Due to my interest in drug development I trained at the Developmental Therapeutics Institute of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. That experience served as the foundation for my first clinical position at the Miami Cancer Institute of Baptist Health South Florida as the lead oncologist in early phase clinical trials in solid tumors and lead medical oncologist in sarcoma. My specific clinical interests included immune-oncology and immune-modulatory therapies in solid tumors.

After following a small molecule’s success in a patient of mine with melanoma from the clinic into the pharmaceutical industry, I took a position as medical director in clinical development at a biotech start-up. This role involved not only everyday management of early phase oncology studies covering the full breadth of oncology (solid tumors, malignant hematology and pediatric oncology), but also regulatory interactions, pre-clinical collaborations, investigator-initiated study development, protocol/manuscript/SOP writing, vendor supervision and QA processes. That role gave me a broad-spectrum immersion in oncology commercial pharmaceutical development and allowed me to focus on early drug oncology development and translational work in a highly competitive environment. Since then, I moved back to the academic setting as the medical director of developmental therapeutics at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, where I chaired the molecular tumor board and began a precision oncology program. Now, I serve as director of oncology developmental therapeutics at Novant Health, in North Carolina, where we offer cutting edge first-in-human studies to cancer patients in our community. Our goal is to bring new drugs to patients close to their home, and fulfill the FDA's mission of decentralizing clinical trials.