Rohan Dharmakumar, PhD, appointed vice chair of research at Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences

The Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences announced the appointment of Rohan Dharmakumar, PhD, as its vice chair of research.  

Dharmakumar is a renowned cardiovascular researcher with more than 25 years of experience. He has made significant contributions to the field, including groundbreaking research on ischemic heart disease and the development of innovative imaging techniques, most recently as the executive director of the Krannert Cardiovascular Research Center (IU Krannert) at IU School of Medicine and the Charles Fisch Professor of Cardiology within the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine.

Within three years of Dharmakumar’s leadership, IU Krannert experienced exponential growth, securing $85.5 million in National Institutes of Health grants among 32 investigators. The Center also authored 407 publications, 80 of which had an impact factor greater than 10. 

“I am truly honored and excited to become the vice chair of research in the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences,” Dharmakumar said. “I look forward to broadening imaging research at IU School of Medicine through the expansion of advanced imaging diagnostic tools that will cut across multiple specialties to improve how we treat patients in the future and forge new paths to improve outcomes.”  

As vice chair of research, Dharmakumar will oversee the department's research initiatives to foster innovation and collaboration among faculty and staff. 

“Given his research expertise and leadership experience, we are excited to have Dr. Dharmakumar join our department,” said Jason Allen, MD, PhD, FACR, chair of the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences. “We look forward to working with Dr. Dharmakumar to build upon our research strengths in neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular imaging, and nuclear medicine and expand our program through grant funding and industry partnerships.” 

Dharmakumar’s expertise and leadership will undoubtedly drive the department's continued success in advancing the field of radiology and imaging sciences.

About Dr. Dharmakumar  

Rohan Dharmakumar, PhD, earned his Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Physics, Master of Science in mathematics and PhD in medical biophysics from the University of Toronto. He received postdoctoral training in cardiovascular MRI at the University of Toronto and then at Northwestern University.   

In 2006, he joined the faculty in the Department of Radiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and was recruited to Cedars-Sinai in 2011 as an associate professor. There, he held various leadership roles at the Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, including associate director, director of translational cardiac imaging research and finally co-director of PET/MRI research, a role he held since 2014. In 2018, he was promoted to professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Cedars-Sinai and professor in the Department of Medicine at UCLA. In August 2021, Dharmakumar joined IU School of Medicine as the inaugural executive director of the Krannert Cardiovascular Research Center in the Department of Medicine.