Research Summary
I am a medical oncologist and clinical investigator specializing in urologic cancers, specifically bladder and prostate cancers, and during my career I have focused on designing and carrying out clinical trials for patients affected by these cancers. In 2017 I became the Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center in order build a clinical research program focused on making cancer clinical trials accessible to all patients in the city, including those most underserved, and in promoting health outcomes research by our investigators on campus. To that end we have built a multidisciplinary team consisting of clinician-investigators, health outcomes and disparities researchers, clinical research personnel, and patient navigators and health educators, in order to lower barriers to clinical trial participation by our diverse pool of patients.
My ultimate goal is to apply lessons learned from more than a decade of work as a clinical investigator to further grow the connections between the HDFCCC and the ZSFG cancer research program, promote both intramural and extramural collaborations, provide resources and support for junior faculty to grow their careers, lower barriers and increase access to novel therapies for our patients, learn about how novel therapies work in ethnically and racially diverse populations, and improve health outcomes for all our patients.