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Naga Vara Kishore Pillarsetty, PhD

Naga Vara Kishore Pillarsetty, PhD

Radiochemist

My Role at MSK

Areas of Expertise

My Specialties

  • Development and production of PET agents for clinical studies
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Dr. Pillarsetty's Office Information
Languages: English
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About Me

What I Do at MSK
  • Director, Preclinical Radiochemistry & Training, Lab Head
Get To Know Me

I am a radiochemist working in Memorial Hospital’s Department of Radiology with a focus on the synthesis and development of positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging probes. I have a PhD degree in chemistry and while a post-doctoral fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering, I developed an interest in biology. During my fellowship, I synthesized fluorine-18 and iodine-124 labeled molecules, which can act as PET probes for imaging HSV1-tk gene expression or function as a marker for proliferation, a hallmark of cancer. The information obtained from PET imaging was used to assess the biological status of the tumor cells.

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Since many disease states, including cancer, involve alterations in basic biological functions of the cells, information regarding these alterations can aid in diagnosis of disease and help in planning the most effective treatment. Non-invasive PET imaging is powerful technique which provides us with vital biological information which can be extremely useful in disease diagnosis and management. With this background, I became interested in development of PET/radiochemical probes which augment solving fundamental biological problems. Since this requires a multidisciplinary effort, I am extremely lucky and grateful to have colleagues who are experts in fields ranging from chemistry to radiology. We enjoy extremely fruitful collaborations and interact very closely on all aspects of research. My current research interests and collaborations include:

  • synthesis and development of fluorine-18 and iodine-124 labeled generic PET tracers for studying functional differences between tumor cells and normal cells,
  • development of radiolabeling protocols for tyrosine kinase targeted PET imaging agents,
  • using animal models to evaluate efficacy of the PET tracers, and
  • developing new radiolabeling protocols and methodologies.
My Role at MSK

A radiochemist is a doctor and scientist who studies radioactive elements.

Areas of Expertise

My Specialties

  • Development and production of PET agents for clinical studies
Education & Honors

Education

  • PhD, University of Missouri. Columbia

Fellowships

  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Insurance Information

Understanding your insurance options is an important part of managing your cancer care. We have relationships with many common healthcare providers and plans.

Aetna

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO PPO, POS, Transplant

Aetna Medicare Advantage (MTA and NYC retirees only)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

Anthem BCBS and other BCBS licensee plans

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

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Anthem BCBS Health Plus

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

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Anthem Blue Cross Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO, DSN

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Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, PPO

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Blue Cross Blue Shield states outside of NY/NJ

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO PPO, POS

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Carrum Health

In Network Coverage Type
Supplemental

Cigna

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Connecticare

In Network Coverage Type
POS, EPO, HMO

Emblem

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Emblem to learn more.

Emblem Essential

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Emblem Medicare Advantage (Medicare Choice PPO Network and VIP Prime Network Only)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

Empire Essential

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Empire Plan / NYSHIP (Blue Cross/UnitedHealthcare split plan)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

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Fidelis

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Fidelis to learn more.

Fidelis Managed Medicaid & HARP

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Fidelis Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

First Health

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

Healthfirst

In Network Coverage Type
EPO, HMO, PPO, POS

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Healthfirst to learn more.

Healthfirst Managed Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Healthfirst Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, PPO

Healthsmart

In Network Coverage Type
PPO EPO

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (HMO)

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

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Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (PPO)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

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Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier I (EPO)

In Network Coverage Type
EPO

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Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier II (EPO)

In Network Coverage Type
EPO

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Horizon Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

Husky CT Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Magnacare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO

Straight NJ Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Straight NY Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Medicare Part A&B (traditional Medicare)

In Network Coverage Type
Federal Government

Multiplan/Beech Street/PHCS

In Network Coverage Type
Supplemental

MVP

In Network Coverage Type
PPO/OAP

Non-Participating Plans with Out of Network Benefits

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

NYC Medicare Advantage Plus for City Employees

In Network Coverage Type
TBD

Oscar

In Network Coverage Type
HMO/EPO

Oxford

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, EPO

World Trade Center Health Program (WTC)

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Qualcare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Tricare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

UMR

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS

United Healthcare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

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If you don't have health insurance or are worried that your care may not be fully covered, our financial assistance programs may be able to help.

If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.

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Contact and Location

Dr. Pillarsetty sees patients at one location.

Office Phone
Location
New York, NY
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Avenue New York NY 10065
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Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

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Clinical Trials

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Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

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Research and Publications

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Pillarsetty’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed

Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Naga Vara Kishore Pillarsetty discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • AbbVie
    Equity
  • Adjuvance Technologies
    Intellectual Property Rights
  • Amedisys
    Equity
  • Bayer
    Equity
  • Celldex Therapeutics
    Equity
  • Evergreen Theragnostics
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities
  • General Electric
    Equity
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
    Equity
  • Johnson & Johnson
    Equity
  • Jubilant DraxImage Inc.
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc.
    Equity
  • Revolution Medicines
    Equity
  • Samus Therapeutics LLC
    Intellectual Property Rights
  • Verastem
    Equity
  • Viking Therapeutics Inc
    Equity
  • Y-mAbs Therapeutics, Inc.
    Intellectual Property Rights

If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].


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