Faculty Profile· At CMC since 2004

ORCID0000-0002-2814-161XEmailbalunair@cmcvellore.ac.inOfficeRanipet and town campus

Balu Krishna S

PROFESSOR , Quantitative Imaging Research and Artificial Intelligence Lab, Radiation oncology , CMC Vellore

76Peer-reviewed publications

216Citations (OpenAlex)

9H-index (OpenAlex)

4Active grants

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Professor Balu Krishna S is a clinician–scientist in radiation oncology with a focused interest in head and neck, lung, prostate, and esophageal cancers. His work integrates clinical innovation, digital health, and artificial intelligence to advance patient-centered cancer care. He is the originator of the PRAGRAD (Patient Choice–Driven Sustained Aggressive Approach) concept, a novel framework tailored for very advanced head and neck cancers. This approach, emphasizing patient preference within a structured, sustained treatment strategy, was published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (Red Journal) in December 2025 and featured in its editorial, reflecting its growing impact. Professor Balu leads the QIRAIL Lab, an interdisciplinary platform dedicated to implementing AI to improve healthcare outcomes. His research spans clinical decision support, patient engagement technologies, and electronic patient-reported outcome (ePROM) systems. A key innovation from his team is the BandhuCare patient engagement application, which received the prestigious CATCH Grant from the National Cancer Grid (NCG) and IndiaAI in 2026, underscoring its translational relevance. He has been instrumental in the successful paperless transformation of the radiation therapy department, improving workflow efficiency, safety, and data quality. With multiple investigator-initiated trials, he actively contributes to evidence generation in oncology. A committed mentor, he guides student researchers, with recent work presented as an oral paper at ESTRO 2026. He also serves as faculty for the CREDO workshop in cancer research methodology since 2023, nurturing the next generation of oncology researchers.