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Rita Mukhtar, M.D.

Rita Mukhtar, M.D.

  • Associate Professor of Surgery
  • Division of Surgical Oncology
  • Lobular Breast Cancer Research Program

Contact Information

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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

Clinical Expertise

  • Axillary dissection
  • Breast Surgery
  • Emergency General Surgery
  • Lumpectomy
  • Nipple sparing/total skin sparing mastectomy
  • Seed and wire localization surgery
  • Sentinel lymph node biopsy

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, the Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Mukhtar studies surgical outcomes and treatment response predictors in ILC. Additionally, she is the UCSF Principal 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

Data provided by UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI

Publications

MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM A TOTAL OF 72
Data provided by UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI
  1. Abel MK, Shui AM, Chien AJ, Rugo HS, Melisko M, Baehner F, Mukhtar RA. The 21-Gene Recurrence Score in Clinically High-Risk Lobular and Ductal Breast Cancer: A National Cancer Database Study. Ann Surg Oncol. 2022 Nov; 29(12):7739-7747. View in PubMed
  2. Abel MK, Mukhtar RA. ASO Author Reflections: Discordant Clinical and Molecular Risk in Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast: The 21-Gene Recurrence Score in the National Cancer Database by Histologic Subtype. Ann Surg Oncol. 2022 11; 29(12):7748-7749. View in PubMed
  3. Abel MK, Shui AM, Chien AJ, Rugo HS, Melisko M, Baehner F, Mukhtar RA. ASO Visual Abstract: The 21-Gene Recurrence Score in Clinically High Risk Lobular and Ductal Breast Cancer-A National Cancer Database Study. Ann Surg Oncol. 2022 11; 29(12):7750. View in PubMed
  4. Greenberg AL, Sullins VF, Donahue TR, Sundaram VM, Saldinger PF, Divino CM, Anton NE, Stefanidis D, Reilly LM, Egan RJ, Beals CKJ, Riall TS, Duh QY, Mukhtar RA, Hirose K, Lebares CC. Emotional Regulation in Surgery: Fostering Well-Being, Performance, and Leadership. J Surg Res. 2022 09; 277:A25-A35. View in PubMed
  5. Mukhtar R, Symmans WF, Esserman LJ. Association of Residual Cancer Burden After Neoadjuvant Therapy and Event-Free Survival in Breast Cancer-Reply. JAMA Oncol. 2022 04 01; 8(4):1. View in PubMed
  6. View All Publications

In the News

  • Thomas K. Hunt Memorial Fellowship Awarded to Medical Student Mary Kathryn (Katy) Abel

    UCSF Department of Surgery - Alexi Callen - October 27, 2020
    The 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 [...]

  • New Associate Residency Program Directors Appointed for General Surgery Residency Program

    UCSF Department of Surgery - Richard Barg - October 01, 2020
    We 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. [...]

  • Department of Surgery 2020 Achievement and Education Awards Presented at Surgery Grand Rounds

    UCSF Department of Surgery - Richard Barg - July 10, 2020
    The 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 - Richard Barg - June 04, 2020
    The 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." [...]

  • Rita Mukhtar, M.D. Awarded Two Grants to Study Lobular Breast Cancer and Inspires Crowd-funding Effort

    UCSF Breastcare Program - Richard Barg - December 11, 2019
    UCSF 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 [...]

  • One-Year Anniversary of New Yorker-Inspired Portraits of Women Surgeons

    UCSF Department of Surgery - Richard Barg - May 26, 2017
    Surgeons, 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 [...]

 

 
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