Research Abstract
I have a research interest in complex surgical mangement and investigating new therapeutic options for gynecologic malignancies.
I am a board certified gynecologic oncologist practicing at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. I finished my fellowship at Washington University, Barnes-Jewish Hospital in June of 2003 and currently an Assistant Professor within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. I have been in my current position as the Director of Clinical Research within the Division of Gynecologic Oncology for 4 years. Most of my efforts are aimed at maintaining a busy clinical practice, pursuing clinical research opportunities, educating residents and fellows, and participating in national gynecologic oncology organizations.
In my role as Director of Clinical Research, I have helped develop a clinical database and tumor registry for our division. Over the last 6 months we have started to collect patient data and currently have over 300 patients in the database. As the database matures, I would anticipate this to be an important resource for fellow and resident research projects. Furthermore, I have been the Principal Investigator for 4 investigator initiated clinical trials with DFPCC and I am one of the lead accrurers to other therapeutic clinical trials. New areas of research include gestational trophblastic disease (GTD) and surgical management of epithelial ovarian cancer. I am fortunate to practice with the founders of the New England Trophoblastic Disease Center, one of the worlds leading centers for management of women with GTD. Under the mentorship of Donald P. Goldstein, MD and Ross S. Berkowitz, I have developed several ongoing research projects in this area. Additionally, I have been the Co-PI on a national ancillary data project re-evaluating the data from a large GOG trial, protocol #182. Our efforts have been aimed at better understanding the role of disease burden and surgical complexity in survival for women with ovarian cancer. Our initial data suggests primary surgery for this disease may have a limited role, thus challenging the current paradigm.
Teaching and mentoring residents and fellows is a major component of my practice. Whether it is in the operating room helping them develop into technically sound, confident and independent surgeons or in the clinic supervising them on a weekly basis, educating and mentoring residents and fellows is a major focus of my academic mission. My role on the Resident Education Committee gives me the opportunity to participate first hand in shaping the residents experience during their 4 years of training. I was fortunate to be recognized for my efforts by the residents at MGH with the Howard Ulfedder teaching award in 2006.
From a national perspective, I am an active member of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. I am a member of the Education Committee and was chosen to be the co-chair of postgraduate education for the Program Committee 41st Annual Meeting in 2010. Additionally, I am our Society’s representative to the American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria Panel in which we review guidelines and recommendation for imaging in a variety gynecologic cancer settings. As a member of the Gynecologic Oncology Group, I am on both the Developmental Therapeutics and Education Committee. While on the Education Committee I was co-chair of the symposium at the January 2010 interim meeting and was asked to organize and develop the curriculum for the symposium at the July 2012 meeting. Finally, I serve on the editorial board for Gynecologic Oncology Case Reports and peer review for several journals within our field including Gynecologic Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and American Journal of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
