Dr. Santosh Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology from Ranchi University, a master’s degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and a Ph.D. from Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune. Dr. Kumar worked as a research fellow at the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, from 2007 to 2012, and as a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University from 2013 to 2019.
Dr. Kumar is an accomplished cancer researcher with a strong focus on stress-induced DNA damage responses and their implications for cancer progression and therapy. He also investigates the effects of radiation and senescence on cancer, aiming to understand how these factors contribute to tumorigenesis and therapy resistance. By exploring the molecular mechanisms behind radiation-induced DNA damage and the role of cellular senescence in cancer, Dr. Kumar is developing novel therapeutic strategies for cancer prevention and treatment, particularly in gastrointestinal (GI) cancer. His research bridges basic science with translational applications, offering promising insights into improving patient outcomes.
Bhaskar V.S. Kallakury is a pathologist and a Professor at the Department of Pathology, Georgetown University Medical Center. He earned a medical degree from Osmania Medical College NTR UHS, and completed a residency in Pathology-Anatomic and Clinical at the Albany Medical Center in 1991–1997. He holds certifications in Hematology, and in Anatomic Pathology & Clinical Pathology (American Board of Pathology). Bhaskar V.S. Kallakury specializes in Pathology including General Pathology, Hematopathology, Anatomic Pathology, and Clinical Pathology.
Kamal Datta is an Associate Professor at Georgetown University Medical Center. He holds a medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and has completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. His expertise includes Radiation Biology, Cancer Research, Oxidative Stress, Molecular Biology, and DNA damage. Moreover, his laboratory studies persistent cellular stress signaling after exposure to ionizing radiation, especially ionizing radiation encountered by astronauts in outer space.
Dr. Albert J. Fornace Jr. holds the Molecular Cancer Research Chair at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and is also a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology and the Department of Radiation Medicine. He is the founding director of the Center for Metabolomic Studies (CMS) at Georgetown University Medical Center. He has extensive experience in radiation carcinogenesis and radiation injury; this includes particle radiation with relevance to space radiation and also radiation therapy. Along with his collaborators, he established the field of radiation metabolomics over the last 15 years. He is an internationally recognized expert in stress-signaling mechanisms and molecular radiobiology being in the top 0.5% of cited authors in the life sciences with 56,620 citations from 435 publications. His studies encompass many areas of cell and tissue injury with relevance to radiobiology, cancer biology, immunology, metabolomics, toxicology, and microbiome research.
