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Mariko Sato

Mariko Sato

•Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor, Step III, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine
•Neuro-Oncology Director, Children's Hospital of Orange County

Biography

Mariko Sato, MD, PhD, is Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor, Step III, in the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine and Neuro-Oncology Director at Children's Hospital of Orange County. She received her MD from Tohoku University School of Medicine in Japan and completed her PhD at the same institution, followed by postdoctoral training in developmental biology at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah. After completing pediatric residency at the University of Hawaii and fellowship training in pediatric hematology/oncology at the University of Utah and pediatric neuro-oncology at Baylor College of Medicine, she became board certified in both pediatrics and pediatric hematology-oncology.

Sato's research has focused on cardiac neural crest development in zebrafish models and the molecular characterization of pediatric brain tumors. Her early work demonstrated that cardiac neural crest cells contribute to cardiomyogenesis in zebrafish and identified the role of Semaphorin3D in regulating cardiac neural crest cell invasion. Her translational research has examined DNA copy number alterations in gliomas associated with IDH mutation status, outcomes of children with ependymoma treated with different radiation modalities, and the application of targeted therapies in pediatric solid tumors. She has served as principal investigator on Children's Oncology Group protocols and received funding from the American Heart Association, Primary Children's Medical Center Foundation, and institutional sources for her research on pediatric cancer genetics and outcomes.

Sato has held academic positions at the University of Utah, University of Iowa, and University of California, Irvine, where she has maintained active clinical, teaching, and research programs. She has supervised numerous medical students, residents, and fellows, and has contributed to medical education through lectures on pediatric brain tumors and neuro-oncology. Her clinical work focuses on pediatric neuro-oncology, and she has published on topics including molecular profiling of brain tumors, targeted therapies in pediatric cancer, and neurological complications of cancer treatment.

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Education

  • M.D., Tohoku University, School of Medicine, 1993
  • Ph.D., Tohoku University, School of Medicine, 2006
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Distinctions

  • AHA Western States Affiliate Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant, 2001-2004
  • AAP Residency Scholarship Recipient, 2009
  • Primary Children's Medical Center Foundation Innovative Research Grant, 2006-2008
  • Best Resident Award, Hawaii Residency Program, 2010
  • Research Scholar, Children's Health Research Center, 2005-2008
  • Faculty Award for Research, 3rd Place, Hawaii Residency Program, 2010
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Areas of Expertise

  • Pediatric Neuro-Oncology
  • Cardiac Neural Crest Development
  • Brain Tumor Molecular Profiling
  • Ependymoma Radiation Outcomes
  • Targeted Therapy Genomic Alterations
  • Posterior Fossa Syndrome
  • Neurocognitive Function Assessment

Recent Publications

  • Lamoureux A, Fisher M, Sato M, Laetsch TW, “Clinical Characteristics and outcome of central nervous system tumors harboring NTRK gene fusions”, Clinical Cancer Research, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 561-572, 2025.
  • Hsia B, Bitar G, Alshaka S, Kim J, Valencia-Sanchez B, Faraji F, Brandel M, Sato M, Crawford J, Levy M, Patel V, Polster S, “Genomic Characterization of Chordoma: Insights from the AACR Project GENIE Database”, Cancer, 2025.
  • Hsia B, Sure A, Dongre R, Jo N, Kuzniar J, Bitar G, Alshaka SA, Kim JD, Valencia-Sanchez BA, Brandel M, Sato M, Crawford J, Levy M, Patel V, Polster, Patel VA, “Molecular Profiling of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Using the AACR Project GENIE Database”, Cancers, vol. 17, no. 9, pp. 1544, 2025.
  • Sato M, Crawford J, “Systemic Cancers and Central Nervous System Involvement”, Swaiman's Pediatric Neurology, Seventh Edition, Elsevier, 2025.
  • Chou L, Nael A, Sato M, Crawford J, “Rare AGK-BRAF gene fusion in an adolescent with supratentorial pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma”, BMJ Case Rep, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. e258878, 2024.
  • Ho C, Sato M, Crawford J, “Neuroimaging Features of Non-Germinomatous Germ Cell Tumor with Subtle Pineal Gland Involvement in a Child”, BMJ Case Rep, 2024.
  • Mestnik S, Wilson S, Huang A, Sato M, “Prolonged remission achieved with maintenance intraventricular chemotherapy in young patient with recurrent ATRT”, Pediatr Blood Cancer, vol. 70, pp. e30225, 2023.
  • Chou S, Nael A, Crawford J, Sato M, “A rare case of Pediatric MN1 altered astroblastoma with concomitant ATM germline mutation”, Pediatr Blood Cancer, vol. 70, pp. e30502, 2023.
  • Ho C, Nael A, Sato M, Crawford J, “Primary intracranial Ewing sarcoma in an infant”, BMJ Case Rep, vol. 16, no. 8, pp. e255110, 2023.
  • Parra Villasmil MG, Kim C, Sato M, Kanner L, “Rapidly progressive precocious puberty with elevated testosterone in a five-year -old boy with a beata-HCG secreting intracranial germ cell tumor in pineal gland”, Clinical Case Reports, 2022.
  • Luangrath M, Sato M, Tigges C, “Hypercarbia in a pediatric patient with relapsed medulloblastoma”, Cureus, vol. 14, no. 10, pp. e30034, 2022.
  • Kumar N, Nael A, Sato M, Crawford JR, “Delayed diagnosis of diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumour in a young child presenting with communicating hydrocephalous”, BMJ Case Rep, vol. 15, no. 12, pp. e253238, 2022.
  • Waters TW, Moore SA, Sato Y, Dlouhy BJ, Sato M, “Refractory infantile high-grade glioma containing TRK-fusion responds to larotrectinib” (opens in new tab), Pediatr Blood Cancer, pp. e28868, 2021.
  • Fisher MJ, Jones DTW, Li Y, Guo X, Sonawane PS, Waanders AJ, Phillips JJ, Weiss WA, Resnick AC, Gosline S, Banerjee J, Guinney J, Gnekow A, Kandels D, Foreman NK, Korshunov A, Ryzhova M, Massimi L, Gururangan S, Kieran MW, et al., “Integrated molecular and clinical analysis of low-grade gliomas in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1)” (opens in new tab), Acta Neuropathol, vol. 141, no. 4, pp. 605-617, 2021.
  • Albazron FM, Bruss J, Jones RM, Yock TI, Pulsifer MB, Cohen AL, Nopoulos PC, Abrams AN, Sato M, Boes AD, “Pediatric postoperative cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome follows outflow pathway lesions” (opens in new tab), Neurology, vol. 93, no. 16, pp. e1561-e1571, 2019.
  • Sabree S, Berg D, Sato M, “Treatment of a pediatric patient with MET-amplified signet ring cell adenocarcinoma of the stomach with crizotinib” (opens in new tab), Pediatr Blood Cancer, vol. 65, no. 6, pp. e26984, 2018.
  • Sato M, Gunther JR, Mahajan A, Jo E, Paulino AC, Adesina AM, Jones JY, Ketonen LM, Su JM, Okcu MF, Khatua S, Dauser RC, Whitehead WE, Weinberg J, Chintagumpala MM, “Progression-free survival of children with localized ependymoma treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy or proton-beam radiation therapy” (opens in new tab), Cancer, vol. 123, no. 13, pp. 2570-2578, 2017.
  • Sato M, Cohen A, Aldape K, Mason CC, Alfaro-Munoz K, Heathcock L, South ST, Abegglen LM, Schiffman JD, Colman H, “DNA copy number analysis of Grade II-III and Grade IV gliomas reveals differences in molecular ontogeny including chromothripsis associated with IDH mutation status”, Acta Neuropathol Commun, vol. 3, pp. 34, 2015.
  • Gunther JR, Sato M, Chintagumpala M, Ketonen L, Jones JY, Allen PK, Paulino AC, Okcu MF, Su JM, Weinberg J, Boehling NS, Khatua S, Adesina A, Dauser R, Whitehead WE, Mahajan A, “Imaging Changes in Pediatric Intracranial Ependymoma Patients Treated With Proton Beam Radiation Therapy Compared to Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy”, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, vol. 93, no. 1, pp. 54-63, 2015.
  • Wythe JD, Jurynec MJ, Urness LD, Jones CA, Sabeh MK, Werdich AA, Sato M, Yost HJ, Grunwald DJ, Macrae CA, Li DY, “Hadp1, a newly identified pleckstrin homology domain protein, is required for cardiac contractility in zebrafish”, Dis Model Mech, vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 607-21, 2011.
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Contact Information

Email: mariks1@uci.edu

Phone: (714) 509-4592

Address: 1201 W. La Veta Ave., Orange CA 92802, Irvine, CA 92868

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This profile was created with the help of AI.

Last updated on 3/24/2026.