Kunal Rai

Kunal Rai is a Professor of Genomic Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. His research focuses on cancer biology, epigenetics, and immunology, with a particular emphasis on enhancer activation, tumor evolution, and resistance mechanisms to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Recent breakthroughs include identifying cancer-induced nerve injury as a driver of anti-PD-1 therapy resistance (Nature, 2025) and defining TIM-3 as a putative target for lung adenocarcinoma precancer interception (Cancer Cell, 2025). He has received major grants, including a $792,000 award for aberrant enhancer activation in colorectal cancer and a $576,000 award for epigenetic effectors of tumor response to immunotherapy.