Kayvan Keshari

Kayvan Keshari, PhD, is a Professor and Fred Lebow Chair at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), serving as a faculty member in the Department of Radiology and Laboratory Head in the Molecular Pharmacology Program of the Sloan Kettering Institute. He holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of North Carolina and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on cancer metabolism and the development of hyperpolarized MRI techniques for non-invasive diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Key research areas include metabolic engineering to enhance anti-tumor immunity, compartmentalized brain metabolism analysis, and imaging of cancer-associated metabolic changes.

Key achievements include the 2024 Fellowship with the World Molecular Imaging Society, the 2020 Distinguished Investigator award, and multiple NIH grants. His lab collaborates with institutions like GE Healthcare and employs advanced imaging technologies such as hyperpolarized 13C MRI to study metabolic pathways in tumors. Current projects leverage fructose metabolism in immunotherapy and explore compartmentalized metabolic fluxes in brain tumors.

Dr. Keshari advises numerous graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. His lab’s innovations include the Hyperpolarized Nano-NMR Platform and clinical applications of D2O solvated contrast agents. Affiliations include the Tri-Institutional PhD Program in Chemical Biology and leadership roles in imaging technology development.