Prajwal Rajappa, MD, MS, is a physician-scientist at Cleveland Clinic and Director of Pediatric Precision Oncology, specializing in immuno-oncology and the development of precision medicine approaches for pediatric, adolescent, and young adult patients with cancer. His research focuses on understanding and modulating the immune microenvironment of brain tumors, with the goal of developing novel immunotherapies to improve outcomes for patients with diffuse gliomas and other central nervous system (CNS) tumors.
Dr. Rajappa’s laboratory investigates the role of bone marrow-derived myeloid cells in glioma progression, with a particular focus on how immune cell heterogeneity contributes to malignant transformation and tumor growth. His team identified a recruited myeloid cell population associated with the progression of low-grade to high-grade glioma and is exploring therapeutic strategies to target these cells and disrupt tumor-supportive immune responses. In addition, his laboratory is developing genetically engineered myeloid cell therapies designed to deliver pro-inflammatory factors into the immunosuppressive glioma microenvironment, with the goal of advancing these approaches toward clinical translation.
After earning his MD, Dr. Rajappa completed a Master’s degree in Clinical and Translational Investigation at Cornell University and postdoctoral training focused on brain tumor immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic, he served as Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neurological Surgery at The Ohio State University and Principal Investigator at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Rajappa’s research has been supported by NIH and foundation grants, and he has contributed to national efforts through service on committees including the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Pediatric Immunotherapy Development Network, the NIH Clinical Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumor (CNBT) Study Section, and the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO). His work has been published in leading journals, including the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, and Cell Reports.