Neema Navai, MD

Dr. Neema Navai is Deputy Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Urology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. A native of Michigan, Dr. Navai completed his undergraduate degree in cellular and molecular biology at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor where he earned class honors. He then attended the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL where he completed his medical doctorate during which he was admitted to the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. Dr. Navai remained at Northwestern University for his Urology residency after which he began his time here at MD Anderson as a fellow in the Urologic Oncology during which he gained support from the AUA Foundation Research Scholars program. Upon completing his fellowship, Dr. Navai joined the faculty at MD Anderson Cancer Center in the Department of Urology.

Dr. Navai provides specialized care to patients facing bladder cancer diagnoses. His care model emphasizes his patient’s needs, thoughtful consideration to empathetic communication, and helping guide patients with deep regard for their cancer goals and personal values. Dr. Navai offers robotic surgical options including complex urinary reconstructions with a goal to minimize the potential negative impacts of major surgical therapy on quality of life while maintaining exemplary cancer outcomes.

As the Co-Chair and strategic decision owner of the Virtual Care platform and Reach strategy group in the Chief Medical Executives (CME) office at MD Anderson, Dr. Navai partners with Sanchita Jain, Executive Director of Innovation, to oversee the strategic and operational approach to telemedicine across the MD Anderson’s enterprise. In this role, reporting to our CME Dr. Welela Tereffe, Dr. Navai helps MD Anderson realize its strategic goal to provide a best-in-class approach to telemedicine. Ensuring we can meet the needs of more patients and have more impact on those served.

Dr. Navai serves on several institutional governance committees within patient care informatics and further serves our outpatient operations as the Genitourinary Center Medical Director. In these roles, he emphasizes systems-based approaches to foster best in class care, high reliability, patient safety, all in service of the mission of MD Anderson to end cancer.