Shaji K. Kumar, MD

Shaji K. Kumar, MD, is a consultant and research chair for the Division of Hematology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, where he is also the Mark and Judy Mullins Professor of Hematological Malignancies.

Dr Kumar received his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. His postdoctoral training included a residency in internal medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, followed by an internal medicine residency and a hematology/oncology fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Dr Kumar then served as a Mayo Foundation Scholar at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA.

He is the principal investigator for several phase 1, 2, and 3 clinical trials. His research focuses on the development of novel drugs and drug combinations for the treatment of multiple myeloma. He also focuses on the mechanisms of disease progression from precursor conditions and the risk stratification of plasma cell disorders. His laboratory focuses on understanding the role of the bone marrow microenvironment in the development and progression of multiple myeloma.

Dr Kumar serves as chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Multiple Myeloma Guidelines Panel. He is president of the International Society of Amyloidosis and vice president of the International Myeloma Society. He is also the current editor in chief of The Hematologist, the American Society of Hematology’s official member newsletter.