Biography
Prajwal Rajappa, MD, MS, is a physician-scientist at the Cleveland Clinic who serves as the Director of Pediatric Precision Oncology and specializes in immuno-oncology. In this role, he will lead the effort across the enterprise to streamline precision oncology approaches that integrate molecular diagnostics and next-generation sequencing as an addition to the standard of care for pediatric and young adult patients with cancer. In addition, his laboratory will be based in the Department of Cancer Sciences. After obtaining his MD, Dr. Rajappa earned his Master’s Degree in Clinical and Translational Investigation at Cornell University and completed postdoctoral training with a specific focus on brain tumor immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Prior to his recruitment to the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Rajappa was an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neurological Surgery with Tenure at the Ohio State University and Principal Investigator at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Dr. Rajappa’s laboratory has been specifically focused on immune regulation in glioma malignant progression, developing next-generation cellular immunotherapies, and personalized medicine approaches for Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) patients with Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors. His work has been supported by NIH and foundation grants, and he has served on national committees including the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Pediatric Immunotherapy Development Network, the NIH Clinical Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumor (CNBT) Study Section, as well as the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO). His research has appeared in leading journals such as the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, and Cell Reports.

Clinical Dx Showcase:
Cleveland Clinic