During open enrollment, choose San Diego's best health care. Get started.

About Isabel G. Newton, MD, PhD

Isabel G. Newton, MD, PhD, is a board-certified diagnostic and interventional radiologist who performs all types of minimally invasive, image-guided procedures. She specializes in treating liver cancer. She sees patients at both UC San Diego Health (on call) and the VA San Diego Healthcare System.

Dr. Newton is the chief of Interventional Radiology at the VA. She founded and runs the VA Liver Tumor Board. Dr. Newton is an associate professor in the Department of Radiology, where she serves as director for the Interventional Radiology Residency Program and co-director for the T32-funded Clinician-Scientist Radiology Residency Program (CSRRP). She is dedicated to trainee education, promoting equity and diversity, and enhancing trainee and faculty wellness.

She serves as the wellness director for the Department of Radiology and as the faculty director for grand rounds. She is a member of the Healer Education Assessment and Referral (HEAR) Program, which educates providers about burnout, depression and suicide, and refers providers to resources. She is a former Hispanic Center of Excellence (HCOE) Fellow and continues to be active in the program as faculty.

Dr. Newton conducts basic and translational research to improve the treatment for liver cancer. Together with Dr. Nicholas Webster, her laboratory focuses on understanding and targeting liver cancer stem cells and the immune response after thermal ablation for liver cancer. Support for her research has come through grants from the Society for Interventional Radiology Foundation, the Society for Interventional Oncology, UCSD Moore's Cancer Center Pedal the Cause, and the Department of Defense (together with Dr. Nicole Steinmetz). She is also co-investigator with Dr. Shane Crotty on a grant studying the immune response to vaccinations by sampling lymph nodes in healthy volunteers through fine needle aspiration.

Prior to joining UC San Diego Health as faculty in 2013, Dr. Newton was a fellow in vascular and interventional radiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. She also completed the five-year T32-funded CSRRP at UC San Diego School of Medicine, which she now co-directs. She earned her medical degree from Wake Forest School of Medicine, where she also earned her doctorate from the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy. Dr. Newton co-founded and chairs the Interventional Initiative, a 501c(3) organization dedicated to educating the public about minimally invasive, image-guided procedures. The II produces multimedia content, including the award-winning documentary series titled "Without a Scalpel," available on Amazon and other on-demand platforms.

She is a member of many professional organizations, including the Western Angiographic and Interventional Society, the Society for Interventional Oncology, the American Roentgen Ray Society, the Society of Interventional Radiology and the American College of Radiology, among others.

Outside of work, she enjoys creative endeavors, time with family, indoor cycling, hiking, reading, travel and food. Dr. Newton speaks fluent Spanish.

UC San Diego Health Links
For more information, see Imaging & Radiology.

Medical DegreeWake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NCResidencyUC San Diego, School of Medicine, San Diego, CAFellowshipUC San Diego, School of Medicine, San Diego, CADoctoral DegreeWake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC
GenderFemale
LanguagesSpanish
Date Joined Staff2013-07-01
Board Certifications
American Board of RadiologyVascular and Interventional Radiology
Conditions and Treatments
  • Interventional Oncology
  • Minimally Invasive Approach
  • Image-Guided Procedures
  • Vascular and Interventional Radiology
  • Liver Cancer
  • Liver Tumors

Is My Insurance Accepted?

We accept most major insurance plans at UC San Diego Health. Find out if your insurance is accepted.

Open Payments Program Notification

For informational purposes only, a link to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments web page is provided here. The federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires that detailed information about payment and other payments of value worth over ten dollars ($10) from manufacturers of drugs, medical devices, and biologics to physicians and teaching hospitals be made available to the public.

View Open Payments Data for Dr. Newton