Biography

Dr. Raj joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2006 after completing his urology training at Duke University Medical Center and his urologic oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

He specializes in all aspects of urologic oncology, including the treatment of prostate, bladder, kidney and testis cancers. He is experienced in open, laparoscopic and robotic techniques. He has particular expertise in nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy, complex partial nephrectomy and orthotopic urinary diversion following radical cystectomy for bladder cancer. Dr. Raj’s clinical interests include optimizing oncologic and surgical outcomes for patients with urologic cancers utilizing minimally invasive approaches and multimodality approaches.

Dr. Raj is involved in setting up several clinical trials at UT Southwestern including novel imaging modalities for prostate cancers and precision medicine therapeutic approaches for patients with locally advanced prostate and bladder cancers. Along with Dr. John Minna and Hans Hammers, Dr. Raj co-directs the Experimental therapeutics program at the Simmons Cancer Center, which represents the largest program within the cancer center. He is intimately involved in enabling translational programs across multiple tumor types from preclinical discovery to clinical trial design.

His basic science research laboratory is primarily focused on deciphering the molecular mechanisms of therapy resistance in hormone dependent cancers, such as prostate and breast cancers in clinically and biologically relevant models. He recently developed a novel ex vivo culture methodology with Dr. Wayne Tilley for evaluation of primary cancer tissues. In conjunction with colleagues in chemistry notably Dr. JungMo Ahn, the Raj laboratory has developed several novel precision therapeutics against the androgen receptor in prostate cancer and estrogen receptor in breast cancer. These small molecules are being advanced towards clinical trials, which are planned for 2022 by a startup company, EtiraRx.

Dr. Raj has received peer reviewed funding from the National Cancer Institute, US Department of Defense and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. He is a co-recipient of the first ever US Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program Transformative Grant ($US6.8 million). The Raj laboratory is also enabled by philanthropic support from grateful patients and private foundations. The work in the Raj laboratory has been funded for research programs in breast, prostate, kidney, lung and pancreatic cancers. For further details of his research, please visit the Raj Lab website at http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/labs/raj/

Dr. Raj has received numerous honors for his work throughout his career, including the first prize from the American Urological Association for his laboratory research on prostate cancer. Dr. Raj has authored several high-impact publications in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lancet Oncology, Cancer and Molecular and Cellular Biology. He serves as reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals in the field of urology and oncology. He was elected as only the third urologist ever into the American Society of Clinical Investigation.

Education

Medical School
Jefferson Medical School (1997)
Internship/Residency
Duke University Medical Center (2004), Urology
Fellowship
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute (2006), Urologic Oncology

Research Interest

  • Androgen receptor signaling
  • Development of primary models of prostate and bladder cancers
  • Development of targeted therapeutics
  • http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/labs/raj/
  • Urologic cancers

Publications

Featured Publications LegendFeatured Publications

Honors & Awards

  • American Society of Clinical Investigation
    Nation's oldest medical honor society (2017)
  • FREEMASONS FOUNDATION CENTRE FOR MENS HEALTH
    Visiting Lectureship, Adelaide Australia (2014)
  • FASEB CONFERENCE MERIT AWARD
    Awarded to the top-rated abstract in steroid signaling (2010)
  • ASCO FOUNDATION MERIT AWARD
    Awarded to the top-rated abstract in genitourinary oncology (2008)
  • ASCO Foundation Merit Award
    Awarded to the top-rated abstracts in prostate cancer, Prostate Cancer Symposium, San Francisco, CA (2006)
  • Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Research Award
    Awarded for perineural therapeutics and cavernous nerve injury, Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering (2005)
  • AUA/Praecis Gerald P. Murphy Scholar
    Distinction in the study of prostate cancer, AUA Annual Meeting, Orlando FL (2002)
  • AUA Circon Basic Science Research Award (1st Place)
    Laboratory research/ AUA Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA (2001)
  • Sigma Xi Research Award (1st Place)
    Most outstanding basic science research of the year, Philadelphia Chapter, Sigma Xi Research Society, Philadelphia, PA (1994)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

  • American Association of Cancer Research (2006)
  • American Society of Clinical Investigation (2017)
  • American Urological Association (2004)
  • Society for Basic Urology research (2016)
  • Society of Urologic Oncology