Rafat Abonour, MD

Rafat Abonour, MD, has recently joined the University of Miami as a professor of clinical medicine and medical director for the Division of Myeloma. He also established and directs the Multiple Myeloma and Plasma Cell Program at the Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, Indiana University School of Medicine.

Dr Abonour earned his medical degree from the University of Damascus in Syria. He completed his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

His clinical interests include novel therapies for multiple myeloma. He is principal or co-principal investigator for several ongoing clinical trials. Additionally, Dr Abonour is a member of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and leads its Data Monitoring Committee for Myeloma. He has authored or coauthored numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters, and review articles. He has lectured nationally and internationally.

Dr Abonour is actively involved in several professional societies, including the American Society of Hematology, where he was chair of the Scientific Committee on Plasma Cell Neoplasia (2015); and the American Society of Oncology, where he is chair of the Scientific Committee on Plasma Cell Neoplasia (2025).

He has received numerous awards, including the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award and the Indianapolis Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Excellence in Cancer Care Award. Dr Abonour also received the Sagamore of the Wabash Award, the highest honor an Indiana governor can bestow, on behalf of his patients for his work in multiple myeloma.