Ajai Chari, MD

Ajai Chari, MD, is at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. He was previously Professor of Medicine and Director of Clinical Research of the Multiple Myeloma Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, NY. Dr. Chari specializes in plasma cell disorders, including multiple myeloma, amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, POEMS syndrome, plasmacytoma, and monoclonal gammopathies of uncertain significance (MGUS). He performs a variety of procedures, including bone marrow biopsy and stem cell transplant.

Dr. Chari’s research interests include the development of novel chemotherapy regimens, including phase 1 and 2 studies. He has been principal investigator (PI) of several investigator-initiated trials and the national and international PI of several industry-sponsored studies. At Mount Sinai he oversaw a program renowned nationally for both high-volume patient accruals and rigorous quality assurance, which played a pivotal role in the approval of each of the five most recent medicines then approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Dr. Chari completed a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of California – San Francisco, his residency in internal medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and earned his medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California – Los Angeles. He received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University.