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Wendie A Berg, MD, PhD, FACR, FSBI

  • Professor, Department of Radiology, Breast Imaging Division

Wendie A. Berg, MD, PhD, FACR, is Professor of Radiology and is well known for her role as Study Chair and PI of ACRIN 6666, Screening Breast Ultrasound and MRI in High-Risk Women.  Dr. Berg trained at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where she received MD and PhD (Pharmacology) degrees and completed residency in Diagnostic Radiology. She worked on BI-RADS Ultrasound and Mammography lexicons, has authored or coauthored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, and co-wrote and edited all three editions of the book, Diagnostic Imaging: Breast. She has led and authored results of multicenter clinical trials evaluating breast PET and shear-wave elastography, and is currently completing a prospective multicenter study of screening ultrasound after tomosynthesis in women with dense breasts in addition to starting a prospective study of contrast-enhanced mammography vs. tomosynthesis in women with a personal history of breast cancer.  Dr. Berg is Chief Scientific Advisor to www.DenseBreast-info.org.

Representative Publications

  1. Berg WA, Berg JM, Sickles EA, Burnside ES, Zuley ML, Rosenberg RD, Lee CS.  Cancer Yield and Patterns of Follow-up for BI-RADS 3 after Screening Mammography Recall in the National Mammography Database.  Radiology. 2020; in press.
  2. Berg WA, Vourtsis A.  Screening breast ultrasound using handheld or automated technique in women with dense breasts.  J Breast Imaging.  2019;1:283-296, epub Oct 31, 2019.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jbi/wbz055
  3. Berg WA, Bandos AI, Mendelson EB, Lehrer D, Jong RA, Pisano ED.  Ultrasound as the primary screening test for breast cancer: Analysis from ACRIN 6666.  J Natl Cancer Inst. 2016;108:djv367 (epub 12/29/2015)  PMID 26712110
  4. Berg WA, Zhang Z, Lehrer D, Jong RA, Pisano ED, Barr RG, Böhm-Vélez M , Mahoney MC, Evans III WP, Larsen LH, Morton MJ, Mendelson EB, Farria DM, Cormack JB, Marques HS, Adams A, Yeh NM, and Gabriell G, for the ACRIN 6666 Investigators. Detection of Breast Cancer with Addition of Annual Screening Ultrasound or a Single Screening MRI to Mammography in Women with Elevated Breast Cancer Risk. JAMA 2012;307:1394-1404. PMID 22474203
  5. Berg WA, Zheng Z, Cormack JB, Mendelson EB.  Multiple bilateral circumscribed masses on screening breast ultrasound: Consider annual follow-up.  Radiology 2013;268:673-683. PMID: 23616634

Research Interests

1. Improved screening in women with dense breasts
    a. ultrasound vs. tomosynthesis
    b. MR!
    c. contrast-enhanced mammography
 
2. Reducing false postivies
   a. examining BI-RADS3 results
   b. elastography vs. other methods
   c. computer-assisted diagnosis
 
 
 
 

 

Research Grants

Funding track-records:

Principal Investigator                                                                          1/1/2019-12/31/2019
Grant from the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition $50,000
Does Double Reading Tomosynthesis Improve Breast Cancer Detection?
The purpose of the proposed work is to examine the impact of double reading tomosynthesis (with arbitration) on cancer detection compared to single reading tomosynthesis or single reading tomosynthesis plus screening ultrasound in women with dense breasts. 
 
Principal Investigator                                                                          10/1/2019-9/30/2020
Breast Cancer Research Foundation BCRF-19-015   $199,478
Improving Surveillance of Women with a Personal History of Breast Cancer Using Contrast-Enhanced Mammography (CEM)
We expect to show in a prospective clinical trial that, in women with a personal history of breast cancer, contrast-enhanced mammography substantially improves breast cancer detection compared to mammography with tomosynthesis, with minimal increase in false-positives. 
 
           Co-Investigator                                                                                               8/1/2016-7/31/2020
           NIH/NCI, 4UH3CA189966-03  Phase II
           Low-Cost Automated Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Detection and Diagnosis
           PI: Dr. Susan Love, 10% effort         
 
Principal Investigator                                                                          6/1/2015-5/31/2020
NIH/NCI R01CA187593
Assessment of Periodic Screening of Women with Denser Breasts Using Whole Breast Ultrasound, 25% effort

Principal Investigator                                                                       2/25/20-11/30/20
Koios Medical, Inc.  $102,362
Distinction of Triple Negative Breast Cancer from Benign Cystic Masses using CADx