional radiologist, will join ZSFG. Kevin Sweetwood, MD, will continue with our musculoskeletal division. Allen Ye, MD, PhD, will join our Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital team as a neuroradiologist.
Each of these new faculty members has a strong UCSF connection. Dr. Brunson completed medical school here, and Drs. Sweetwood and Ye completed their residency and fellowship with us. They each bring exemplary records of leadership, cross-disciplinary teaching, procedural expertise, collaborative research and a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion to our department.
Read their bios below for more details about their accomplishments and interests.
Christopher Brunson, MD
Assistant Professor, Clinical Radiology
Interventional Radiology, ZSFG
Dr. Brunson received his medical degree at UCSF. After an internship with the UCSF-East Bay Surgery Program at Highland Hospital and Kaiser Oakland, he completed his integrated interventional radiology residency at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Dr. Brunson was chief IR resident and served Graduate Medical Education as an executive member to the advisory and diversity committees, and as a search committee member for associate dean. Dr. Brunson has received the RSNA Roentgen Resident/Fellow Research Award and the University of Arizona GME Resident Academic Career Scholarship. While he was a UCSF medical student, Brunson was an organizer with #whitecoatsforBlacklives, a movement to draw attention to the effects of racial disparities on health care.
Dr. Brunson's clinical practice and research program focuses on oncologic outcomes and healthcare disparities, particularly in patients with NASH/NAFLD, as well as advanced dosimetry, particularly tumor perfusion augmentation. His publications have focused on interventional radiology methods for managing liver tumors, the use of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation and comparisons of 2-D perfusion angiography and Tc-99m MAA SPECT/CT.
Kevin Sweetwood, MD
Assistant Professor, Clinical Radiology
Musculoskeletal Imaging
Dr. Sweetwood earned his medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, where he graduated with highest honors and a certificate of medical ethics. After an internship at St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco, he completed a diagnostic radiology residency at UCSF, where he served as chief resident, and a musculoskeletal radiology fellowship. He received the Stanley W. Olson Award for Academic Excellence and Service and is inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
At UCSF, Dr. Sweetwood has served on the Residency Recruitment Committee and as a chief resident representative to the Executive Committee, as well as on the Radiology COVID Response (RICS) Team. He has conducted lectures and teaching sessions for medical students and residents on multiple topics including ultrasound, chest imaging, and musculoskeletal imaging, as well as preparatory presentations for trainee call and board exams. Dr. Sweetwood has published on digital techniques to improve consensus among radiologists, MRI-guided prostate biopsy and spindle cell lesions and carcinoma of the breast. His current research focuses on the clinical application of molecular imaging using 99mTc-MDP SPECT/CT and NaF PET/CT and PET/MRI in the evaluation of low back pain and guidance for therapeutic intervention. His clinical interests include sports imaging and image-guided procedures for pain management.
Allen Ye, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Clinical Radiology
Neuroradiology, ZSFG
Dr. Ye obtained his MD and his PhD in bioengineering in 2017 at the University of Illinois Chicago in the Medical Scientist Training Program. After his internship at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, Illinois, he completed his diagnostic radiology residency at the University of California San Francisco in 2022. During that time, he was selected as an NIH T32 research fellow and remained at UCSF to complete a neuroradiology fellowship in 2023. He has received multiple honors for his work including the Dr. Edward P. Cohen Medical Scientist Training Award, the UCSF Resident Research Fund Award, and the UCSF Radiology Outstanding Fellow/Instructor Teaching Award. Dr. Ye has served as director of the Resident Informatics Team and as a representative on the AIIMS (PACS) Steering Committee.
Dr. Ye's research focuses on utilization and application of advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques such as anomalous diffusion, elastography and connectomics in the clinical setting. He has translated these techniques for better characterization of vascular, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric diseases. Dr. Ye also has a strong interest in trauma research and has performed retrospective studies that categorize cervical spine trauma with respect to established trauma classifications and to evaluate the utility of MRI in the setting of isolated prevertebral edema.
Join us in welcoming Drs. Brunson, Sweetwood and Ye!