Updated May 2017 

 

  Curriculum Vitae

Rajiv C. Raju M.D.

Academic Background:

            Medical School: 

                       University of Illinois College of Medicine , 2017
                       M.D. (top quartile of class)                     

            Undergraduate: 

                       The Honors College, Univ. of IL at Chicago, 2013

                        BA Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi

Major: Chemistry. Minor: Mathematics

Barrington High School Class of 2010 (top 1% of class)

Honors/Awards:

First Place Award in UIC Student Research Forum 2012 for original research in a medical application of machine learning. Forum had 277 entries in 5 categories.

Siemens Competition 2009- National Semifinalist in an original research         competition

Honors College University Scholars Award - Four Year Merit Scholarship.

Dean's List 

United States Presidential Scholar Candidate

United States President's Award for Community Service

Cook County Sheriff’s Service Medal of Honor 

Veteran's Administration Volunteer Service Award

Junior Entrepreneur Award from Barrington Chamber of Commerce

Selected Activities

Professional Writing:

I was the primary author of a bestselling series of ACT test preparation books.  The objective was to create an affordable way for those with limited resources to prepare well for the ACT.  I felt that expensive commercial test preparation programs were not necessary if one learned how to effectively use the free and inexpensive resources provided by the test makers themselves. The first book, Dissecting the ACT, was based on the official practice test released by the ACT between 2006 and 2009. It became a best seller on Amazon in its category and often reached a sales rank of #2 out more than 600 ACT test preparation books listed on Amazon. Since the ACT changed the official practice test in 2009, a new version of the book with 80% new content was released in the fall of 2009. The book, DISSECTING THE ACT 2.0, also became a best seller on Amazon and reached a sales rank as high as #1 in the ACT test prep category. Its sales rank during its three year market cycle since publication was in the top 1% of all books sold on Amazon. The book has worldwide distribution and has significant sales in Europe and Asia. Some of the royalties from the books were used to donate more than $10,000.00 worth of the book DISSECTING THE ACT 2.0 to the Chicago Public Schools. The donated books are currently in use in 16 Chicago Public Schools. The books were featured in numerous print articles. It was the featured cover story on nationally broadcast WGN prime time news. The video of the news cast can be found at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SSaj274T7s

More information about the book can be found at:    http://www.36onACT.com

Research Experience 1:

I conducted independent research dealing with a medical application of machine learning. In my project, I used the concept of Information Gain Evaluation and machine learning experiments to develop insight into what factors are important in the diagnosis of breast malignancy using fine needle aspiration.  The significance of this work was recognized by a panel of faculty judges at the UIC Student Research Forum who awarded the project first place in one of the five major categories. A later version of this work was presented at annual meeting of the American Society of Cytopathology in November, 2012 and in the Medical Student Research Symposium of the American Medical Association in 2013.

Research Experience 2:

Building off my prior work in medical applications of machine learning, I conducted research that used machine learning and Information Gain Analysis with the goal of analyzing a mammography data set and determining the relative importance of diagnostic features within that data set.   The work done on this project was incorporated into an educational exhibit which was accepted to the annual meeting of RSNA in 2014.  Furthermore, my work was recognized by expert reviewers and was invited for submission to the peer reviewed journal Radiographics. Typically, only one in ten educational exhibits at RSNA are invited to submit articles to Radiographics. Related work was also presented at the Association of University Radiologists meeting in 2014 and will be presented at the 2016 meetings of the Society Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery and Korean Congress of Radiology.

Research Experience 3:

I designed and conducted a study which explored the feasibility of using coronary artery calcification scoring methods to produce reproducible scores of intracranial calcifications on routine CT examinations of the brain.  Though previous work has been done in studying calcification within the pineal gland, my study represented the first attempt to assess quantitatively the amount of calcification present in the pineal gland.  I was the first author of a presentation of this work at the 2012 meeting of the American Society of Neuroradiology. This work was also recognized by the Siemens Competition in which I was named a semifinalist in a national competition.

Research Experience 4:

I spent a summer doing research at the Roy J. Carver Center for Comparative Genomics at the University of Iowa, where I made a contribution the large multi investigator “Tree of Life” project, which aims to use sequencing of highly conserved genes between species to create an accurate phylogenetic tree.  Under the supervision of the principle investigator, I was given the task of sequencing and analyzing the genomes of two organisms (Mastigamobea Balamuthi and Colpodella) so that they can be phylogenetically classified in the tree of life. I presented my work at a symposium at the University of Iowa.

Hobbies:

Music:

Electric Guitar and Bass:

Ten years. Released a number of EPs and an LP with various projects.  Professional performances in various music venues and showplaces in Chicago as well in WI, MO, IN, OH, MI. Live radio performance at WHPK radio station.

Selected Discography:

            Half Milk: Kept Mang, 2013, Naked Ally Records

            Half Milk: Live at WHPK, 2013.

            Half Milk: The Neil Young Diamond Armstrong Tape, 2013.

            Half Milk: Down Endings, 2012.

Current Musical Project: Pyramid Scheme

            -Will be releasing a split 12” LP record with local jazz fusion band, Monobody.  .

            -Live Recording of Pyramid Scheme:

                               https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOcgzMUviI0

Acapella:

Member of Acapella group “Dillinois” - One year.

Violin:

Indian Classical style. Lessons for five years. A few performances at cultural events.

Amateur (“Ham”) Radio:

Passed adult level FCC licensing exam at age 8. Published a book on topic.   Call sign K9RAJ (formerly KB9YFO.)  

Publications

Books:

1.       Rajiv Raju and Silpa Raju. Dissecting The ACT : Las Vegas, NV : Platypus Global Media, 2008

2.       Rajiv Raju and Silpa Raju.  Dissecting The ACT 2.0: Test Prep Advice of a Perfect Scorer: Las Vegas, NV: Platypus Global Media, 2009

3.       Rajiv C. Raju. The Simplified Study Guide for the General Class Ham Radio License Examination: The Quick and Easy Way to Pass Element 3 of the Amateur Radio Licensing Test: Las Vegas, NV: Platypus Global Media, 2009

4.       Rajiv Raju and Silpa Raju. Underground ACT Solutions Volume I: Las Vegas, NV: Platypus Global Media, 2011

 Scientific Research Presentations and Educational Exhibits

1.    Raju, R, Hudson, C, Bhatt, N, et al “Preoperative CT localization of the anterior ethmoidal artery before endoscopic sinus surgery”, Scientific Exhibit, Korean Congress of Radiology, Seoul, Korea, September 21-24, 2016.
2.    Raju, R  “An introduction to Machine Learning for the clinical radiologist”, Scientific Exhibit, Korean Congress of Radiology, Seoul, Korea, September 21-24, 2016.
3.   Raju, R “Information gain analysis of mammographic features of breast masses using machine learning”, presentation, CARS 2016 Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, Heidelberg, Germany, June 21 - 25, 2016
4.   Raju, R. “Data Analysis Using Machine Learning Tools: An Introduction for the Non Programmer”, Education Exhibit, RSNA Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, November 30^th-December 5^th, 2014.
5. Raju. R, DiEugenio B “Machine Learning for the Nonprogrammer”, Education Exhibit, Association of University Radiologists Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, April 1-4, 2014
6. Raju. R “Using Information Gain Ranking and Machine Learning to Evaluate The Importance of Diagnostic Features in Fine Needle Breast Lesion Aspirates”, Presentation, AMA MSS Research Symposium, National Harbor, MD, November 14-16, 2013
7. Raju R, "Relative Importance of Fine Needle Aspiration Features for Breast Cancer Diagnosis: A Study Using Information Gain Evaluation and Machine Learning ", Presentation, American Society of Cytopathology Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV. November 2-7,2012
8. Raju, R., et al.  “Reproducibility of CT Scan Quantification of Intracranial Calcification Using Coronary Artery Calcium Scoring Methods”, Presentation, American Society of Neuroradiology Annual Meeting, New York, NY. April 21-27,2012
9.  Raju. R "Machine Learning and Fine Needle Breast Cancer Diagnosis”, Presentation, UIC Student Research Forum, Chicago IL, April 17,2012
10. Raju, R., et al. “Sequencing of RPB1 and RPB2 genes in Mastigamobea Balamuthi and Colpodella and Phylogenetic Analysis for use with the Tree of Life Project”, Presentation, University of Iowa SSTP symposium. Iowa City IA, July 28, 2009.