Rita Mukhtar, M.D.
Associate Professor of Surgery
Division of Surgical Oncology
Contact Information
Education
1996-2000 University of California, Berkeley, AB Molecular and Cell Biology
2001-2006 University of California, San Francisco, MD
Residencies
- 2006-2012 University of California, San Francisco, Resident, General Surgery
- 2012-2013 University of California, San Francisco, Chief Resident, General Surgery
Fellowships
- 2009-2011 University of California, San Francisco, Post-doctoral Research Fellow
- 2013-2014 University of California, San Francisco, Society of Surgical Oncology Fellow, Breast Surgery
Postdoctoral Training
- 2009-2010 UCSF CTSI Advanced Training in Clinical Research
Board Certifications
- American Board of Surgery, General Surgery
Program Affiliations
- Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center
Biography
Breast oncologic surgeon-scientist Rita Mukhtar, M.D., Associate Professor of Surgery at UCSF, leads clinical and translational research on invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), the second most common type of breast cancer, and an understudied disease with unique treatment challenges. Funded by the American Cancer Society and the Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Mukhtar studies surgical outcomes and treatment response predictors in ILC. Additionally, she is the UCSF Principle Investigator for a surgical window trial testing pre-operative endocrine therapy in ILC. Dr. Mukhtar collaborates with a multidisciplinary team from The Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center to advance ILC research and innovate targeted treatment strategies that improve patient lives and outcomes.
Dr Mukhtar completed her undergraduate education at UC Berkeley, where she studied music and molecular biology. She then attended medical school at UCSF, during which time she received a Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship and pursued research in the inflammatory response in sepsis, winning a resident research award. She remained at UCSF for General Surgery residency, and completed a two year post-doctoral research fellowship focusing on the role of inflammatory cells in breast cancer outcomes, funded by the California Breast Cancer Research Program.
During this time she received a scholarship from the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute to complete a certificate in Advanced Training in Clinical Research. After residency, she completed a fellowship in breast oncologic surgery. She currently practices breast surgery, including treatment of benign and malignant breast disease, and acute care general surgery.
Clinical Trials
- Study ID: NCT02206984Start Date: Aug 2015Estimated Completion Date: Oct 2020Condition(s): Breast Cancer
- Study ID: NCT00290745Start Date: Jan 2004Estimated Completion Date: Jun 2011Condition(s): Breast Cancer
Publications
MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM A TOTAL OF 55
- Early onset, multiple, bilateral fibroadenomas of the breast: a case report. BMC Womens Health. 2021 Apr 21; 21(1):170. View in PubMed
- Rita A. Mukhtar, A. Jo Chien. Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast: Ongoing Trials, Challenges, and Future Directions. Current Breast Cancer Reports. 2021 Apr 12; 1-7. View in PubMed
- Tang A, Cohan CM, Hansen KS, Beattie G, Greenwood HI, Mukhtar RA. Relationship between body mass index and malignancy rates of MRI-guided breast biopsies: impact of clinicodemographic factors. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2021 Mar 27. View in PubMed
- Mukhtar RA, Boughey JC. ASO Author Reflections: Changes in Primary Treatment Strategy for Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Highlight the Need for Better Predictors of Therapy Response. Ann Surg Oncol. 2021 Mar 11. View in PubMed
- Mukhtar RA, Hoskin TL, Habermann EB, Day CN, Boughey JC. Changes in Management Strategy and Impact of Neoadjuvant Therapy on Extent of Surgery in Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast: Analysis of the National Cancer Database (NCDB). Ann Surg Oncol. 2021 Mar 09. View in PubMed
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In the News
- UCSF Department of Surgery - - October 27, 2020The UCSF Department of Surgery is pleased to announce that third year UCSF medical student Mary Kathryn (Katy) Abel, A.B. was awarded the inaugural Thomas K. Hunt Memorial fellowship from the Division of General Surgery for her research project: "Optimizing outcomes in invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: addressing barriers to clinical trial enrollment and personalizing therapy," with mentor Rita Mukhtar, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of General Surgery. Under the [...]
- UCSF Department of Surgery - - October 01, 2020We are pleased to announce the appointment of three new Associate Residency Program Directors for our general surgery residency program: Rita Mukhtar, MD as Associate Residency Program Director for Curriculum; Wen Shen, MD, MA as Associate Residency Program Director for Resident Professional Development; and Lan Vu, MD as Associate Residency Program Director for Assessment. All three appointments will be effective January 1, 2021. As the Associate Residency Program Director for Curriculum, Dr. [...]
- UCSF Department of Surgery - - July 10, 2020The Department of Surgery celebrated the many achievements of our UCSF Surgery trainees and educators at Surgery Grand Rounds on June 10, 2020, recognizing the tireless hard work and extraordinary talent displayed each and every day by these recipients. In addition, there was a tribute to the late Chief Resident Evan Werlin, MD, the inaugural "Evan Werlin Lodestar Award," accepted by his fiancée, Dr. Alyssa Perez. Junior Resident Faculty Teaching Award The award was presented by our interns [...]
Mary Kathryn (Katy) Abel and Dr. Rita Mukhtar Honored with Awards at 2020 Inquiry Symposium Ceremony
UCSF Department of Surgery - - June 04, 2020The UCSF Department of Surgery congratulates UCSF medical student Mary Kathryn (Katy) Abel, AB and Rita Mukhtar, MD on their respective research and mentorship awards presented at the 2020 Inquiry Symposium ceremony on April 29, 2020. Mary Kathryn (Katy) Abel, AB, an MD Candidate at UCSF (Class of 2021), was awarded the "Long-Term Deans Prize in Research and Scholarship" for her research project "Clinical Outcomes after Standard Interventions in Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast." [...]- UCSF Breastcare Program - - December 11, 2019UCSF surgeon-scientist Rita Mukhtar, M.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of General Surgery, has been awarded two grants to study lobular breast cancer. This work is also being crowd-funded by one of Dr. Mukhtar's patients through a novel mechanism offered by the UCSF Foundation, "Together at UCSF." Dr. Mukhtar's clinical and translational research program focuses on invasive lobular carcinoma, the second most common type of breast cancer, and an understudied disease with [...]
- UCSF Department of Surgery - - May 26, 2017Surgeons, from left, Lucy Kornblith, Rita Mukhtar and Carter Lebares pose for a photograph in the lobby of the UCSF Clinical Science Building in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (Courtesy Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group) The April 3, 2017 cover of the New Yorker depicting four women in blue doctors' scrubs over an operating table has gone viral. Reflecting the power of that image, female surgeons throughout the world have been posting group selfie photos of themselves [...]
