Pranela Rameshwar, PhD

Dr. Rameshwar is a professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School (NJMS). She received a B.S. degree in medical microbiology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Ph.D. degree in biology from Rutgers University, New Jersey. She completed her postdoctoral studies in hematopoiesis at JNJMS. In 1995, Dr. Rameshwar was appointed as an assistant professor at the same institution where she has moved up the ranks to full professor with tenure. Her research interest is in stem cell biology including hematopoietic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, breast cancer stem cells and prolonged dormancy of breast cancer. She is interested in reversing dormancy for targeted treatment. Dr. Rameshwar hopes to use mesenchymal stem cells as off-the-shelf cells to deliver drugs to reverse dormancy for chemosensitivity. In addition, Dr. Rameshwar is involved in research to understand the neural regulation of hematopoiesis, the immunology of adult human mesenchymal stem cells, and the use of mesenchymal stem cells in regenerative medicine. Her research continues to be funded by federal, state, and other agencies. She has trained several doctoral students and physician scientists. She has authored over 220 publications that include original manuscripts, reviews, editorials, and book chapters. She has edited books and won numerous awards such as the Rutgers Master Educator Award for teaching, Faculty of the Year Award and Outstanding mentor award. Dr. Rameshwar is the editor-in-chief of the journal Breast Cancer: Targets and Therapy as well as other journals. She also serves on several editorial boards of journals, is a grant reviewer for nationally and internationally funding agencies. Dr. Rameshwar has also given numerous invited seminars both nationally and internationally.