SAASCR Honors Leading Asian American Cancer Researchers
From Left: Drs. Sunil Krishnan, Chandan Guha, Prasad Adusumilli, Resham Bhattacharya, Natarajan Muthusamy, Rajvir Dahiya (President SAASCR), Dharam P Chauhan (Secretary SAASCR), Manmeet S Ahluwalia, Golam Mohi, Suresh Ramalingam
India-West Staff Reporter
CHICAGO, IL – The Society of American Asian Scientists in Cancer Research (SAASCR), a non-profit founded in California in 2004, has over 5,000 members, all of whom also belong to the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Its members—primarily of Indian origin—are based in the U.S. and Canada and are supported by biotechnology companies.
On April 27, 2025, SAASCR President Dr. Rajvir Dahiya, Professor Emeritus at UCSF, presented awards during the AACR Annual Meeting in Chicago. Dr. Dharam Pal Chauhan, Secretary of SAASCR and retired UCSD Professor, assisted in organizing the event.
Honorees included leading cancer researchers:
- Dr. Sunil Krishnan (UTHealth Houston) focuses on radiation therapies for gastrointestinal cancers. He has authored 300+ peer-reviewed articles and is editor-in-chief of Cancer Nanotechnology.
- Dr. Chandan Guha (Einstein College of Medicine) leads research in radiation injury mitigation and directs the Einstein Institute for Onco-Physics. His work improves preparedness for radiological emergencies.
- Dr. Prasad Adusumilli (Memorial Sloan Kettering) is known globally for mesothelioma treatment and CAR T-cell therapy. His lab has analyzed samples from over 12,000 patients, resulting in 320+ publications.
- Dr. Resham Bhattacharya (University of Oklahoma) co-leads the Cancer Biology Program and researches gynecologic cancers. Her work on BMI1 in ovarian cancer led to novel delivery systems now in clinical trials.
- Dr. Natarajan Muthusamy (Ohio State University) studies blood cancers, leukemia-initiating cells, and therapeutic targeting, publishing 150+ papers over his 35-year career.
- Dr. Manmeet Ahluwalia (Florida International University and Miami Cancer Institute) specializes in brain tumors and brain metastases, leads major NIH-funded research, and has 275 publications with 19,000+ citations.
- Dr. Golam Mohi (University of Virginia) investigates molecular mechanisms of blood cancers, leading to clinical trials for new therapies in myelofibrosis.
- Dr. Suresh Ramalingam (Emory University) is a lung cancer expert whose work on EGFR mutations helped secure FDA approvals for novel treatments. He has 400+ publications and chairs the journal Cancer.
- Dr. Ramasamy Paulmurugan (Stanford University) is a molecular imaging expert, pioneering microRNA-based strategies to overcome drug resistance in cancer. He has published over 250 journal articles.
