My career is dedicated to reducing cancer’s burden on patients through translational research and collaborative clinical trials. My clinical and research interests are primarily in head and neck cancer and early-stage therapeutics. These interests stem from the remarkable heterogeneity tumor biology and patient outcomes within a single disease entity, paired with often ineffective therapeutics. My research has focused on development of novel therapeutics for advanced head and neck cancer, biomarker development, and treatment de-escalation strategies in patients with low-risk human papillomavirus related oropharyngeal cancer. My career began by studying small molecule inhibitors in metastatic head and neck cancer which led to development of numerous funded multi-institution investigator initiated clinical trials as a PI. Development of these trials has equipped me with the necessary administrative skills needed for collaborative science including multi-institutional communication, budgeting, and regulatory management. I am the PI of a pivotal multisite investigator-initiated registration trial evaluating MDM-2 inhibition in metastatic salivary gland cancer as well as a co-PI of the NCI iMATCH Feasibility Study S2101 investigating biomarker stratified treatment of advanced solid tumors. Given my research experience, involvement with the head and neck community, and translational research I was appointed to the NCI Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Task Force. In the Spring of 2020, I was also appointed as Co-Director of the University of Michigan Experimental Therapeutics/Phase 1 Program.

1) Novel therapeutics and treatment strategies for advanced / metastatic diseases including head and neck cancer.
2) Biomarker development in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
3) Tumor immune microenvironment modulation in advanced head and neck cancer.