Vikas Kundra

Dr. Vikas Kundra is a Professor and Chief of Oncologic Imaging in the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore. He is additionally affiliated with the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center through its Program in Oncology, Experimental Therapeutics, bridging clinical radiology and cancer research innovation.

His educational background includes:

• B.S. in Biology (Summa Cum Laude) from Loyola University Maryland (1984-1987)
• M.D. with Honors in a Special Field and Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Harvard Medical School (1988-1995); thesis on "Signal Transduction Pathways Involved in Platelet Derived Growth Factor-BB Mediated Chemotaxis" under Bruce Zetter
• Postgraduate training: Research Fellowship (1995-1996), Clinical and Research Residency (1996-2000), and Clinical and Research Fellowship (2000-2001) in Radiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital

Dr. Kundra specializes in deploying imaging methods to personalize nanoparticle chemotherapy, with pioneering work in somatostatin receptor-based imaging/therapy and gene expression imaging for cellular therapy applications. His research integrates molecular imaging with nanotechnology to develop targeted cancer treatments, focusing on abdominal malignancies and ovarian cancer. He holds multiple U.S. and international patents for nanoparticle imaging systems and has coauthored over 100 peer-reviewed publications.

As principal investigator for a recent $3.1 million NCI R01 grant, he leads a research team developing DM-Dual-Gd-based nanoparticles for multimodal ovarian cancer management. This work aims to create a clinical paradigm where single-injection nanoparticles enable pre-surgical MR planning, intraoperative optical imaging, and tumor photodestruction to improve survival rates. His funding history spans federal, institutional, and industry sources since 2003.

His clinical expertise centers on abdominal imaging, particularly advanced CT and MR techniques. The research team operates within the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, focusing on translating nanoparticle imaging systems from bench to bedside for oncologic applications.