Rama Soundararajan, PhD

Dr. Rama Soundararajan is an award-winning scientist and educator with 25+ years of biomedical research experience in academic and health-care sectors. She is a Professor at the Department of Translational Molecular Pathology and the Department of GSBS Dean's Office at the graduate school, Director of the ITERT Education and Training Core, and Faculty Liaison to the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and Development at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. She is also a CIMER-certified mentorship training facilitator, and member of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE), and the American Association for Cancer Education (AACE). Her current research interests are focused on understanding the fundamental biology that drives aggressive stem cell-enriched prostate cancers, and developing combination therapies to combat tumor progression.

As Director and Co-Founder of an advanced scientific training program for undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in translational medicine at MD Anderson [Interdisciplinary Translational Educational Research Training, ITERT program, founded in 2013], she has created and taught several STEM professional skills and career-development courses for learners in all career stages ranging from high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows to early career faculty and research staff. In her current roles at MD Anderson, she is responsible for providing strategic educational leadership which includes a vision for the scope, direction, objectives and processes for trainee career development in biomedical sciences. She is the recipient of several prestigious awards for her contribution to excellence in research, education, training and mentorship at the undergraduate-, graduate- and post-graduate level, including the President’s Faculty Excellence Award for Education and Mentorship Advancement, & the DPLM Faculty Excellence Award for Education at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center.