Biography

Dr. Parvesh Kumar is an expert in radiation oncology and clinical research management.

Kumar has a national reputation for establishing and building academic departments of radiation oncology and clinical research programs. Prior to joining the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV in February 2016, Kumar served as the founding chair of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School's radiation oncology department. He also served as the associate director for radiation oncology for the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center at Rutgers.

An accomplished researcher, Dr. Kumar has a track record of extramural grant funding by conducting several investigator-initiated clinical trials. In addition, he has led several national cooperative group clinical trials in lung cancer, head and neck tumors, and prostate cancer. He is a pioneer in the use of concurrent chemotherapy (docetaxel) with radiation in patients with locally advanced high-risk prostate cancer. 

At UNLV, Kumar is a tenured professor who also serves as the principal investigator of the Mountain West Clinical Translational Research Infrastructure Network (CTR-IN) Program. The program is a consortium of 13 Mountain West universities, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through a grant aimed at increasing research capacity throughout the region.