Raj K. Tiwari, Ph.D., M.S., joined NYMC in 1996. Before that, he held faculty positions at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (1989-91) and Cornell University Medical College (1989-96) in New York. An accomplished scientist of international repute, Dr. Tiwari has more than 200 publications and abstracts, is a leader in cancer prevention and control, an inventor of several patents, and has presented his work in major conferences worldwide. As a co-author of several patents, he has pioneered the field of peptide mimotopes as vaccines that are paradigm-shifting with wide application in cancer, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases.
Mentorship remains of utmost importance to Dr. Tiwari throughout his career. He has graduated 15 Ph.D. students, more than 100 master’s students, and 20 clinical fellows and residents who are all well placed in academia, industry, and hold leadership positions. He has received several awards at NYMC for outstanding mentorship and teaching. Dr. Tiwari has had peer-reviewed funding from the NIH, US Army, ACS, AICR, and New York State and has been continuously funded since 1989. Dr. Tiwari reviews grants for the NIH and US Army in both their intramural and extramural grants. Beyond, he reviews grants internationally for Cancer Societies in France, Israel, and the American-Italian Foundation. His research is truly interdisciplinary and bridges immunology, tumor biology, infectious diseases, and molecular biochemistry.
Education
- Ph.D., Biochemistry, University of Calcutta
- M.S., Biochemistry, University of Calcutta
Areas of Expertise
- Immunology
- Tumor Biology
- Infectious Diseases
- Molecular Biochemistry
- Tumor Immunology
- Tumor Microenvironment
- Cell-cell Interactions
- Cancer Therapy
- Chemoprevention
- Tumor Immunology
Honors and Awards
- Dean's Award for Mentoring, New York Medical College, 2021
- Organized an International Conference on EAST-WEST Integrative Medicine, 2019-2021
- ECRIP reviewer, 2017 and 2021
- Awarded Outstanding Faculty Award, NYMC, 2020
- Awarded Honorary Professorship and Citation, Amity University Gurgaon, India, 2017
- Session and Keynote speaker, World Congress of Endobolism and Diabetes, Prague, Czech Republic, 2017
- Guest of Honor Lecture on Innovation Day, Amity University, 2016
- Keynote Speaker, International Conference on Translational Medicine, Amity University, Gurgaon, India, 2015
- Outstanding Scientist Award of Cancer Researchers of Indian Origin at the American Association of Cancer Research meeting in New Orleans, 2015
- Reviewer in Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics and various study sections, 2002-Present
Publications
- Tiwari G, Tiwari R. "Beyond Hemoglobin: A Review of Hemocyanin and the Biology of Purple Blood." Zhongguo ying yong sheng li xue za zhi = Zhongguo yingyong shenglixue zazhi = Chinese journal of applied physiology, 41(), (2025) e20250023. doi: 10.62958/j.cjap.2025.023
- Tiwari R, Jahnavi P, Vellingiri D, et. al. ""Engineering Rifampicin-Encapsulated Inhalable Microparticles for Precision Tuberculosis Therapy: In Vivo Distribution and Therapeutic Evaluation"." Journal of drug targeting, (), (2025) 1-35. doi: 10.1080/1061186X.2025.2559006
- Hollander K, Devarkar SC, Tang S, et. al. "Mechanistic basis for a novel dual-function Gag-Pol dimerizer potentiating CARD8 inflammasome activation and clearance of HIV-infected cells." NPJ drug discovery, 2(1), (2025) 22. doi: 10.1038/s44386-025-00025-2
- Tiwari R, Mishra A, Rehman S, et. al. "Essential role of clathrin and lipid rafts in pH-dependent entry of Chandipura virus: independence from caveolin pathway." The Journal of infectious diseases, (), (2025) . pii: jiaf446. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaf446
- Gupta J, Tiwari R, Gupta A, et. al. "Spine Tuberculosis Presenting as Subacute-Onset Spastic Paraparesis with Upper Back Pain." Indian journal of pediatrics, (), (2025) . doi: 10.1007/s12098-025-05752-y
- Kumar A, Tiwari R, Kumari S, et. al. "Cyclodextrin-AmB-IL-10 antagonist peptide nanoparticles treat leishmaniasis more effectively than conventional AmB." Nanomedicine (London, England), (), (2025) 1-15. doi: 10.1080/17435889.2025.2552099
- Lal MK, Kumar R, Tiwari RK, et. al. "Editorial: Mechanisms of stress tolerance in horticultural crops: physiological and molecular insights." Frontiers in plant science, 16(), (2025) 1664603. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1664603
Professional Service
As graduate program director of the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Dr. Tiwari leads one of the most successful programs in the basic sciences with a high percentage of current Ph.D. students in this department. Dr. Tiwari served as interim chair of the department from 2017-2021, during which time he mentored faculty and worked with them to attract peer-reviewed funding. As a member of various committees of NYMC, he has participated in school-wide policies, LCME and Middle States accreditation bodies, IACUC, IRB, Deans Research Committees, Seed and Bridge Funding, research initiatives, student education, admissions, and general administration and faculty relations, Tenure, and Promotions Committee, Chair and Dean Searches, and member of the Executive Faculty Senate that allowed Faculty governance and input in policies affecting education and research.
Dr. Tiwari successfully initiated an allergy and immunology wellness program by recruiting one of the top practicing academic physicians from Mount Sinai with considerable funding. He is also instrumental in organizing an annual conference on EAST-WEST Integrative Medicine with international and national faculty from prestigious universities that include Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU, and Mount Sinai. He successfully launched a faculty development program for international faculty and hospital administrators.
Memberships and Affiliations
- American Association for Cancer Research
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Harvey Society New York Academy of Sciences
- American Society for Clinical Nutrition
Teaching Responsibilities
- Basic Immunology
- Advanced Immunology
- Molecular Biology and Immunology of Tumor Cells
- Medical Microbiology
