Amar Gajjar, MD studied medicine and completed his internship at Grant Medical College in Bombay, India. Afterwards, he completed an Immunology Research Fellowship at the University of Oklahoma followed by a Pediatric Residency at All Children’s Hospital at the University of South Florida, during which he was appointed Chief Pediatric Resident. Dr. Gajjar then continued his training at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where he completed a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship from 1989-1992 followed by an additional year in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology. Dr. Gajjar formally joined the St. Jude Division of Neuro-Oncology as a Faculty Member in 1993. Since joining, Gajjar has steadily risen through the academic ranks. In 2002, he was appointed as Division Director of Neuro-Oncology, in 2004 he was promoted to Full Member (Professor), and in 2005 he was appointed as a Co-Leader of the Neurobiology and Brain Tumor Program and Co-Chair of the Department of Oncology. In recognition of his academic excellence, he was awarded the Scott and Tracie Hamilton Endowed Chair in Brain Tumor Research in 2007. In 2016, he was appointed as Chair of the Department of Pediatric Medicine.

Dr. Gajjar is the principal or co-principal investigator of several St. Jude initiated clinical trials featuring novel treatments for pediatric brain tumors. Dr. Gajjar focuses on improving survival rates for patients while mitigating long and short-term effects caused by treatment. Overall, he has been instrumental in the growth in the Neuro-Oncology Program at St. Jude and has developed international collaborations with leading brain tumor programs in Germany, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.

He is also an active participant in both the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium and the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium. Across these national organizations, Gajjar has collaborated with other leading neuro-oncologist to develop innovative treatment options for pediatric brain tumor patients. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of Neuro-Oncology and Up-to-Date and has been on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. He also serves as an Adhoc Reviewer for many scientific journals. Dr. Gajjar has made significant contributions to literature, publishing his work in several high impact journals.