Dr. Straker grew up in West Hempstead on Long Island, NY and graduated Salutatorian of the class of 1991 at Long Island Lutheran High School. He is a 1995 graduate of The Johns Hopkins University where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Biology. He earned his medical degree in 1999 at Mount Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York.

In 2003, he completed his residency training in Obstetrics & Gynecology at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, where he was the first African American to graduate the program.

He currently practices general Obstetrics and Gynecology in Nutley, NJ with an emphasis on minimally invasive gynecologic surgery. He maintains admitting privileges at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville and St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. Additionally, Dr. Straker has been serving as the Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Clara Maass since 2009 and previously served as the Co-Chair of the minimally invasive surgical steering committee.

Dr. Straker is Board Certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the National Medical Association and is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (F.A.C.O.G.).

He served as a clinical Assistant Professor of the Department of OB/GYN at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine from 2005-2018. In this capacity, he taught Obstetrics and Gynecology to third year medical students rotating through Clara Maass Medical Center.

He previously sat on the Board of Directors of the Neighborhood Health Services Corporation (formerly the Plainfield Health Center) in Plainfield, New Jersey.

Dr. Straker is licensed to practice medicine in the state of New Jersey and is certified in numerous areas including minimally invasive da Vinci Robotic Surgery.

Dr. Straker believes in staying active within the community. He is a member of the Montclair Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He is an active member of the United Presbyterian Church of West Orange where he serves on the Deacon Board and the Media Ministry. He serves on the West Orange Zoning Board of Adjustments and is a Board Member for the Urban League of Essex County. Dr. Straker loves to cook and travel and keeps his smoker active year round when he is not sailing the seas on a cruise. He lives in West Orange with his wife Jamelle, and his two sons Eric and Jay.