Veronica L. Cox, M.D.
Department of Abdominal Imaging, Division of Diagnostic Imaging
About Dr. Cox
Dr. Veronica L. Cox is an Associate Professor in the Department of Abdominal Imaging, starting her career at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 9/2014. Dr. Cox completed her radiology residency and body imaging fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California. She holds a medical degree from the University of California at San Diego (2008) and undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley (2004).
Dr. Cox was the recipient of the inaugural interdepartmental Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in November 2018. She was also recognized by graduating fellows in 2017 with a Teaching Award.
Dr. Cox’s clinical and research interests include liver imaging, imaging biomarkers of hepatic tumors, radiogenomics and quality improvement.
She has served as part of MD Anderson's multidisciplinary liver tumor group for nearly 10 years and has been involved in several research projects analyzing imaging features of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and its molecular subtypes, as well as post-ablation appearance and recurrence patterns of hepatic metastases.
As Patient Safety and Quality Officer for Abdominal Imaging from 10/2019-9/2022, she initiated and prepared several departmental Morbidity and Mortality conferences. Her goal was to improve faculty knowledge and performance, and to promote an atmosphere of continuous learning. She was recognized for her efforts in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the annual institutional faculty awards in May 2023.
The challenging and often high-impact nature of liver oncology imaging has dovetailed with Dr. Cox’s interests in quality improvement.She has studied the most common reasons for misdiagnoses and types of tumors prone to misinterpretation by imaging.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Abdominal Imaging, Division of Diagnostic Imaging, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Research Interests
MR biomarkers of liver tumors
Radiogenomics
Clinical Interests
Liver imaging
Cancer genomics and targeted therapies
Performance and quality improvement
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2008 | University of California at San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, California, US, MD |
| 2004 | University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, US, Molecular and Cell Biology, BA |
Postgraduate Training
| 2013-2014 | Clinical Fellowship, Abdominal Imaging, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California |
| 2009-2013 | Clinical Residency, Diagnostic Radiology, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California |
| 2008-2009 | Clinical Internship, Internal Medicine, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California |
Board Certifications
| 2013 | American Board of Radiology |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Associate Professor, Department of Abdominal Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2019 - 2023
Assistant Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2014 - 2019
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Patient Quality and Safety Officer, Department of Abdominal Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2019 - 2022
Quality Improvement Committee Chair, Department of Abdominal Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2016 - 2019
Other Appointments/Responsibilities
Fee-basis Radiologist, Veterans Administration National Teleradiology Program, Menlo Park, CA, 2013 - 2014
Staff Radiologist, Veterans Administration Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, 2013 - 2014
Member, Stanford Radiology Residency Admissions Committee, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA, 2012 - 2013
Chief Resident, Diagnostic Radiology Residency Program, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA, 2011 - 2012
Chairperson, Diversity Coalition, The University of San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA, 2005 - 2006
Chancellor's Committee on Status of Diversity, The University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 2002 - 2003
Institutional Committee Activities
Member, Faculty Senate, 2018 - 2020
Member, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Diagnostic Imaging Faculty Functional Committee, 2016 - 2019
Honors & Awards
| 2023 | Faculty Recognition for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2022 | Certificate of Merit, European Society of Gastrointestinal Abdominal Radiology |
| 2018 | Certificate of Merit, Radiological Society of North America |
| 2018 | Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2016 | Best Poster: Incidental hepatic micronodules on cone-beam computed tomography angiography: high risk for local tumor progression, World Conference of Interventional Radiology |
| 2016 | Teaching Award, Abdominal Imaging Section, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Cox VL, Haddad A, Lendoire M, Yedururi S, Kawaguchi Y, Vauthey J, Bassett R, Kang HC. Impact of imaging review and multidisciplinary discussion during hepatobiliary tumor board: A prospective study. Ann. Surg. Oncol. e-Pub 2025.
- Odisio B, Albuquerque J, Lin YM, Anderson Brian, O'Connor C, Rigaud B, Briones-Dimayuga M, Jones A, Fellman B, Huang S, Kuban J, Metwalli Z, Sheth R, Habibollahi P, Patel M, Shah K, Cox VL, Kang H, Morris V, Kopetz S, Javle M, Kaseb A, Tzeng CW, Cao H, Newhook T, Chun Y, Vauthey J, Gupta S. Software-based versus visual assessment of the minimal ablative margin in patients with liver tumours undergoing percutaneous thermal ablation (COVER-ALL): a randomized phase 2 superiority trial. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. e-Pub 2025.
- Cox VL, Milind J, Jia S, Kang HC. Radiogenomics of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: Correlation of imaging features with BAP1 and FGFR molecular subtypes. JCAT 00(00), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38968316.
- Panettieri E, Maki H, Kim B, Kang HC, Cox VL, Vega E, Mizuno T, Pant S, Javle M, Vauthey J, Kawaguchi Y. Arterial enhancement pattern predicts survival in patients with resectable and unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Surgical Oncology 40, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34995974.
- Yedururi S, Kang HC, Cox VL, Chawla S, Marcal L, Le O, Loyer EM. Tumor thrombus in venous drainage pathways of primary, recurrent and metastatic disease on routine oncologic imaging studies: beyond hepatocellular carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma. BJR 92(1098), 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30844299.
- Faria, SC, Sagebiel T, Patnana M, Cox VL, Viswanathan C, Lall, C, Qayyum A, Bhosale PR. Tumor markers: myths and facts unfolded. Abdom Radiol 44(4):1575-1600, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30498924.
- Marcal L, Patnana M, Yedururi S, Chuang H, Devine C, Cox VL, Dasari A, Loyer E. Abdominal manifestations of neuroendocrine tumors. Digestive Disease Interventions 3(1):014-029, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Cox VL, Tahvildari AM, Johnson B, Jeffrey RB. Bowel obstruction complicated by ischemia: analysis of computed tomography findings. Abdom Radiol 43(12):3227-3232, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29858936.
- Bhosale P, Cox VL, Faria S, Javadi S, Viswanathan C, Koay E, Tamm E. Genetics of pancreatic cancer and implications for therapy. Abdom Radiol 43(2):404-414, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29177925.
- Odisio BC, Cox VL, Faria SC, Yamashita S, Shi X, Ensor J, Jones AK, Mahvash A, Gupta S, Tam AL, Vauthey JN, Murthy R. Prognostic value of incidental hypervascular micronodules detected on cone-beam computed tomography angiography of patients with liver metastasis. Eur Radiol 27(11):4837-4845, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28484824.
- Pollom EL, Alagappan M, von Eyben R, Kunz PL, Fisher GA, Ford JA, Poultsides GA, Visser BC, Norton JA, Kamaya A, Cox VL, Columbo LA, Koong AC, Chang DT. Single-versus multifraction stereotactic body radiation therapy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma: outcomes and toxicity. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 90(4):918-25, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25585785.
- Cox VL, Patel M, Kim J, Liu T, Sivaraman G, Narayan SM. Predicting arrhythmia-free survival using spectral and modified-moving average analyses of T-wave alternans. Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology 30(3):352-8, 2007. e-Pub 2007. PMID: 17367354.
Invited Articles
- Cox VL, Bamashmos A, Foo W, Gupta S, Yedururi S, Garg N, Kang H. Lynch Syndrome: genomics update and imaging review. Radiographics 38(2):483-499, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29528821.
- Cox VL, Bhosale P, Varadhachary G, Wagner-Bartak N, Glitza I, Gold KA, Soliman P, Atkins JT, Hong DS, Qayyum A. Cancer genomics and important oncologic mutations: a contemporary guide for body imagers. Radiology 283(2), 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28418819.
Abstracts
- Daniel F, Jamie H, Deepak B, Funda M, Shubham P, Jeffrey R, Zishuo H, Eugene K, Ethan L, Hop C, Ching-Wei T, Shin CY, Jean-Nicolas V, Timothy N, Zeyad M, Peiman H, Cox VL, Kang HC, Milind J, Sunyoung L. Characterizing outcomes of ERBB2-amplified biliary tract cancer. Annual Proceedings of ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Jaime H, Daniel F, Deepak B, Zishuo H, Eugene K, Ethan L, Hop C, Jean-Nicolas V, Timothy N, Ching-Wei T, Shin CY, Armeen M, Zeyad M, Peiman H, Cox VL, Kang HC, Chatterjee, Ahmed K, Milind J, Sunyoung L. Characterization of outcomes and genomic alterations in combined hepatocellular carcinoma-cholangiocarcinoma. ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancer Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Yedururi S, Salem US, Kang HC, Marcal LP, Cox VL, Morani AC, Chun YS, Loyer EM. Revisiting response assessment of colorectal liver metastases: Lessons learned and opportunities for improvement. Proceedings of the Radiological Society of North America. e-Pub 2021.
- Cox VL, Kang HC, Yedururi S, Marcal LP, Bassett R, Panettieri E, Kawaguchi Y, Vauthey JN. Prospective survey of hepatobiliary conference cases at an oncology center: role of imaging and impact of imaging errors on management. Proceedings of the Radiological Society of North America. e-Pub 2020.
- Kim BJ, Panettieri E, Kawaguchi Y, Kang HC, Cox V, Raghav K, Kaseb A, Vega EA, Mizuno T, Pant S, Javle M, Vauthey JN. Arterial enhancement pattern predicts survival in patients with both unresectable and resected intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Gastroenterology 158(6):S-1496-S-1497, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Yedururi S, Chawla S, Kang HC, Cox VL, Lee, JE, Waguespack S. Multi-modality imaging of multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes: emerging concepts in the diagnosis and treatment. What radiologists need to know?. Radiological Society of North America Proceedings, 2016. e-Pub 2016.
- Bamashmos A, Muthalgiri CM, Cox VL, Gupta S, Yedururi S, Garg N, Kang HC. Beyond colorectal carcinoma: imaging spectrum of Lynch syndrome. Radiological Society of North America Proceedings, 2016. e-Pub 2016.
- Osidio B, Cox VL, Mahvash A, Jones A, Gupta S, Faria S, Tam AL, Ravi M. Incidental hepatic micronodules on cone-beam computed tomography angiography: high risk for local tumor progression. World Conference on Interventional Oncology Proceedings, 2016. e-Pub 2016.
- Khan A, Fuentes D, Hazle J, Qayyum A, Cox VL, Elsayes K. Three dimensional volumetric image segmentation of the liver: tips for clinical practice and future perspectives. Radiological Society of North America Proceedings, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- Cox VL, Patel M, Kim J, Liu T, Sivaraman G, Narayan SM. Alternans of human ventricular monophasic action potentials co-migrates with T-wave alternans. Heart Rhythm 3(5):S113-S114, 2006. e-Pub 2006.
- Cox VL, Patel M, Kim J, Liu T, Sivaraman G, Narayan SM. Ambulatory ECG methods amplify T-wave alternans compared to traditional spectral analysis. Heart Rhythm 3(5):S269, 2006. e-Pub 2006.
Book Chapters
- Kang HC, Yedururi S, Cox VL, Marcal L. Computed Tomography. In: Biliary Trace and Gallbladder Cancer - A Multidisciplinary Approach.
Letters to the Editor
- Cox VL, Lesesky E, Garcia B, O'Grady D, Terence C. Treatment of juvenile pityriasis rubra pilaris with etanercept. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 59: S113-S114, 2008.
Selected Presentations & Talks
Regional Presentations
- 2020. Abdominopelvic Emergencies. Conference. Texas Radiological Society Annual Meeting. San Antonio, TX, US.
National Presentations
- 2022. Revisiting response assessment of colorectal liver metastases: lessons learned and opportunities for improvement. Conference. European Society of Gastrointestinal Abdominal Radiology, US.
- 2022. High stakes imaging: Response and resectability of colorectal liver metastases. Invited. Society of Abdominal Radiology Annual Scientific Meeting. Scottsdale, AZ, US.
- 2021. Revisiting response assessment of colorectal liver metastases: lesson learned and opportunities for improvement. Conference. Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL, US.
- 2020. Prospective survey of hepatobiliary conference cases at an oncology center: role of imaging and impact of imaging errors on management. Invited. Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL, US.
- 2020. Response assessment in liver tumors: More than size change. Invited. Society of Abdominal Imaging Annual Meeting. Maui, HI, US.
- 2018. Updates in diagnosis, management and treatment of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. Conference. Radiological Society of North America Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL, US.
- 2018. Extraosseous multiple myeloma: Spectrum of multimodality imaging findings and genomics. Conference. Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL, US.
- 2018. Rectal cancer: Interesting cases. Invited. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2018. Ischiorectal fossa: Common and uncommon pathologies. Conference. Society of Abdominal Radiology Annual Meeting. Scottsdale, AZ, US.
- 2018. Gastrointestinal and genitourinary tumor markers from oncogenesis to imaging. Invited. Society of Abdominal Radiology Annual Meeting. Scottsdale, AZ, US.
- 2017. Imaging evaluation and staging of rectal cancer. Invited. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2017. Hitchhikers guide to tumor markers. Invited. Society of Abdominal Imaging Annual Meeting. Hollywood, FL, US.
- 2016. Beyond colorectal carcinoma: imaging spectrum of Lynch syndrome. Conference. Radiological Society of North America Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL, US.
- 2016. Multi-modality imaging of multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes: emerging concepts in the diagnosis and treatment. What radiologists need to know. Conference. Radiological Society of North America Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL, US.
- 2011. Postpartum bleeding evaluation and management. Conference. Radiological Society of North America Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL, US.
- 2006. P1-19: Alternans of human ventricular monophasic action potentials co-migrates with T-wave alternans. Conference. Annual Scientific Sessions of Heart Rhythm Society. Boston, MA, US.
International Presentations
- 2023. Genomic characterization and outcomes of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis-related cholangiocarcinoma. Conference. Molecular Analysis For Precision Oncology Congress. Paris, FR.
- 2016. Incidental hepatic micronodules on cone-beam computed tomography angiography: high risk for local tumor progression. Conference. World Conference on Interventional Oncology. Boston, US.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2019 - 2024 |
| Title: | Anatomical Modeling to Improve the Precision of Image Guided Liver Ablation |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIBIB |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | 1R01CA235564-01A1 |
| Date: | 2019 - 2020 |
| Title: | Quantitative imaging analysis 'pipeline' infrastructure for Diagnostic Radiology |
| Funding Source: | Robert Moreton Distinguished Chair Endowment |
| Role: | Principal Investigator-MDACC |
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified May 09, 2025