Vinayak Prasad MD, MPH

Vinayak Kashyap Prasad MD MPH is Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Medicine, and a practicing Hematologist Oncologist at San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Prasad cares for patients with a wide range of medical concerns, including classic hematology, malignant hematology, and solid tumors. He conducts research at the intersection of health policy, evidence-based medicine, and oncology.

Dr. Prasad trained at the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, where he was the recipient of the Chairman's Award in Internal Medicine, given to the graduate with the highest marks in Internal Medicine and its subspecialties. He finished his residency in Internal Medicine at Northwestern University, where he won the Gerald Grumet Award for best resident teacher. He completed a fellowship at the National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health in Hematology and Medical Oncology, where he was a Chief Fellow and a Cancer Prevention Fellow.

Dr. Prasad completed his Masters's in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. For 5 years, Dr. Prasad was Assistant and then Associate Professor at the Oregon Health and Science University, where he won 4 teaching awards in consecutive years (2017-20), including the J David Bristow Award, given by the graduating medical school class to "a faculty member who exemplifies the ideals of the true physician as he or she conducts clinical practice with patients and colleagues," and the Craig Okada award for best teacher in the hematology-oncology fellowship program. Dr. Prasad moved to UCSF in 2020. In 2022, he won the Excellence in Teaching Award at UCSF, and in 2023, he received the Distinguished Contribution to Teaching Award also at UCSF.

Dr. Prasad studies medical evidence, clinical decision-making, health policy, and cancer drug pricing. With Adam Cifu, he coined the term Medical Reversal-- a phenomenon where medical practice flip flops, and published several papers defining its scope and impact. His work on cancer drug policy has defined the appropriate role of surrogate endpoints and probed issues of cost and value.

He is the author of over 400 peer-reviewed papers, including articles in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, BMJ, Nature, the Annals of Internal Medicine, and JAMA Internal Medicine. He has also written 2 peer-reviewed books, published by Johns Hopkins University Press: Ending Medical Reversal and Malignant. He hosts the podcast Plenary Session, which is the #1 oncology podcast globally by downloads, and the VPZD show, a general interest science show. He is active on Youtube and Substack. On Youtube, the channel Vinay Prasad MD MPH has over 100,000 subscribers. On Substack, Dr Prasad writes Vinay Prasad's Observations and Thoughts and co-writers Sensible Medicine.

Dr Prasad is the author of over 100 op-eds in media outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, STAT, US News and World Report, and many other outlets. He has been a guest on numerous podcasts including Honestly, Breaking Points, and EconTalk. He runs the research lab www.vkprasadlab.com and has supervised over 100 trainees on research papers.