Arpita Desai, MD
HS Assoc Clinical Professor
Dr. Arpita Desai is a medical oncologist who specializes in the care of patients with genitourinary cancers, with a particular focus on kidney and prostate cancers. She serves as the Medical Director of the Genitourinary (GU) Medical Oncology Program at UCSF, where she leads efforts to deliver multidisciplinary, patient-centered care and advance innovative treatments.
Dr. Desai leads the UCSF Kidney Cancer Program, which brings together clinical care, translational research, and innovation to improve outcomes for patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). She also serves as Medical Director of the UCSF Von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) Multidisciplinary Clinic, which integrates oncology, genetics, nephrology, ophthalmology, neurosurgery, endocrinology, and other specialties to provide comprehensive, coordinated care for patients with VHL syndrome.
Her research is dedicated to developing novel imaging and therapeutic strategies for RCC. She is particularly interested in integrating functional and molecular imaging to personalize treatment and improve patient outcomes. Her translational research program spans theranostics, hyperpolarized MRI, and biomarker-driven approaches to optimize therapy selection in GU malignancies.
Dr. Desai completed her residency in internal medicine at the State University of New York, where she also served as chief resident. She then completed a fellowship in medical oncology at the University of Chicago. She is an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Kidney Cancer Guidelines Panel.
Through her clinical leadership, research, and national collaborations, Dr. Desai is committed to advancing precision medicine in kidney cancer and improving the lives of patients through both cutting-edge clinical care and translational research.