Dr. Kumar’s academic journey began with a master’s degree in chemistry from Bareilly College in 1976. He earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi in 1984. Following a brief stint at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, he began a new chapter by relocating to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City in January 1986. Throughout his career spanning nearly forty years, he played an active role as an academician and scientist at leading Cancer Centers and Universities in the United States until 2017, including more than two decades at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center – New York City and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center – Houston. During this time, Dr. Kumar held several institutional academic and research leadership positions, served as a department deputy chair and chair, as an endowed distinguished professor, and endowed chairs in the United States as well as the Government of India DBT’s National Chair in Cancer Research and Distinguished Professorship in India.

Dr. Kumar made several conceptual contributions to cancer research, including mechanistic and translational advancements in epidermal growth factor receptors, kinases, and gene expression research. For example, while collaborating with the late Professor John Mendelsohn – the inventor of Cetuximab, his studies provided signaling insights into the mechanism of action of monoclonal antibody C225 against the EGFR and antibody 4D5 against the HER2 receptor, which were later humanized and developed as Cetuximab and Herceptin, respectively. Over time, Dr. Kumar’s research opened new research and career avenues for biomedical scientists and his trainees. His impact extends beyond academic contributions, with over three hundred research articles, invited reviews in peer-reviewed journals, and editing nine books or volumes. Stanford University data from the past four years has consistently ranked Dr. Kumar among the top under one-half percent of scientists in oncology and carcinogenesis globally. Dr. Kumar has been an active member of various editorial boards for leading cancer research journals for nearly twenty-five years and continues to serve on the board of several journals at the forefront of cancer research. He has also contributed his scientific expertise to nearly 100 peer-review panels of national and international funding agencies for over three decades, including the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and Veteran Administration of the United States, multiple foreign governmental funding agencies, DBT-Welcome Trust, India-French and India-German Alliance Funding Programs, Breast Cancer Foundations, and the Monitoring Committee of the National Breast Cancer Genome and the Making Cancer Care Affordable Projects.

The recognition of Dr. Kumar’s original research contributions has led to several prestigious awards and honors throughout his career. Notable accolades include the 1995 Outstanding Investigator Award from the Hinkle Society of Penn State University College of Medicine, the 2004 MD Anderson Cancer Center Faculty Achievement Award in Basic Sciences, the 2004 Norman Brinker Award for Research Excellence, the 2006 Ranbaxy (Sun Pharma) Research Award in Pharmaceutical Sciences, the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Indian Scientists in Cancer Research. Beyond his research accomplishments, Dr. Kumar has been a mentor, guiding and training over 67 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and physician-scientists. Many of his mentees now hold esteemed faculty positions worldwide, including in the United States, India, China, Italy, and other countries. Sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience, Dr. Kumar has delivered over 280 invited lectures at national and international scientific conferences, universities, medical schools, and hospitals.

In 2023, Dr. Kumar led a significant step by establishing the first Breast Cancer in Young Women Foundation in the United States and globally. The Foundation’s vision is to create a reality in which the death of a young woman from breast cancer becomes a rare event. The foundation is dedicated to saving the lives of young women affected by breast cancer by promoting and supporting awareness and advanced research and advocacy.