Jay K. Jhaveri, M.D., M.P.H. is a physician / surgeon with over 18 years of combined clinical, consulting and pharmaceutical experience. He was formally trained in general surgery, urology, minimally invasive laparoscopic, and robotic urologic surgery. He was in healthcare delivery for almost a decade prior to transitioning to industry and consulting, full-time. He is a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, is an associate certified professional coder, and is approaching 200 lifetime combined scientific publications. Former industry employers and clients include Bayer, Ferring, Eisai, Novartis, Merck, EMD Serono, Sanofi, Regeneron and Bristol-Myers Squibb, among others. He was recently appointed Senior Medical Director at Pacific Edge Cancer Diagnostics and will lead the launch of their new bladder cancer testing product.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with CXO Outlook Magazine, Jay shared his professional trajectory, insights on the role of technology in urology, personal hobbies and interests, future plans, pearls of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Jay. What drew you to urology, and what motivates you to continue pushing boundaries in this field?
From a young age I was always fascinated with the inner workings of the human body based on my love of engineering. As a result, I started my career in general surgery but eventually was drawn to urology for a few key reasons. Many people do not recognize that there is a major focus on oncology (urologic oncology) where three (prostate, bladder, kidney) out of the 15 most common cancers are urological malignancies, globally. Urologists are pioneers in innovative surgical techniques integrating technological advances as demonstrated by the advent and popularization of minimally invasive surgery including laparoscopy and robotics. Based on both of those facts, there are ample opportunities for research with innumerable unanswered questions that continue to motivate us. What drives me personally is very simple; there are millions of patients who suffer every day, it is my responsibility to give my best to help them.
What do you love the most about your current role?
What I love most about my current role is the variety of responsibilities. While I’m primarily focused on medical affairs and clinical development, I place tremendous emphasis on evidence generation, professorial interactions and external representation. Additionally, I actively participate in internal training, organization, and strategic deployment. Finally, I’m able to consult for various clients externally, as well as partner with patient advocacy organizations for initiatives facilitating patient understanding of their disease, treatment options, and convalescence pathways.
How do you stay updated on cutting-edge techniques and research in minimally invasive urologic surgery?
Fortunately, I have several mechanisms to stay updated regarding new advances in science and technology. Most importantly, I’m an avid reader and subscribe to major journals with publication updates received daily. Since I have a very close relationship with my clinical colleagues, I communicate with them regularly virtually or in person at meetings and learn about their novel approaches directly. I also stay abreast of some of the non-scientific publications that are nonetheless driven towards urologic oncology, such as UroToday, Urology Times, OncLive and GU Oncology Now. With this infrastructure, I’m privileged to learn about many novel initiatives in their infancy.
What role do you see technology playing in urology’s future?
Technology has always played a transformative role in Urology as Urologists are highly likely to attempt and adopt novelty, readily. Minimally invasive surgery was forever changed by Urologists by standardizing robotic surgery, and now there are several applications of artificial intelligence, large language model and other natural language processing that are leading the way in isolating potential clinical applications. Breakthroughs may facilitate earlier clinical trial execution and diverse patient recruitment, while offering some predictive probability for the development of a future event.
What innovations or advancements excite you for the future of urology?
As described, I think artificial intelligence holds a great deal of promise, however other fields including diagnostic testing are becoming mainstream as technology has improved biomarker and genetic signature evaluation. Some genetic and biomarker tests have demonstrated extremely high sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values in comparison to previously available tests. These will further risk stratify patients to receiving the most appropriate clinical pathway intervention, reducing cost, and unnecessary testing burden, while improving overall patient experience. The Cxbladder suite of urine-based bladder cancer detection agents illustrates this concept well.
Is there a particular person you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are?
While I was blessed to have been mentored by the finest surgeons in the world including Dr. Mani Menon, Dr. Craig Rogers, and Dr. Jaime Landman, there is one man who is most responsible for my position today, Dr. Ashutosh Tewari. Dr. Tewari introduced me to research, his network, data sciences, scientific writing and publication, skills which have allowed me to excel in academia as well as industry. I am forever grateful to him and all my mentorship. I’m a firm believer that “mentorship bestows talents you’ve only seen…”
What does the term “authentic leadership” mean to you?
Authentic leadership has a very specific definition to me, and it begins with a clearly defined and articulated ideal vision of achievement. Optimal leaders can then reverse engineer major intermediary pathway steps necessary to reach the final destination, while assigning appropriate personnel to execution of preceding steps remaining mindful of timelines, budget and resource allocation prior to project finalization. Lao Tzu teaches that “a leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”
What are some of your passions outside of work? What do you like to do in your time off?
I have a few passions outside of work, but it begins with my wife and three daughters. I spend a lot of family time playing with them, we also enjoy exercise, photography, cooking, and reading together. I also enjoy reading philosophy, playing several sports, have recently taken up “ruck-sack walking” or “rucking,” and watch global professional sports avidly through all seasons.
What is your biggest goal? Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
While my overall goal is to be the Chief Medical Officer in a pharmaceutical, manufacturing or diagnostics company, I have a feeling that might evolve over time into something a bit broader. I’ve been a consultant for decades for several various entities and enjoy that. Maybe I can find a way to incorporate both in the future.
What advice would you give aspiring urologists?
For aspiring Urologists I would encourage them to broaden their educational efforts. While I’m sure they are proficient in clinical sciences, anatomy, and surgery, understanding data sciences, statistics, and the research to publication pathway is also crucial to academic and career development.