Assistant Professor, Pediatric and Neurological Surgery
Dr. Rajappa is a physician-scientist and principal investigator for the Institute for Genomic Medicine (IGM) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He directs the Translational Neuro-Oncology Laboratory at IGM with a focus on precision medicine and immunotherapy for patients diagnosed with central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Dr. Rajappa is also an assistant professor of pediatrics and neurological surgery. Dr. Rajappa is a faculty member of the Translational Therapeutics Research Program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
After obtaining his MD, Dr. Rajappa completed a unique fellowship and postdoctoral training program in the Department of Neurological Surgery of Weill Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. As a fellow in neurological surgery, his training provided him exposure to the adult and pediatric neurosurgical management of brain and spinal tumors. Dr. Rajappa performed extensive basic science postdoctoral training with a specific focus on brain tumor immunology and the glioma microenvironment. His work has been published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Cancer Research and Clinical Cancer Research.
To further his goal of developing targeted clinical trials for brain tumor patients, Dr. Rajappa obtained a master’s degree in clinical and translational investigation from Cornell University based on his work in directing a precision medicine program for patients with pediatric and adult brain tumors at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Highlights
- Pediatric Precision Oncology Award, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, 2018
- Coordinated large-scale biobanking study (ACNS02B3) with Children’s Oncology Group, Weill Cornell Brain and Spine