Raj K. Tiwari, M.S., Ph.D., 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, 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, USARMY, ACS, AICR, and NYSTATE and has been continuously funded since 1989. Dr. Tiwari reviews grants for the NIH and USARMY 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.

Areas of Expertise

• Immunology
• Tumor biology
• Infectious diseases
• Molecular biochemistry
• Tumor immunology
• Tumor microenvironment
• Cell-cell interactions
• Cancer therapy
• Chemoprevention
• Tumor Immunology

Education

• M.S., Biochemistry, University of Calcutta
• Ph.D., Biochemistry, University of Calcutta

Honors and Awards

• 2021: Dean's Award for Mentoring
• 2019-2021: Organized an International Conference on EAST-WEST Integrative Medicine
• 2017 and 2021: ECRIP reviewer
• 2020: Awarded Outstanding Faculty Award, NYMC
• 2017: Awarded Honorary Professorship and Citation June 16 Amity University Gurgaon, India
• 2017: Session and Keynote speaker, World Congress of Endobolism and Diabetes, July 12-14 Prague, Czech Republic
• 2016: Guest of Honor Lecture on the Innovation Day on 9-28-2016, Amity University
• 2015: Keynote Speaker International Conference on Translational Medicine, February 19-20, 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
• 2002-Present: Reviewer in Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics and various study sections

Publications

• Buswal MK, Punia R, Kumar M, et. al. "Systemic acquired resistance inducing chemicals mitigate black scurf disease in potato by activating defense-related enzymes." PeerJ, 12(), (2024) e18470. doi: 10.7717/peerj.18470
• Del Olmo R, Tynkevych O, Łazińska M, et. al. "Anodizing of iron-based alloys: Fundamentals, recent progress, and applications." Reports on progress in physics. Physical Society (Great Britain), (), (2024) . doi: 10.1088/1361-6633/ad959b
• Tiwari R. "Breakthrough Biomarkers in Lung Cancer: Pioneering Early Detection and Precision Treatment Strategies." Zhongguo ying yong sheng li xue za zhi = Zhongguo yingyong shenglixue zazhi = Chinese journal of applied physiology, 40(), (2024) e20240034. doi: 10.62958/j.cjap.2024.034
• Palmer RK, Nechiporenko AB, Ilies MA, et. al. "Sodium-dependent glucose co-transport proteins (SGLTs) are not involved in human glucose taste detection." PloS one, 19(11), (2024) e0313128. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313128
• Tiwari R, Singh S, Bajpai M, et. al. "Impact of Osteocalcin on Glycemic Regulation and Insulin Sensitivity in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients." Cureus, 16(10), (2024) e71675. doi: 10.7759/cureus.71675
• Dong L, Lajkosz K, Sanchez-Salas R, et. al. "Proportion of Gleason Score ≥8 Prostate Cancer on Biopsy and Tumor Aggressiveness in Matched Cohorts of East Asian and Non-East Asian Men." Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN, (), (2024) 1-8. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2024.7061
• Nema RK, Singh S, Singh AK, et. al. "Protocol for detection of pathogenic enteric RNA viruses by regular monitoring of environmental samples from wastewater treatment plants using droplet digital PCR." Science in One Health, 3(), (2024) 100080. doi: 10.1016/j.soh.2024.100080

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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 included 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