DF/HCC Program Affiliation

Prostate Cancer

Research Abstract

I am a medical oncologist and clinical/translational investigator with special expertise in genitourinary oncology. I have recently completed my hematology/oncology training at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Massachusetts General Hospital fellowship program and have begun my academic career at MGH Cancer Center. My responsibilities include patient care (4 sessions weekly), clinical/translational investigation involving genitourinary malignancies, and education of fellows, residents, medical students, and lay audiences.

My primary area of excellence is clinical and translational investigation. I worked for one year at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center in a position that combined clinical care of cancer patients with the design and administration of clinical trials in oncology. I designed and wrote two investigator-initiated protocols. One of those protocols is a currently-enrolling phase II colorectal cancer treatment trial at UCSD. The other protocol resulted in an online abstract at the 2009 American Society of Hematology annual meeting. Since completion of my first clinical year of fellowship in June 2008, I have conducted clinical research primarily focused on prostate cancer treatment and survivorship. Specific themes include experimental therapies, molecular imaging, and in vivo physiology. I have written a preliminary protocol for a phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group trial that will study the addition of an experimental CYP17 inhibitor to standard androgen deprivation therapy and radiation therapy for high risk localized and locally advanced prostate cancer. I have collaborated with Umar Mahmood, M.D., Ph.D. on two currently-funded DF/HCC Prostate Cancer SPORE proposals involving molecular imaging. I have successfully obtained four sources of grant support for this work (DF/HCC Prostate Cancer SPORE Career Development Award, MGH Cancer Center Thematic Priority Translational Research Award, ASCO Young Investigator Award, and Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award). Additionally, I designed and completed an observational study of fracture risk assessment among men receiving androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer; the resulting manuscript has been published in The Journal of Urology.

I have demonstrated a strong commitment to teaching and education of both medical and lay learners. I have frequently taught genitourinary oncology fellow education sessions at MGH beginning in 2008 and continuing to the present. I have led case-based educational sessions for visiting Chinese urologists at MGH. I have lectured to a lay audience at a kidney cancer survivorship conference. Finally, I have guest-led a prostate cancer support group at MGH. These activities strongly predict continued and broadened involvement in such educational activities.

My academic career plan centers on clinical investigation in prostate oncology and my background strongly demonstrates my commitment to this research. This plan builds upon my mentored training in clinical research under Matthew R. Smith, M.D., Ph.D. I have joined the MGH Cancer Center as an Assistant Physician and Instructor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology. I conduct my clinical practice and research as part of the genitourinary oncology group at the MGH Cancer Center and Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. This continued work and mentorship will further my expertise in rational trial design and will equip me for independence as an investigator.

Publications

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