Gopal K Bajaj, MD

Dr. Gopal Bajaj is the President of Radiation Oncology Associates, PC, and the emeritus Chairman and Medical Director of the Department for Advanced Radiation Oncology and Proton Therapy for Inova Schar Cancer Institute, having served in this role from 2014 to 2020.

Prior to joining the radiation oncology practice at Inova Fairfax Hospital, he was an instructor in radiation oncology, medical oncology, and otolaryngology head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. His clinical focus and academic interests center on providing high level, multidisciplinary treatment to patients with head and neck malignancies, educating the next generation of medical specialists, exploring novel mechanisms of radiation-associated toxicity management, and working with emerging technologies in radiation oncology. His additional area of interest includes radiation therapy for benign disease, with a specific focus on Dupuytren’s and Ledderhose diseases.

Dr. Bajaj oversees one of the nation’s busiest practices for the treatment of Dupuytren’s and Ledderhose diseases with radiotherapy and is actively involved in research, physician training and patient advocacy for these conditions. He presently serves as an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology for the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Dr. Bajaj was raised in Overland Park, KS, and graduated with honors from the University of Kansas, receiving dual degrees in biology and genetics. He received his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He has also performed cancer research at the Otto-von-Guericke Universität in Magdeburg, Germany, and gastrointestinal oncology training at the University of Amsterdam’s Academish Medisch Centrum. He went on to complete an internal medicine internship at Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a radiation oncology residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was chief resident and recipient of the Howard Wong Fellowship in medical informatics. Dr. Bajaj has a master’s in business administration from the University of Oxford with a focus on healthcare-centered innovation strategy related to proton therapy centers and social entrepreneurship.

Dr. Bajaj has published numerous scientific articles and reviews on the treatment of head and neck cancers, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and emerging technologies in radiation oncology. Outside his clinical and administrative roles, Dr. Bajaj is the chair of the Government Relations Council of the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) board of directors and also serves on ASTRO’s finance and practice accreditation committees. He presently serves on the board of directors of 9114HNC, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that provides financial assistance to indigent patients with head and neck cancer, and as a member of the Inova Health Foundation’s board of directors.

Research and Publications

View list of publications from Dr. Bajaj's research

Awards/Associations

• American Society for Radiation Oncology
• 9114HNC
• Top Doctor, Washingtonian, 2012
• Top Doctor, Washingtonian, 2018
• Top Doctor, Washingtonian, 2019
• Top Doctor, Washingtonian, 2022
• Best Doctor, Washingtonian, 2022