Meet The Team: Kunal Shah

Kunal P. Shah is a second-year medical student at Rowan–Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine and an aspiring orthopedic surgeon. He is currently an Orthopedic Surgery Research Fellow at Cooper Bone & Joint Institute where he is actively involved in high-impact clinical research across sports medicine and upper and lower extremity surgery. In addition, Kunal serves as the Director of Mentorship at the Future Forward Research Institute (FFRI). While also working in a Senior leadership role with his team, he has helped develop the Orthopedic Surgery subgroup into the largest and fastest-growing division within the organization by fostering a collaborative, mentorship-driven research culture.
Kunal’s research experience spans basic science, clinical trials, and orthopedic outcomes research. He has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses, with particular expertise in study design, bias and quality assessment, and meta-analytic methodology. His prior role as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Perelman School of Medicine further strengthened his foundation in regulatory compliance, FDA and GCP standards, and large-scale data management. His role as a Chief Medical Scribe for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Dept. of Pediatric Orthopedics has been most impactful in his journey.
Looking ahead, Kunal aims to pursue a career in academic orthopedic surgery, where he can integrate clinically meaningful research with mentorship and education. He is deeply passionate about building accessible research pathways for medical students and trainees, particularly those from nontraditional or underserved backgrounds. Outside of medicine, Kunal enjoys traveling, exploring new foods, binge-watching shows, and playing soccer and cricket or unwinding with PS4 gaming.