Sanjay Mishra

Sanjay Mishra is a prominent researcher and project manager with a focus on cancer and COVID-19 research. He currently serves as a Research Associate of Medicine at Brown University and a Research Program Manager at the Lifespan Cancer Institute.1 Mishra holds an MS and PhD, with his doctoral work completed at Vanderbilt University in Chemical and Physical Biology.1

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Mishra is best known for his role as the coordinator and project manager of the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19).23 This consortium, which he has been managing since March 2020, comprises over 125 cancer centers and other organizations across North America.2 The CCC19 was established to collect and analyze data about patients with cancer who have been diagnosed with COVID-19.1

In addition to his work with CCC19, Mishra also coordinates the Brown/Lifespan Center for Clinical Cancer Informatics and Data Science (CCIDS).1 This inter-institutional center aims to promote clinical cancer informatics research and operations across Brown University and Lifespan, focusing on five key areas: content standardization, clinical integration, information extraction, dissemination of new technology, and scholarship/education.1

Research Interests and Achievements

Mishra's primary research interests lie in understanding healthcare outcomes, disparities, data access hurdles, and data ethics.1 His background includes work on developing vaccine candidates against Zika and Dengue during his postdoctoral fellowship at the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center.1

His doctoral research focused on small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) and their role in stress response and aging.1 This work has contributed to understanding the potential evolution of sHSPs in protecting against disease development and preventing the aggregation of misfolded proteins.1

Recognition and Outreach

Sanjay Mishra is also known for his science communication efforts. His writings on popular science topics have cumulatively been read over 10 million times.1 In recognition of his contributions to science communication, Mishra was awarded the 2023 Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communications by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.145

Through his various roles and research endeavors, Sanjay Mishra continues to make significant contributions to the fields of cancer research, data science, and COVID-19 studies, particularly in understanding the intersection of cancer and COVID-19.