Skip to Content

'
Vikas Kundra, M.D., Ph.D.

Present Title & Affiliation

Primary Appointment

Director Molecular Imaging, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Division of Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Education & Training

Degree-Granting Education

1995 Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, MD, with Honors in a Special Field, Medicine
1995 Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, PHD, with Honors in a Special Field, Program in Cell and Developmental Biology

Board Certifications

2000 The American Board of Radiology

Experience/Service

Academic Appointments

Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Division of Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2007-2012

Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities

Section Chief, Body Imaging, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Division of Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2010-2012

Honors and Awards

2009-present Fellow, Society of Computed Body Tomography/Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR)
2004 Who's Who in Executives and Professionals, National Register
2000 Brigham and Women's Hospital Annual Research Award for Outstanding Research by a Radiology Resident, Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School
2000 Dodd Research Award, Society of Gastrointestinal Radiology
1997 Brigham and Women's Hospital Annual Research Award for Outstanding Research by a Radiology Resident, Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School
1997 CREF Research Award
1997 Introduction to Research Program, Radiologic Society of North America
1997 Mallinkrodt Research Fellowship/Grant, Society of Nuclear Medicine
1995 M.D. with Honors, Harvard Medical School
1993 Proctor and Gamble Professional Opportunity Award for Outstanding Abstract in Cell and General Physiology, American Physiological Society
1987-1988 Fulbright Scholarship to the United Kingdom
1987 Summer Scientist Training, National Institutes of Health
1986 Biology Honor Society, Beta-Beta-Beta
1986 Jesuit Honor Society, Alpha-Sigma-Nu
1986 Outstanding Achievement in Organic Chemistry Award
1986 Who's Who in American Universities
1984-1987 Presidential Scholarship II, Loyola College

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Original Research Articles
1. Le-Petross H, Kundra V, Szklaruk J, Wei W, Hortobagyi GN, Ma J. Fast three-dimensional dual echo dixon technique improves fat suppression in breast MRI. J Magn Reson Imaging 31(4):889-894, 2010. PMID: 20373433.
2. Ravoori M, Czaplinska AJ, Sikes C, Han L, Johnson EM, Qiao W, Ng C, Cody DD, Murphy WA, Do KA, Navone NM, Kundra V. Quantification of mineralized bone response to prostate cancer by noninvasive in vivo microCT and non-destructive ex vivo microCT and DXA in a mouse model. PLoS One 5(3):e9854, 2010. PMCID: PMC2847943.
3. Ma J, Costelloe CM, Madewell JE, Hortobagyi GN, Green MC, Cao G, Sun F, Kundra V. Fast Dixon-based multi-sequence and multi-planar MRI for whole body detection of cancer metastases. J Magn Reson Imaging 29(5):1154-1162, 2009. PMID: 19388121.
4. Singh SP, Yang D, Ravoori M, Han L, Kundra V. In vivo functional and anatomic imaging for assessment of in vivo gene transfer. Radiology 252(3):763-771, 2009. PMID: 19587310.
5. Gnjatic S, Altorki NK, Tang DN, Tu SM, Kundra V, Ritter G, Old LJ, Logothetis CJ, Sharma P. NY-ESO-1 DNA vaccine induces T-cell responses that are suppressed by regulatory T cells. Clin Cancer Res 15(6):2130-2139, 2009. PMID: 19276258.
6. Rampurwala M, Ravoori MK, Wei W, Johnson VE, Vikram R, Kundra V. Visualization and quantification of intraperitoneal tumors by in vivo computed tomography using negative contrast enhancement strategy in a mouse model of ovarian cancer. Transl Oncol 2(2):96-106, 2009. PMCID: PMC2670577.
7. Garlich JR, De P, Dey N, Su JD, Peng X, Miller A, Murali R, Lu Y, Mills GB, Kundra V, Shu HK, Peng Q, Durden DL. A vascular targeted pan phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor prodrug, SF1126, with antitumor and antiangiogenic activity (Kundra lab images on the journal cover page). Cancer Res 68(1):206-215, 2008. PMID: 18172313.
8. Li ZG, Mathew P, Yang J, Starbuck MW, Zurita AJ, Liu J, Sikes C, Multani AS, Efstathiou E, Lopez A, Wang J, Fanning TV, Prieto VG, Kundra V, Vazquez ES, Troncoso P, Raymond AK, Logothetis CJ, Lin SH, Maity S, Navone NM. Androgen receptor-negative human prostate cancer cells induce osteogenesis in mice through FGF9-mediated mechanisms. J Clin Invest 118(8):2697-2710, 2008. PMCID: PMC2447924.
9. Bankson JA, Ji L, Ravoori M, Han L, Kundra V. Echo-planar imaging for MRI evaluation of intrathoracic tumors in murine models of lung cancer. J Magn Reson Imaging 27(1):57-62, 2008. PMID: 18058933.
10. Kim TJ, Ravoori M, Landen CN, Kamat AA, Han LY, Lu C, Lin YG, Merritt WM, Jennings N, Spannuth WA, Langley R, Gershenson DM, Coleman RL, Sood AK, Kundra V. Antitumor and antivascular effects of AVE8062 in ovarian carcinoma. Cancer Res 67(19):9337-9345, 10/2007. PMID: 17909042.
11. Ramirez MS, Ragan DK, Kundra V, Bankson JA. Feasibility of multiple-mouse dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI. Magn Reson Med 58(3):610-615, 2007. PMID: 17763350.
12. Auzenne E, Ghosh SC, Khodadadian M, Rivera B, Farquhar D, Price RE, Ravoori M, Kundra V, Freedman RS, Klostergaard J. Hyaluronic acid-paclitaxel: antitumor efficacy against CD44(+) human ovarian carcinoma xenografts. Neoplasia 9(6):479-486, 2007. PMCID: PMC1899257.
13. Kundra V, Silverman PM, Matin SF, Choi H. Imaging in oncology from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center: diagnosis, staging, and surveillance of prostate cancer. AJR Am J Roentgenol 189(4):830-844, 2007. PMID: 17885053.
14. Kundra V, Ng CS, Ma J, Bankson JA, Price RE, Cody DD, Do KA, Han L, Navone NM. In vivo imaging of prostate cancer involving bone in a mouse model. Prostate 67(1):50-60, 2007. PMID: 17031813.
15. Hennessy BT, Lu Y, Poradosu E, Yu Q, Yu S, Hall H, Carey MS, Ravoori M, Gonzalez-Angulo AM, Birch R, Henderson IC, Kundra V, Mills GB. Pharmacodynamic markers of perifosine efficacy. Clin Cancer Res 13(24):7421-7431, 2007. PMID: 18094426.
16. Thaker PH, Han LY, Kamat AA, Arevalo JM, Takahashi R, Lu C, Jennings NB, Armaiz-Pena G, Bankson JA, Ravoori M, Merritt WM, Lin YG, Mangala LS, Kim TJ, Coleman RL, Landen CN, Li Y, Felix E, Sanguino AM, Newman RA, Lloyd M, Gershenson DM, Kundra V, Lopez-Berestein G, Lutgendorf SK, Cole SW, Sood AK. Chronic stress promotes tumor growth and angiogenesis in a mouse model of ovarian carcinoma. Nat Med 12(8):939-944, 2006. e-Pub 7/2006. PMID: 16862152.
17. Sood A, Lu C, Jennings N, Armaiz-Pena G, Bankson J, Ravoori M, Merritt W, Lin Y, Mangala S, Tae JK, Coleman R, Landen C, Li Y, Felix E, Newman R, Lloyd M, Gershenson D, Kundra V, Lopez-Bernstein G, Cole S, Arevalo J, Takahashi R, Lutgendorf S. Stress and the spread of ovarian cancer in mice. Cancer Biol Ther 5(8):893-896, 2006.
18. Ueda K, Kawashima H, Ohtani S, Deng WG, Ravoori M, Bankson J, Gao B, Girard L, Minna JD, Roth JA, Kundra V, Ji L. The 3p21.3 tumor suppressor NPRL2 plays an important role in cisplatin-induced resistance in human non-small-cell lung cancer cells (Kundra lab images on the journal cover page). Cancer Res 66(19):9682-9690, 2006. PMID: 17018626.
19. Visentin B, Vekich JA, Sibbald BJ, Cavalli AL, Moreno KM, Matteo RG, Garland WA, Lu Y, Yu S, Hall HS, Kundra V, Mills GB, Sabbadini RA. Validation of an anti-sphingosine-1-phosphate antibody as a potential therapeutic in reducing growth, invasion, and angiogenesis in multiple tumor lineages. Cancer Cell 9(3):225-238, 2006. PMID: 16530706.
20. Yang D, Han L, Kundra V. Exogenous gene expression in tumors: noninvasive quantification with functional and anatomic imaging in a mouse model. Radiology 235(3):950-958, 2005. PMID: 15914480.
21. Kundra V, Krane JF, Nikolaidis P, Green DS, Zou KH, Tuncali K, Vansonnenberg E, Silverman SG. Telomerase activity predicts malignancy in percutaneous image-guided needle biopsy specimens of the abdomen and pelvis. Radiology 234(3):941-947, 2005. PMID: 15734943.
22. Kundra V, Silverman PM. Imaging in the diagnosis, staging, and follow-up of cancer of the urinary bladder. AJR Am J Roentgenol 180(4):1045-1054, 2003. PMID: 12646453.
23. Kundra V, Silverman PM. Impact of multislice CT on imaging of acute abdominal disease. Radiol Clin North Am 41(6):1083-1093, 2003. PMID: 14661659.
24. Kundra V, Mannting F, Jones AG, Kassis AI. Noninvasive monitoring of somatostatin receptor type 2 chimeric gene transfer. J Nucl Med 43(3):406-412, 2002. PMID: 11884502.
25. Blatch GL, Lassle M, Zetter BR, Kundra V. Isolation of a mouse cDNA encoding mSTI1, a stress-inducible protein containing the TPR motif. Gene 194(2):277-282, 1997. PMID: 9272871.
26. Lassle M, Blatch GL, Kundra V, Takatori T, Zetter BR. Stress-inducible, murine protein mSTI1. Characterization of binding domains for heat shock proteins and in vitro phosphorylation by different kinases. J Biol Chem 272(3):1876-1884, 1997. PMID: 8999875.
27. Kundra V, Anand-Apte B, Feig LA, Zetter BR. The chemotactic response to PDGF-BB: evidence of a role for Ras. J Cell Biol 130(3):725-731, 1995. PMCID: PMC2120528.
28. Kundra V, Stoker S, Zetter BR. Excess early signaling activity inhibits cellular chemotaxis toward PDGF-BB. Oncogene 9(5):1429-1435, 1994. PMID: 8152804.
29. Yenush L, Kundra V, White MF, Zetter BR. Functional domains of the insulin receptor responsible for chemotactic signaling. J Biol Chem 269(1):100-104, 1994. PMID: 8276780.
30. Kundra V, Zetter BR. Molecular mechanisms of metastasis. Intern and Staff Physician, 1994.
31. Kundra V, Escobedo JA, Kazlauskas A, Kim HK, Rhee SG, Williams LT, Zetter BR. Regulation of chemotaxis by the platelet-derived growth factor receptor-beta. Nature 367(6462):474-476, 1994. PMID: 8107807.
32. Kundra V, Dean MF. Transformed SV3T3 cells have a reduced lysosomal compartment and lower levels of enzyme activity than 3T3 cells. Exp Cell Res 189(1):93-99, 1990. PMID: 1693341.

Invited Articles
1. Kundra V. Testicular cancer. Semin Roentgenol 39(3):437-450, 2004. PMID: 15372756.

Book Chapters
1. Kundra V, Matin SF, Kuban DA. Prostate cancer. In: Oncologic Imaging, A Multidisciplinary Approach. Elsevier Saunders, 2012.
2. Kundra V. Clinical potential of gene expression imaging. In: Molecular Imaging in Oncology. Ed(s) M Pomper, J Gelovani. Informa Press: New York, 429-442, 2008. ISBN: 0849374170.
3. Kundra V, Mawlawi O. PET imaging in genomic medicine. In: Genomic and Personalized Medicine. Ed(s) H Willard, G Ginsburg. Elsevier: Amsterdam; Boston, 461-469, 2008.
4. Kundra V, Schellingerhout D, Jackson EF. Targeted and functional imaging. In: Targeted Cancer Therapy. Ed(s) R Kurzrock, M Markman. Humana Press: Totowa, 335-360, 2008. ISBN: 978-1-60327-423-4.
5. Channock SJ, Kundra V, Johnson FL, Singer MD. The other side of the bed: what caregivers can learn from listening to patients and their families. In: Principles and Practice of Pediatric Oncology, 5th. Ed(s) PA Pizzo, DG Poplack. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: Philadelphia, 1446-1465, 2006.
6. Channock SJ, Kundra V, Johnson FL, Singer MD. The other side of the bed: what caregivers can learn from listening to patients and their families. In: Principles and Practice of Pediatric Oncology, 4th. Ed(s) PA Pizzo, DG Poplack. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: Philadelphia, 1393-1410, 2002.
7. Channock SJ, Kundra V, Johnson FL, Singer MD. The other side of the bed: what caregivers can learn from listening to patients and their families. In: Principles and Practice of Pediatric Oncology, 3rd. Ed(s) PA Pizzo, DG Poplack. Lippincott-Raven: Philadelphia, 1157-1169, 1997.
8. Channock SJ,Kundra V, Johnson FL, Singer MD. The other side of the bed: what caregivers can learn from listening to patients and their families. In: Principles and Practice of Pediatric Oncology, 2nd. Ed(s) PA Pizzo, DG Poplack. J.B. Lippincott: Philadelphia, 1157-1169, 1993.

Grant & Contract Support

Title: Imaging Stem Cells In Vivo
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 9/1/2012 - 8/31/2017
 
Title: Long Term Tracking of Stem Cells
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 4/1/2012 - 3/31/2017
 
Title: Clinical Translation of Therapeutic siRNA in Solid Malignancies
Funding Source: Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
Role: Co-Investigator
Principal Investigator: Coleman R
Duration: 12/1/2011 - 11/30/2014
 
Title: Virus-resembling optical nano-materials for ovarian cancer imaging and phototherapy
Funding Source: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 8/1/2011 - 7/31/2013
 
Title: Clinically Practical Whole Body MRI of Prostate Cancer
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Collaborator
Principal Investigator: J Ma
Duration: 7/1/2011 - 6/30/2016
 
Title: Simultaneous Multiple-Animal SPECT Imaging
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Collaborator
Principal Investigator: Y Shao
Duration: 7/1/2011 - 6/30/2014
 
Title: Personalizing Nanoparticle Therapy
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 3/1/2011 - 2/29/2016
 
Title: Molecular Theragnostics of Ovarian Cancer
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator: A Sood
Duration: 1/1/2011 - 1/1/2016

Last updated: 12/13/2012