Noopur S. Raje, MD, is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, the Director of the Center for Multiple Myeloma, and the Rita Kelley Chair in Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston, MA, USA. She studied medicine at B.J. Medical College, Pune University, India, and trained at Massachusetts General Hospital and at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston.
Professor Raje is the 2022 recipient of the Ken Anderson Basic and Translational Research Award, established by IMS to honor the seminal contributions of Professor Ken Anderson’s approach to “bench to bedside” translational research.
“From a very young age, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in medicine. I knew I wanted to take care of people and try and make a difference in their lives. I always thought that I would be a clinician and research was never my priority as I was training. I loved medicine and oncology was a real draw as it included all internal medicine. Early on, I was afforded the opportunity of working in myeloma first clinically in London under the mentorship of Ray Powles and then in Boston under the mentorship of Ken Anderson. He gave me the opportunity of working in his lab and this experience opened my love for basic and translational research. He has always served as a role model and taught me the importance of making science count for patients…Ken Anderson has exemplified this in his illustrious career, and it is a true honor and a humbling experience to receive this award.”
Professor Raje’s research focuses primarily on developing novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of multiple myeloma and related plasma cell disorders. Her research team aims to identify cellular signaling pathways that contribute to the survival and proliferation of myeloma cells in the bone environment, and design clinical trials to specifically harness these. Her work is a remarkable example of the Bench to Bedside and Bedside to Bench translational research approach: “We are at a threshold of an amazing time in multiple myeloma research—with the tools available today, we need to better risk stratify patients specifically in precursor disease states, bring novel immunotherapies to the forefront, and use tools such as minimal residual disease testing in identifying a curative platform of treatment”
Professor Raje is co-chair of the National Cancer Institute Myeloma Steering Committee, a member of the International Myeloma Working Group, and serves on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee for Multiple Myeloma. She is an active member of the IMS and serves as the co-chair of the Education Committee. “The IMS is a truly global society and collaborations across investigators around the world will help us define and accomplish the ultimate goal of cure. It will allow access to care globally where the IMS is playing such a critical role.”
Professor Raje has published widely on multiple myeloma, and is an ad hoc reviewer for several journals including Blood, Clinical Cancer Research, Leukemia, and the American Journal of Hematology. She has a long list of scientific collaborations in US, Europe, and other countries, and has mentored several medical and PhD students and post-doctoral fellows. She is very sensitive to social issues, including the gender gap in academia and elsewhere. “We have incredible women working in the field of myeloma and we are fortunate that we already have several leaders in this space. I think it is important that women get recognized and are given the opportunity to lead both translational and clinical studies in myeloma. Closing the gender gap may have to be done with intentionality in the next few years, specifically for roles as global PIs, first and senior authorship and leadership roles in societies. Recognizing the gender gap will allow to close this gap.”
