Shaji K. Kumar, MD, is a Consultant in the Division of Hematology and the Mark and Judy Mullins Professor of Hematological Malignancies at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He serves as Chair of the Myeloma, Amyloidosis, and Dysproteinemia Disease Group at the Mayo Clinic, as well as Research Chair for the Division of Hematology.

Dr. Kumar received his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. His postdoctoral training included a residency in Internal Medicine at the same institute, followed by a residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. He then completed a Mayo Foundation Fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Dr. Kumar’s research centers on developing new drugs and drug combinations for treating myeloma. He is the Principal Investigator of multiple phase 1, 2, and 3 clinical trials. Additionally, he studies the mechanisms behind disease progression from precursor conditions and risk stratification of plasma cell disorders. His laboratory aims to understand the role of the bone marrow microenvironment in the development and progression of myeloma.

Dr. Kumar serves as Chair of the NCCN Multiple Myeloma Guidelines Panel. He is the President of the International Society of Amyloidosis and the Vice President of the International Myeloma Society. He is the current Editor in Chief of The Hematologist, the American Society of Hematology’s official member newsletter.