Dr Rajiv obtained his PhD from the University of Delhi in 2003 with specialisation in the areas of Microbial Ecology and Bioprospecting. Subsequently, he pursued advanced training at premier institutions such as Mayo Clinic (Rochester), United States, in interdisciplinary areas of signal transduction, including in vitro and in vivo studies addressing unmet clinical needs. He joined Amity University in 2012 as a Professor at the Amity Institute of Biotechnology, and from July 2014 to October 2021, he headed the Amity Institute of Public Health, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida. Dr Rajiv joined the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, SRM Institute of Science & Technology, Kattankulathur campus, as Dean (Research) in November 2021 and worked there until July 2026. He has recently joined as the Director, Indian Institute of Health Management Research, Bangalore. He was inducted as a Fellow at the Royal Society of Biology in January 2024 and has been nominated as a Collaborator from India for estimating the Global Burden of Diseases Network by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, USA from November 2024 and a Senior Collaborator since August 2025 at the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.   

He is an editor of Scopus-indexed journals, including Cardiovascular Toxicology, PLOS One, and Frontiers in Public Health. He is an ad-hoc reviewer in many science-citation indexed journals. His current research interests include Signal Transduction, vascular biology, Public Health, and Artificial Intelligence. His research is currently funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, the Indian Council of Medical Research, and the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India.