Physician, pediatric oncologist
UCSF
I am a pediatric oncologist and translational researcher at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). I earned my MD at Harvard Medical School, completed residency training in pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital, and fellowship training in pediatric hematology Oncology at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. My mission is to improve outcomes and decrease toxicities for pediatric, adolescent, and young adults (AYA) with advanced cancers by 1) identifying novel biomarkers for risk stratification, disease monitoring and therapeutic targets through the linkage of clinical and -omics data 2) designing and leading early phase precision clinical trials that incorporate novel biomarkers and therapeutic approaches and 3) providing outstanding clinical care, with a focus on sarcomas. Over the past decade, I have directed my research and training efforts toward building a career as a physician-scientist at the interface of translational genomics and developmental therapeutics with the goals of advancing care and improving outcomes for patients with osteosarcoma. My work identified MYC amplification as the first potential genomic biomarker for risk stratification in osteosarcoma that can be detected by clinical NGS sequencing and if validated translated to clinical trials and clinical care. My ongoing research is focused on improving risk stratification and developing novel therapeutic strategies for sarcomas that can be translated into precision medicine early phase clinical trials.