My experiences throughout my education and medial training have prepared me to embark on a career as an academic surgeon with a strong focus in basic and translational research. My goal to work in medicine is longstanding and consistent, with inspiration as early on arising following my father’s battle with lymphoma while I was young. This desire, when combined with a similar love for science discovered in college at the University of Pennsylvania working on a research fellowship in an organic chemistry lab, ultimately led to the pursuit of a career in medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. There, I discovered an enjoyment of surgery, but understood that I could merge my motivations of treating cancer patients with a love of operating in the field of surgical oncology. During my general surgery residency at the University of Washington, I encountered mentors who encouraged me to follow a path in surgical oncology and I completed two years of research time studying tumor immune microenvironment of pancreatic tumors and liver tumors, including both primary liver cancer and liver metastases from colorectal cancer. This time allowed me to develop an understanding of laboratory techniques including cell and tissue culture, immunohistochemistry including fluorescent immunohistochemistry, microscopy techniques, flow cytometry, and single cell RNA sequencing. I proceeded to continue my training with a fellowship in surgical oncology at City of Hope National Medical Center, refining clinical and surgical skills while continuing research efforts in the tumor immune microenvironment of solid gastrointestinal cancers.
