Vikas Dudeja, M.D., endowed professor in Gastrointestinal Oncology and director of the Division of Surgical Oncology, and Pankaj Arora, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Medicine in the Division of 
Vikas Dudeja, M.D.Cardiovascular Disease, have been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation's (ASCI) new active and international members for 2024.
As one of the oldest medical honor societies in the United States, the ASCI Council recommends up to 100 candidates for membership each year based on their scholarly achievements. Election to become a member is a noteworthy milestone in the physician-scientist career path.
The ASCI focuses on promoting and supporting the vital role of physician-scientists in research, clinical care, medical education, and leadership positions within academic medicine and the life sciences industry.
Dudeja has spent a large portion of his career examining the pathobiology of pancreatic cancer and devising strategies to address its progression and metastases. Research in his laboratory has demonstrated the role of the stromal pathway in creating an immunosuppressive environment in pancreatic cancer. His work has also shown that the gut microbiome modulates anti-cancer immune response and that its 
Pankaj Arora, M.D.modulation can emerge as a novel therapy against cancer.
Arora’s interests have centered around pharmacogenomics, non-ischemic cardiomyopathies, and the genetic determinants of common cardiometabolic conditions such as heart attack, heart failure, hypertension, high cholesterol levels, and diabetes. The main focus of his clinical and translational research program is understanding the causal role of deficient natriuretic peptide signaling in developing cardiometabolic diseases and physiological and pharmacological means of mitigating this.
Dudeja and Arora will be officially inducted at the ASCI Dinner and New Member Induction Ceremony on April 5, 2024, at the Swissotel Chicago.