Laxmi Narayana R. Buddharaju, MBBS
Dr. Laxmi Narayana R. Buddharaju is a medical oncologist and hematologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Oncology/Hematology at the College of Medicine. He sees patients diagnosed with a variety of cancers and blood diseases, but his particular interest is treating those diagnosed with lung cancer and gastrointestinal cancers.[1]
Dr. Buddharaju has always had a passion for taking care of cancer patients. He says that over the last twenty years, there has been exponential improvement in the way cancer patients are treated and their survival rates, thanks to a lot of effort on the part of researchers. He says cancer care today is all about coordination of treatment because they frequently require treatment from multiple specialists, including surgeons, radiation oncologists, and others. He says it’s a team effort, and he is working to make sure that the experience is more patient-friendly.[2]
Education and Career
Dr. Buddharaju received his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from Andhra Medical College, Maharani Peta, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. He remained there for his internship, then went on to study Biochemistry, Advanced Microbiology, and Virology at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York. He then completed his Internal Medicine Residency at the State University of New York Hospital in Buffalo and completed a fellowship in Medical Oncology and Hematology at the Greenebaum Cancer Center at the University of Maryland in Baltimore.[1]
Following completion of his fellowship, Dr. Buddharaju spent several years working as a Medical Oncologist and Hematologist in Nebraska for Nebraska Cancer Specialists treating patients with lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, and head and neck cancers as well as hematological malignancies. He returned to Hyderabad to serve as Chief of Medical Oncology and Hematology for the American Oncology Institute where he was instrumental in bringing the center’s care up to American standards. He successfully established operational protocols and guidelines that mirrored U.S. cancer treatment centers and recruited U.S.-trained clinicians to staff the center.
Dr. Buddharaju returned to Nebraska, where he is currently an Assistant Professor in the Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology and in the Department of Internal Medicine. He is also instrumental in teaching medical students from the University of Nebraska Medical School, residents from the Internal Medicine Residency program, and fellows from the Medical Oncology and Hematology program.
Dr. Buddharaju is an active member of both the American Society of Hematology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Research
As a medical oncologist and hematologist, Dr. Buddharaju’s research is varied. With reference to oncology, his clinical research targets non-small cell lung cancer, while as a hematologist he is dedicated to researching sickle cell disease.[1]
He is engaged in clinical trials and has published his research in several highly respected medical journals, including the following articles centered on lung cancer:
P60.08 Systemic Immune-Inflammatory Index (SII) as a Biomarker for Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
- October 2021
- Journal of Thoracic Oncology 16(10):S1167-S1168
DOI:10.1016/j.jtho.2021.08.629
Adjuvant chemotherapy following SBRT for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in older patients.
- May 2020
- Journal of Geriatric Oncology 11(7)
Immunotherapy in lung cancer: the chemotherapy conundrum
- February 2020
- Chinese Clinical Oncology 9(4):105-105
