Rakesh Kumar is now Director of Academic Projects for the Faculty of Medicine. Rakesh Kumar graduated in Medicine from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, then emigrated to Australia to take up an appointment in Pathology at the University of New South Wales in 1977. After completing a PhD at UNSW in 1981, he was a Fogarty International Research Fellow at the US National Institutes of Health in 1987. Promoted through the ranks to Professor in 2002, he was head of the discipline of Pathology at UNSW from 2003-05. He is now Director of Academic Projects for the Faculty of Medicine, with responsibility for aspects of curriculum development.

An enthusiastic teacher of Medicine and Science students, as well as of postgraduate health professionals, he has twice received UNSW Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Teaching Excellence, as well as other awards for teaching and funding for educational development. His experimental research, which focuses on mechanisms of inflammation in asthma and on the development of childhood asthma, is supported by grants from the National Health & Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council. He is a member of the editorial board of The American Journal of Pathology. In 2006, he was awarded an MD by published work, and in 2009 he received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.

Rakesh was a member of the UNSW Academic Board from 2002-10, Deputy President from 2007-08, and Presiding Member of the Committee on Education from 2007-10. He is currently a member of the University Council.