Ashish Kumar, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Mayo Mail Code 806
420 Delaware St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: (612) 626-2961
Fax: (612)626-4842
kumar036@umn.edu
Preferred method of contact:  Phone

Dr. Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics. He earned his M.B., B.S. (medical degree) from Lokmanya Tilak Medical College, Bombay University, in Bombay, India. He then earned his PhD in Anatomy and Cell Biology from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA before completing residency training in Pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Dr. Kumar joins the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Blood and Marrow Transplantation after completing his fellowship training in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Kumar was awarded the William Kennedy Research Fellowship in Childhood Cancer from the National Childhood Cancer Foundation. His research focuses on understanding the biology of infant-leukemia. This type of leukemia is caused by mutations in the MLL gene and is also seen in adults as a complication of chemotherapy for other cancers. Dr. Kumar is a member of the University of Minnesota Cancer Center and currently provides care for children with malignancies in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Honors and Awards

• 1993 Winner of the inter-medical school competitive examination in Leprosy, conducted by the Ackworth Leprosy Institute, Mumbai, India
• 1996 Tung-Yang-Wing memorial award for superior achievement in graduate studies in Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Iowa, IA
• 1997 Nominated by first year medical students for Ancillary Staff of the Year Award, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA
• 2000 Chief Resident, Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Residency Program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
• 2002 William Kennedy Research Fellowship Award, National Childhood Cancer Foundation
• 2003 Second prize winner, Pediatric Fellows’ Research Symposium, University of Minnesota
• 2005  Children’s Oncology Group Young Investigator Award
• 2005  Child Health Research Career Development Award

Research Interests

Understanding the biology of infant-leukemia.

Selected Recent Publications:

White JG, Kumar AR, Hogan MJ. Gray Platelet Syndrome in a Somalian Family. Platelets. 2006. In press.

Chen W, Li Q, Hudson WA, Kumar A, Kirchhof N, Kersey JH. A murine Mll-AF4 knockin model results in lymphoid and myeloid deregulation and hematological malignancy. Blood. 2006 Mar 21; [Epub ahead of print]

KumarAR, Hudson WA, Chen W, Nishiuchi R, Yao Q, Kersey JH. Hoxa9 influences the phenotype but not the incidence of Mll-AF9 fusion gene leukemia. Blood 2004 103: 1823-1828.

KumarAR, Wagner JE, Auerbach AD et al. Fatal hemorrhage from androgen-related hepatic adenoma after hematopoietic cell transplantation. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol 2004;26:16–18

Yao Q, Nishiuchi R, Li Q, Kumar AR, Hudson WA, Kersey JH. FLT-3 Expressing Leukemias Are Selectively Sensitive to Inhibitors of the Molecular Chaperone Heat Shock Protein 90 through Destabilization of Signal Transduction-Associated Kinases. Clinical Cancer Research. 2003; 9(12):4483-93. 

Goss KL, Kumar AR, Snyder JM. SP-A2 gene expression in human fetal lung airways. American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. 1998; 19(4):613-21.

Acarregui MJ, Kumar AR, Penisten ST, Snyder JM. O₂ regulates surfactant protein-A mRNA transcription and stability in human fetal lung in vitro. American Journal of Physiology.  1998; 274:L343-50.

Kumar AR, Snyder JM. Differential regulation of SP-A1 and SP-A2 genes by cAMP, glucocorticoids, and insulin. American Journal of Physiology. 1998; 274:L177-85.