I was the recipient of the Ruth L. Kirschstein Training Grant (T32), and spent two years as a basic science clinical research fellow with Dr. Monica Bertagnolli in the Division of Surgical Oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. During my time, I studied the role of estrogen in inhibiting intestinal tumor formation, tyrosine kinase regulation in desmoid tumors, and the effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on tumor resistance in Min/+ mice. Our laboratory also investigated adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene function and the role of inflammation in driving abnormal wound healing and tumorigenesis. In addition to building upon my repertoire of basic science techniques, I was involved in translational projects and investigated the role of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) as a surrogate endpoint biomarker in colorectal cancer chemoprevention.
During my time at The Ohio State Ross Heart Hospital Center for Cardiac Outcomes, and The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, my research efforts were more clinical in nature. My interests included pulmonary influences on patients undergoing cardiac surgery for heart and lung failure; specifically patients with pulmonary hypertension, and those undergoing placement of Left and Right Ventricular Devices, Extracorporeal Life Support, and Heart and Lung Transplantation.
My future projects will transition to outcomes research investigating clinical problems that arise during the perioperative care of thoracic and foregut patients, the utility of various neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment protocols for oncologic patients through clinical trials, and oncologic patient optimization through exercise training and nutrition improvements to improve 30-90 day survival. I am also very interested in translational oncologic research evaluating the “physiologic switch” within precursor lung lesions and inactivated circulating tumor cells that initiates transformation and spread into cancer. Specifically, I will investigate circulating markers of lung tumorigenesis, paying special attention to the differences observed in in-situ, malignant, and metastatic lesions. Ultimately, I will apply the results of my research to the betterment of current patient practice to improve the treatment of thoracic and foregut malignancies.