Vinita Takiar, MD, PHD
University of Cincinnati
2024 ASTRO mentorship award recipient Vinita Takiar is the Endowed Chair and Professor/Staff Physician at the University of Cincinnati. She has continuously supported her mentees throughout all challenges they have faced, and her mentees know that they can count on her in whatever they may face in the future. Dr. Takiar was born and raised in Towson, Maryland, and has been a physician for 14 years.
During the unprecedented times and the trials of the COVID-19 pandemic, she ensured her mentees could still gain access to funding for research and further pursue their careers in uncertain times. One mentee states, “I have worked in academic labs for 17 years and have regularly faced discrimination, and I can attest that Dr. Takiar has been one of the most supportive individuals with improving disability access, and inclusion of diverse groups within the laboratory.” When she began her position as a professor, she was the only female professor in her department, but this did not discourage her. Another mentee wrote, “In academic radiation oncology, there are on average 20% female faculty. At UC, there are now six female faculty members (out of 13 total), and she played an important role in improving the diversity of the department.
Dr. Takiar says that the most rewarding part of her career has been guiding her mentees through various challenges to their goals. In her 14 years as a physician and her time in medical school before that, she was guided by her own mentors Gerhard Giebisch, MD, Michael Caplan, MD, PhD, as well as her mom. “Your mom doesn’t teach you biochemistry, but she teaches you how to balance work and life and that’s just as valuable,” said Dr. Takiar. She said that becoming a mentor is not something you plan to do, it just happens. She loves being a mentor because she gets to teach people and then watch them take what they have learned to the next level and achieve their goals. “You have to listen just as much as you want to teach,” says Dr. Takiar.
