My career aims are to expand effective treatment options and improve outcomes for patients with GI malignancies through novel, early-phase clinical trials paired with excellent bedside care. Academically, my interests center on clinical-translational research focused on developing early-phase human trials, involving hypothesis-directed, novel combinatorial immunotherapies, paired with a rich translational focus. Prior to Oncology Fellowship, I piloted patient-outcome studies involving novel radiotherapy techniques in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy sequencing in high-risk endometrial cancer, and combination systemic therapy & stereotactic radiosurgery in melanoma with brain metastases. As a fellow at Johns Hopkins, under the guidance of my primary mentor in Fellowship, Dr. Nilofer Azad, my investigational focus and hands-on experience have centered on early-phase clinical trials examining novel mechanisms and treatment combinations to optimize immunogenicity in gastrointestinal cancers. I have led the efforts to design, author, and activate multiple investigator-initiated trials (IIT), including a CTEP-sponsored phase II trial that is now open ETCTN-wide. Being truly “bench to bedside,” both of my IITs are a result of partnering with my lab-based collaborators where I helped translate their promising preclinical findings to the realm of human trials. I currently help lead the hepatobiliary cancer team at Vanderbilt University where continue to test novel drugs and treatment combinations to optimize tumor response these patient populations. I am specifically interested in studying multi-agent immunotherapy-based treatment strategies targeting immune stimulation, tumor microenvironment modulation, and immune checkpoint blockade to help transform immune-resistant cancers into immunogenic tumors. It is my goal to form strong partnerships with lab-based investigators to bring promising pre-clinical findings to the bedside.