Puneeth Iyengar, MD

About Dr. Iyengar

I am a radiation oncologist and physician-scientist committed to helping patients understand their treatment options and receive personalized, compassionate cancer care. I was recruited to establish and lead LSU Health New Orleans’ first academic Department of Radiation Oncology, and I care for patients at University Medical Center New Orleans as a member of the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center.

I specialize in treating lung and other thoracic cancers, metastatic disease and complex cancers requiring highly specialized radiation therapy. My expertise includes stereotactic body radiation therapy, hypofractionated radiation therapy and treatment strategies combining radiation with immunotherapy and other systemic therapies.

My federally-funded (NIH/NCI) research focuses on precision radiation therapy, lung cancer, oligometastatic disease, cancer metabolism and cancer cachexia. Through clinical trials, translational research and national treatment guidelines, I have helped advance treatment approaches for patients with lung cancer and cancers that have spread to a limited number of sites. I have led or contributed to numerous national clinical trials and authored hundreds of peer-reviewed publications.

Before joining LSU Health New Orleans, I served as director of the Metastatic Service in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where I was also a member of the Thoracic Service and co-leader of the Bone Metastasis Program. I previously held several leadership positions at UT Southwestern Medical Center, including vice chair for strategic initiatives, associate vice chair for clinical research and director of clinical research in the Department of Radiation Oncology.

I serve on the National Cancer Institute’s Thoracic Malignancy Steering Committee, the NCI Lung-MAP Translational Steering Committee and national and international committees focused on lung cancer and oligometastatic disease. I am also translational vice chair of the NRG Oncology Lung Cancer Committee.

I earned my medical and doctoral degrees in cell and cancer biology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and my bachelor’s degree in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I completed my radiation oncology residency at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. I am board certified in radiation oncology.

My little something extra: I am diehard LSU and Saints fan. My wife and I have three wonderful children and the best labradoodle in the world, Maverick. I enjoy watching movies and playing basketball and tennis.