I discovered my passion for medical oncology and immunology as a medical student at Yale, where I first had the opportunity to care for patients with cancer. I completed my M.D. research project in the laboratory of Dr. David Hafler, a leader in the field of autoimmune neurologic disorders, studying B cell trafficking in multiple sclerosis as a potential therapeutic target in this debilitating disease. During this time, coinciding with the first FDA approval of an immune checkpoint therapy (ICT) for cancer, Dr. Hafler introduced me to the potential for immunotherapies to improve the lives of patients with cancer and advised that I follow this field closely.

Aspiring to become a clinical and translational investigator focused on novel immunotherapies for patients with cancer, I began my fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at MD Anderson in 2018. Here, through the guidance of my mentors, I developed a strong interest in prostate cancer, which has been challenging to treat with ICTs, due to its immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). I have been exceedingly fortunate to be mentored by Dr. Sumit K. Subudhi, a leading investigator in the field of prostate cancer immunotherapy, with an active research program in rationally designed immunotherapy strategies to overcome the immunosuppressive prostate TME. I have been co-mentored by Dr. Padmanee Sharma, an internationally recognized leader in immunotherapy, who is a pioneer in mechanistically informed, rational clinical trials of ICT and has led practice-changing clinical trials in immunotherapies for patients with cancer that are now standard-of-care. Finally, through the generous advice and mentorship of Dr. Christopher J. Logothetis (former Chair and a luminary in the field of prostate cancer and germ cell tumors), I have continued to develop as a physician and investigator seeking to understand the biology of prostate cancer to develop novel immunotherapies for this disease. Achieving long-term, durable benefit with these therapies will require rational combination approaches, which lead to increased toxicities that may also be linked to efficacy.

Therefore, my long-term goal is to grow as a clinical and translational investigator to: 1) contribute to the development of novel immunotherapies to overcome the immunosuppressive TME in prostate cancer through biomarker-enriched clinical trials and to 2) improve outcomes in immune toxicities through identification of predictive biomarkers and understanding of immune mechanisms to develop targeted immunosuppressive treatments. Thus, my background qualifies me to serve as Co-Investigator of Projects 1 and 2 of this MD Anderson Cancer Center Prostate Cancer SPORE.