Alan Baik, MD
Assistant Professor
Cardiology, Cardiology UCSF Health
I am a cardiologist with an expertise in cardio-oncology. Cardio-oncology is an emerging field in cardiovascular medicine that is focused on the cardiovascular care of cancer patients and survivors who have developed cardiovascular disease from their cancer-directed therapies. These therapies include traditional chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and radiation therapy, among others. Cancer patients are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and this can be further exacerbated by their cancer-directed therapies, which can cause a myriad of cardiovascular problems, such as cardiomyopathy, heart failure, arrhythmias, hypertension, pericardial disease, valvular disease, and metabolic syndrome. I work closely with oncologists and other providers in a multidisciplinary team to optimize the cardiovascular care of cancer patients.
I am also a physician-scientist with a research focus on how cells, tissues, and organisms respond and adapt to low oxygen (hypoxia) and high oxygen (hyperoxia) states. I am studying novel ways cells and tissues respond to states of low oxygen and why high oxygen is toxic at the cellular and systemic levels.