Dr. Shaji Kumar received his medical degree from All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India. His postdoctoral training included a residency in internal medicine from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, followed by a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. He is currently the medical director for the Cancer Center Clinical Research Office which oversees the development, activation, conduct, and monitoring of interventional trials across the three site Mayo Clinic Cancer Center.

Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) in internal medicine, medical oncology, and an ABIM diplomate in hematology, Dr. Kumar holds membership in several professional organizations including the American Society of Hematology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association for Cancer Research, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, the Association of Physicians of India, and the European Hematology Association. He has published numerous articles, abstracts, editorials, and letters in the peer-reviewed literature, including Blood, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Leukemia, American Journal of Hematology, British Journal of Haematology, and Bone Marrow Transplantation. He is also a member of the editorial board for several journals including American Journal of Hematology, European Journal of Clinical and Medical Oncology and Leukemia.

Dr. Kumar’s research focuses on the development of novel drugs for the treatment of myeloma, and he has presented nationally and internationally. He is the principal investigator of several phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials exploring new drugs and combinations for newly diagnosed and relapsed myeloma. His laboratory is focused on understanding the role of bone marrow microenvironment in the development and progression of myeloma.