DR . WHO
DR . WHO
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT DR . VIKAS K . SINGH
AUTHOR Kathryn Vance
Caring kindness has run strong in Dr . Vikas K . Singh ’ s family
for as long as he can remember . His mother was a nurse and attended to family members and friends calling her up with ailments , just as she would with patients . “ My mother is just such a compassionate lady , and she was always trying to help people ,” he said . “ That ’ s what intrigued me and , in turn , made me more compassionate , myself .”
Following this outstanding example , he knew that he wanted to help people too . After growing up in Bihar , India , he attended medical school in New Delhi at Maulana Azad Medical School where he completed a four-year program in 2009 , with another year of internship at the same institution .
Dr . Singh decided that the best place to advance in medicine would be the US . As a young 26-year-old , he moved to the US with no family and just a few friends scattered across the entire country . Luckily for our community , most of those friends and one mentor were right here in Louisville , where he came to work in a research lab for the next six months .
“ It was scary and also kind of adventurous . It was an entirely new country , new world . My medical education was in English , but I could only read and write in English , so I had to learn how to speak the language as well ,” he said . “ I was trying to guide myself through everything on my own .”
When he moved to Louisville , he rented a house with a few roommates which turned out to be a pretty good representation of Louisville , itself : a melting pot of cultures . He shared with an older lady from Bowling Green , Kentucky as well as another international student from Egypt . Their first major holiday together was Thanksgiving , and Dr . Singh got a first-hand look at southern hospitality .
“ The lady we lived with was so nice and she knew the other student and I were by ourselves , so she took us to her family ’ s home in Bowling Green for Thanksgiving ,” he said . “ That was my first experience with Americana and American hospitality . I was so
26 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE impressed by the friendly and warm nature of her family .”
While his personal life was getting warmer , his days in the lab were lonely , often working on his own for weeks at a time . However , that time alone allowed him to reflect and realize that medical oncology and research were where his interests truly were . During this time , he applied for residency and matched into SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse , New York in internal medicine .
While there , Dr . Singh met his future wife , Shipra , who was studying to be a clinical psychologist . The two first bonded over a shared connection of India as home . They married shortly after , and she now works in a private practice in Louisville .
In 2015 , applying for fellowship , his mind only went to one place : the city that sparked his interest in oncology in the first place . “ Oncology is just so vast . I ’ ve seen family members die from cancer . Once you hear a diagnosis of cancer , patients can feel like it ’ s a death sentence . It ’ s just a feeling of helplessness - and I don ’ t like being unable to help . I just thought that maybe I could do some good in this field .”
After completing his fellowship in oncology hematology in 2018 , Dr . Singh was asked to stay on as faculty in general medical oncology hematology at UofL Health - James Graham Brown Cancer Center , where he works today . At the UofL Brown Cancer Center , Dr . Singh specializes in genitourinary cancers and sarcomas . The genitourinary cancers include prostate , kidney , bladder and testicular cancers . Sarcomas are his particular niche , though . In fact , he was the first to do sarcoma dedicated medical oncology in Louisville .
“ Sarcomas are a very rare type of cancer . We only have 10,000 to 12,000 cases in the entire state . Most oncologists do not see a sarcoma case for many years , it ’ s that rare ,” he said . “ I started the sarcoma dedicated medical oncology program here and I get consults from all over the country . Now , we have clinical trials offered for these kinds of cancers .”