Dr. Hooda received his medical degree from the Aga Khan University School of Medicine in Karachi in 1991. He completed his residency training in Pediatrics at Shands Hospital in Gainesville/University of Florida in 1996. He went on to complete his fellowship in Pediatric Hematology Oncology from Brown University in 1999.

Dr. Hooda was the recipient of 1999 Brain Tumor Foundation grant for faculty level training in Pediatric Neuro-oncology at New York University Medical Center. Subsequently, Dr Hooda has served as a consultant in the New Zealand Ministry of Health in Wellington. There, he was appointed as senior lecturer at the University of Otago/Wellington School of Medicine for four years (2000-04) before he joined Aga Khan University as assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics. He moved to the Middle East in 2006 where he served as consultant pediatric hematologist oncologist for three years before he returned back to the United States.

He joined UTMB in July 2010 as clinical associate professor of pediatrics. Dr. Hooda is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric hematology oncology and is a member of American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology. He enjoys teaching and believes in high quality patient care. His research interests include leukemias, solid tumors and supportive care.

Dr. Akila Muthukumar specializes in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. She received her medical degree from Coimbatore Medical College in Coimbatore, India in 1990. She completed his residency in Pediatrics at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center at New York, in 2007. She went on to complete a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology in 2010 at Children's Hospital of Michigan, MI.

She has been at UTMB since July 2010 and currently Associate Professor with the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology division. She is an adjunct Associate Professor with MD Anderson cancer center. She is member of American Society of Hematology and Oncology since 2007. She provides comprehensive care of children with childhood malignancies, bleeding disorders, other common and rare blood disorders. She is an active participant with the UTMB medical school education and residency training.

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Dr. Bagi Jana joined the faculty of UTMB division of Medical Oncology and Hematology in 2011. He earned his medical degree at the Madras Medical College in Chennai, India in 1990. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and went on to complete his fellowship in Medical Oncology and Hematology at the Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York University, New York.

Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine (1997), Medical Oncology (2000 & recertified 2010) and Hematology (2003), Dr. Jana brings more than a decade of experience in providing high quality and compassionate cancer care. His research interests focus on improving the outcome of Genito urinary malignancies namely Prostate, Urinary bladder and Kidney cancers. Dr. Jana is actively engaged in clinic research and strives to provide the best modern cutting edge multi disciplinary care at UTMB.

Dr. Jana is a member of American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Medical Association, American Association of Cancer Research, American Society of Hematology, RTOG and SWOG. He has authored or co-authored several peer reviewed journal publications involving original research, abstracts and book chapters.

Dr. Avi Markowitz was born in Poughkeepsie, New York and grew up in Virginia and New Jersey. He received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1977. He then graduated with an MD from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine in 1981. He completed a Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Diego in 1984. Dr. Markowitz returned to the Cancer Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine where he completed his Fellowship in Medical Oncology in 1986. After working briefly as a laboratory investigator for Cetus (a biotechnology company later acquired by Chiron), he returned to the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine as a Clinical Instructor in the Cancer Research Institute. During that time, he began his career as a clinical investigator. In 1987 Dr. Markowitz accepted a Faculty appointment at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Immunology and Biological Therapy. There, he continued his clinical investigations with a variety of novel biologic agents. He completed his stay at M.D. Anderson in the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology in 1995.

Dr. Markowitz then moved to Bryan/College Station, Texas where he established two American College of Surgeons accredited Cancer Centers at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center and College Station Medical Center. He was also Director of Research and Development at St. Joseph Regional Cancer Center. In June 2005 Dr. Markowitz was recruited to UTMB as Chief of Hematology/Oncology. Since coming to UTMB he has assumed the roles of Director of the Medical Oncology Fellowship for 5 years. He has been Chair of the Cancer Committee since January 2008 and remains the Associate Medical Director of Experimental Therapeutics in the UTMB Comprehensive Cancer Center where he is also Director of the Oncology Clinical Trials Office which monitors adult clinical oncology research at UTMB. Dr. Markowitz remains interested in novel drug development with a particular interest in targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Clinically, he is interested in the management of patients with chronic leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma, and breast cancer.

Dr. Rischall completed his medical education at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN and his Internal Medicine residency at the University of Illinois. Dr. Rischall has participated in numerous research and lab experiences including sickle cell, Pediatric Orthopedics, Heart Failure, and Cystic Fibrosis.

Dr. Venkatesan was raised in Northwest Ohio and then North Texas. He attended undergrad at the University of Texas at Austin before returning to the Midwest for medical school at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Following medical school, Dr. Venkatesan completed his internal medicine residency and medical oncology fellowship at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston where he was also the chief fellow in medical oncology during 2017-2018 before joining as a faculty member in 2018.