Neeraj Agarwal, MD, FASCO, is a professor of medicine, the senior director for clinical research, and the director of the genitourinary oncology program at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute. He was invited by Yousef Zakharia, MD, onto the Iowa campus last week to deliver a Grand Rounds presentation and to meet with residents and fellows.

An accomplished researcher and clinician, Agarwal has published more than 420 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has led countless clinical trials. His standing in the international oncology community and his many awards would have been enough to earn him invitation to Iowa, but there was an additional draw for him and for the department. He is also a graduate of the department’s residency program more than 20 years ago.

Agarwal said when he interviewed and then matched at Iowa for residency, there was no question about where he wanted to do his training. And the experience was “beyond my expectations.” In the years since graduation he has always thought fondly and “with gratitude” on his time at Iowa.

“The best part was the mentorship. People here are willing to take time with trainees.” He especially appreciated the program’s focus on scholarship. “It is one of the few programs where residents get time to focus on research.”

Agarwal listed off names of faculty he still remembers as being influential: then-program director Janet Schlechte, MD; Steven Lentz, MD, PhD; and Scott Vogelgesang, MD, who became director after Schlechte. “Dr. Vogelgesang was always available and approachable,” Agarwal said. “He was instrumental in helping me navigate the challenges of residency.”

When the program’s current director, Manish Suneja, MD, heard that Agarwal was coming, he said he thought, “Neeraj is coming home!'” And Agarwal said, with a laugh, “When Yousef asked me, I said, ‘Of course, why didn’t you ask me sooner?'”

Suneja said that when the two were in residency here together, Agarwal was “a publishing machine.” But more than that, Suneja said, “he also started mentoring other residents, asking them if they wanted to work with him on a paper or a project.”

Agarwal said that he has tried to retain that attitude he learned at Iowa throughout his career at the University of Utah. “I want to give back what I got here. To be a compassionate mentor, a friend. If I had not gotten that kind of support, I don’t think I would be where I am today.”

He said that Iowa is unique in that level of support. “You get that feeling, when you step into this place. Even now I have that feeling, a place filled with good human beings, just caring for each other. It is not common elsewhere.”

That supportive environment is bolstered, he said, by its high standards. “It’s such a well-run and well-respected institution. Where else can you find a non-urban hospital at this level with so many top-ranked specialties and so much NIH funding? It’s amazing.”

After his Grand Rounds presentation, Agarwal greeted former colleagues and classmates in the hall on his way to meeting with a couple current residents, where they talked in part about how Iowa has helped plot the course of their own future careers.